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We believe tunics were a style worn for centuries by peasants. It is likely a style dating back to the medieval era, but we have very little information to confirm this. Russian tunics seem similar to garments worn by peasant boys in Western Europe as well. We do begin to see examples after the introduction of photography at mid-century. A factor in Russia is that peasant dress had some similarity to tunics. We have no information on the early-19th century. We see peasant boys wearing these tunics. We also see formal portraits of boys from zffluent families wearing them in the 19th century. We see Russian boys wearing these tunics through the early-20th century. Our Russian archive is limited, but we do not see them after World War I during the Soviet era, in the city. They appeared to have declined in the country-side, but did not immediately disappear.
We believe tunics were a style worn for centuries by peasants. It is likely a style dating back to the medieval era, but we have very little information to confirm this. Russian tunics seem similar to garments worn by peasant boys in Western Europe as well.
The Russians at the beginning of the 18th century still dressed in an almost medieval fasgion which also had Oriental aspects. Tsar Peter (1682-1725) as part of his modernizing effort addressed popular fashion. Firstv he insisted that the Boyars (nobels) cut their beards. Next he addressed clothing. As in the medieva;/European fashion, men wore robe-like garments extending down to their feet. Tsar Peter issued an ordinance that forbid people to wear such garments. At first he aimed his fashion ordinance at the Boyars. The court and aristicracy seo fashions and the time and once the Boyars changed so would much of the rest of society. The Boyars and court officials were required to dress in the French style (1720s). And they were required to decorate their clothes with gold or silver as their means allowed. And to promote the changes, the city and town populations were also ordered to change. The methods employed here were to hang a suit of clothes show casing the new fashion was hung at city gates. Everyone except peasantd had to comply. Guards at the city gate enforeced the ordinance. Violators hadto to kneel and have all that part of their garments which extended below the knee was cut. Optionally the violators could pay two grives whenever they entered town with old-styles garments. One source suggests that the guards carried out their orders in a 'sportive' spirit, the town population was amused at the spectacles which helped ease the transition. The financial enducement probably also motivated the guards. The transition was most rapid in Moscow and the surroinding area, but gradually spread to other areas of Russia.
We see fashionable European boys wearing tunics in the early-19th century. We are not sure if this fashion extended to Russia. We believe that serf/peasant boys wore unrelated tunic-like garments. We do begin to see examples in Russia after the introduction of photography at mid-century. A factor in Russia is that peasant dress had some similarity to tunics. We have no information on the early-19th century. We see peasant boys wearing these tunics. We also see formal portraits of boys from affluent families wearing them in the mid-19th century. We notice the Gorchakov boys wearing tunics (1848). We also note the children of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna in a Roberson portrait (1849). Prince Nicolas wears what looks like a burgandy velvet tunic with long pants. The unidentified boy here, probanly in the 1860s is another example (figure 1). We continue to see Russian boys in the late-19th century wearing tunics. Tsar Alexander III (1881-94) launched a Russification program aimed at the Empire's many minorities. This was the program that caused Jews who were targeted with pogroms to emigrate in large numbers. As part of the Russification effort, there was an associated trend to glorify all things Russian. And the wealthy began for the first time since Peter the Great's reign to wear Russian-styled clothing again. This affected boys' clothing as well.
We see Russian boys wearing tunic garments through the early-20th century. We believe they were still very commonly worn by peasant children and estate workers throughout rural Russia. Is at this time that the term Russian blouse appears in the West. We see German boys wearing them and they were a major style in America. It is no clear to us why Russian fashions suddenly became popular in America. It was a style for fashionable city boys. We also see Russian boys from affluent families wearing these tunics, but it seems more like a nostalgic style than a major fashion style as in the West. We think the idea was to dress up like the country people who were seen as the soul of the country by many nationalists. The same dynamic was at play with cossock outfits. Our Russian archive is limited, but we do not see these tunic outfits after World War I during the Soviet era, at least in the cities. This is interesting because the Russian Revolution was udeologically a workers/peasant revolution. You would think that peasant fashions would become popular, but this did not occur. Thee tunics appeared to have declined in the country-side, but did not immediately disappear. After World War II, you no longer see these tunics in Russia, except at festivals, folk dancing, and school dress up occassions.
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