The white blouse in pop culture

If there's a fashion workhorse in a woman's closet, it's the classic white blouse.

What began as a simple but essential undergarment in the 16th century has reached iconic heights centuries later.

To observe Vogue's 100th anniversary, editor Anna Wintour dressed 10 models (think Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford, to name a few) in Gap white shirts.

 The white blouse in pop culture

Elegant couture designer Carolina Herrera waxes poetic about the white blouse, claiming that no woman's closet is complete without at least one, and preferably more.

And Oprah recently donned a white ruffled blouse for the skyscraper-size billboard in New York's Times Square advertising her newest venture, the OWN cable channel.

The white blouse arguably is one of the most flattering, versatile pieces of clothing a woman can own. It's why Rochelle Behrens, the Washington, D.C., lobbyist turned shirtmaker, spent two years perfecting a design she says corrects the iconic garment's only flaw: the gape across some women's bustlines that allows an involuntary glimpse of their bras.

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The white blouse owes its enduring presence to its origins, suggests Gregg Andrews, fashion director for Nordstrom. The fact that women's wear co-opted the men's classic white shirt for its own, with a dart here and a tuck there, is part of its allure, he says.

"There's something very sensual about a woman dressing in something men wear," Andrews says.

A fitted white blouse, unbuttoned an extra button or two, with a layer of pearls and cinched at the waist with a belt or scarf is not dressing like a man, Andrews says. It's the perfect mix of masculine and feminine that elevates simply wearing clothes to fashion.

But aside from the romantic aspect of the classic button-up white shirt is its practical side, something that endears it to women even more than its sex appeal.

A long-sleeve white blouse is practical, say Michael Bennett and Alisha Weiner, women's-merchandise managers at Brooks Brothers. It goes with any color, works in any season, flatters most figures, comes in many price ranges, is easy to care for and pairs with denim as effortlessly as it does with velvet.

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You can even wear it over a swimsuit as a beach cover-up, Andrews says.

To say a white blouse is versatile is an understatement.

"The love affair hasn't gone away," says Janice Hurley-Trailor, an image consultant in Scottsdale.

Part of the reason is the shirt's inherent style. With a spread collar, the button-up blouse forms a naturally flattering V-shape, Hurley-Trailor explains.

"Seventy percent of women are pear-shaped, and white on top is a great slimming look," she says. Top the white shirt with a cardigan sweater or a blazer left unbuttoned and the result is a visually slimming and lengthening look, Hurley-Trailor adds.

Pop the collar, cuff the sleeves, combine with a pencil skirt, and it's today's version of the Gibson Girl, the modern woman of the early 1900s.