Prentice™ | Elegant Summer Blouse

A pullover shirt that actually pulls over.

Popover shirts fail on a fuller body for a reason that has nothing to do with you. The opening is only half a placket, so the garment has to be wide enough to pass your chest with the buttons done up — and when the body is graded up from a small block, it isn't. Then there's the armhole: cut where the pattern says, it binds at the upper arm, so the first time you reach for something on a high shelf the whole shirt lifts off your waistband and stays there. And a level hem sits short at the front, because the fabric has further to travel over the bust and stomach than it does down your back.

Prentice answers all three with cut rather than stretch. The body is genuinely oversized and the armhole is dropped deep towards the waist, so it goes over your head with nothing to negotiate and reaching moves the sleeve instead of the hem. The placket runs down past the fullest part of the chest before it ends, so the last button isn't sitting on the widest point. The hem is curved — shorter at the sides, dipping longer at the centre front and back — so there is length in reserve exactly where a straight hem runs out.

Why it works

• Long half-placket: the buttons run past the fullest part of the chest before the opening ends, so the gap doesn't land at the bust point.
• Deep dropped armhole and batwing sleeve: you reach and the sleeve moves, not the hem.
• Boxy oversized body: it goes on over your head with nothing to wriggle past — the thing popovers usually get wrong.
• Curved high-low hem: longer at the centre back, shorter at the sides, so it still covers when you sit without adding width at the hip.
• Dense concentric line print: a moving pattern rather than flat colour, so ordinary folds and creases read as part of the design.
• Soft pointed collar and chest patch pocket: the collar sits open at the throat without pulling, and the pocket is set high and to the side.

Fit note

Cut very generously — the shoulder seam is meant to sit out on your arm, not on your shoulder. Take your usual size for the intended oversized shape. The weave is fine and lets light through at the hem; the dark lines break that up, but a cami underneath if you'd rather it weren't see-through at all. The sleeves are made to be worn turned back. Sizes M to 4XL.