Black Shirts
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The black shirt was the distinguishing garment worn by the Italian Fascists and adopted in England by their imitators.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Black Shirts” mean?
The black shirt was the distinguishing garment worn by the Italian Fascists and adopted in England by their imitators.
Is “Black Shirts” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.