Silk Blouses do Every Body Good. See Our Favorite Ethical Picks!

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How ”Silky” Are These Blouses?

These blouses are more “silky” than “silk”. When I think of a silk blouse, I’m thinking more so of a shiny, soft material than something actually made of silk.

Let’s be honest: real silk is expensive. And it’s not very ethical.

Like with any animal byproduct, you have to be wary of how it’s farmed. In the case of silk production, the producers of the silk – silkmoth larvae – are ultimately killed. Yes, their life cycles are short anyway. But, it’s still something to consider when you’re talking about truly ethical fashion.

Luckily, the ”silk blouses” on this list don’t actually contain any real silk. We’re talking mostly man-made or non harmful natural fabrics, only.

Where Does Silk Come From?

Silk is a natural fiber that is produced by silkworms during their larvae stage of life. The larvae trap themselves inside a cocoon made of silk that are produced through special silk glands. The length of silk one larva produces can be up to 1.6 km!

After silk is produced, the larva transforms to pupa. The pupa stage is one stage away from becoming a silkmoth which means breaking free from their cocoon. However, it’s not possible to harvest silk once it’s been broken from the silkmoth’s escape.

So in order to harvest silk, the life cycle of a silkmoth must be stopped shortly after their pupae life phase. To do so, the fully formed cocoons are steamed. From there, the cocoons are boiled to make them more pliable and to soften a hard gummy-like protein that coats silk fibers.

The cocoons are then deflossed – they enter into a process of removing any loose fibers. Then, they’re reeled – individual silk fibers are weaved together to form silk yarn. Once that yarn is weaved, it becomes silk fabric as we know it!