Figure 1.--Here is a postcard portrait of three children, presumably siblings. Notice the boy on the left. His blouse matches his bloomer knickers. The fact that it is a post card-back portrait means that it was not taken before 1904. We would guess it was taken about 1910-15.

We see many American boys wearing blouses with knee pants during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. It was a popular summer outfit for boys. Usually the blouse was made out of a different lighter material material than the pants. The blouse was often, but not always white. We also see striped and colored bloyses. Less commonly we note boys wearing blouses made of the same heavier material as the pants. We note the blouse suits were often made with bloomer knickers rather than knee pants. This would commonly date them to the 1910s. These outfits seem very similar to tunic suits with the boy wearing a bloused top rather than a tunic. We see these suits mostly in the early-20th, but we have just begun to work on the topic. The examples we have found are often worn with detachable Eton collars as well as floppy bows. We note different styles. they seem to be mostly collar buttoning. The boy here wers a kind of side buttoning style (figure 1). We notice other example with a kind of double breasted double row of buttons. We see these blouse suits done in fabrics with various patterns. This appears to have been a dressup outfit.

Regular Blouses

We see many American boys wearing blouses with knee pants during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. It was a popular summer outfit for boys. Usually the blouse was made out of a different lighter material material than the pants. The blouse was often, but not always white. We also see striped and colored blouses. Almost always these bous wore straight-leg knee pants. We do not begin to see many knickers (except bloomer knickers) in America until about 1908. And then very rapidly they replaced straight leg knee pants.

Blouse Suit Tops (Blouses)

Less common than the regular blouses we note boys wearing, we note blouses made of the same heavier material as the pants/trousers which of course made up a suit. These outfits seem very similar to tunic suits with the boy wearing a bloused top rather than a tunic. We see these suits mostly in the early-20th, but we have just begun to work on the topic. We note different styles. The most common style is the sailor blouse. But this was so common it is almost in a dtyle by itself. The examples we have found, with the exception of the sailor blouses were collar buttoning blouses. There were a variety of other styles. The blouses were all long sleeves. They all seem to be worn bloused out with waistllone drawstrings. The boy here wears a kind of side buttoning style (figure 1). We notice other example with a kind of double breasted, double row of buttons. The blouse itelf was plainly styles. Devorative items were added. They were often worn with detachable white Eton collars as well as colorful floppy bows. We are still assessing just how prevalent this was. we have a very substantial American archive. And acrtual suits or tunic suits seem more common in the early-20th century, but we are continuing to work on this fshion topic.

Blouse Suit Bottoms (Pants)

As blouse suits used a relatively heavy top, they were primarilly a Fall and Winter outfit. We note the blouse suits were often made with knickers rather than knee pants. This helps date the images. Knickers bascally become standard wear in the 1910s. And most o the blouse suit images we havefound seem to date to the 1910s or the late-0=900s.early-1920s. We are, however, still working on this topic and do not yet have sufficent images to build a reasonable chronology.

Fabrics

We see these blouse suits done in differet relatively heavy fabrics. This involvd a range of colprs and patterns.

Conventions

We see school age boys wearing these outfits. Most of the images we have found are boys about 6-12 years old, but we have just begun to work out the basic conventions. This appears to have been a dressup outfit.

Created: 9:29 PM 2/21/2009
Last updated: 9:45 AM 3/11/2017