American Tunics: Utility



Figure 1.--This portrait is undated, but we believe was taken in the early 1900s. The uidentified boy wears a fancy white tunic suit with a huge lace collar. Notice the dark belt. The tunic suit has matching bloomer knickers. He wears black long stockings with the outfit. Notice the cap he is holding. It looks to be a British-styled peaked cap. We have no information about the boy, but he looks about 5 years old.

The tunic was not only popular, it was also an all-purpose garment. Some were worn as utilitarian play suits. This is interesting because until the appearance of tunic suits we do not really see play suits. Some tunic suits were quite inexpensive and made in basic materials. Children clothes were fairly standard and mothers used old clothes as play clothes for children. Girls would wear pinafores to protect their clothes. The tunic was a garment which could be used fir play, but could also be worn for more formal events by younger boys. We also see fancy, dress tunics that were made for formmal occassion. Often the basic garment was the same, only with fancy trim added to create dressy tunics. These may have been the boy's party outfit or dressiest grment. We see basic tunic suits trimmed with copious amounts of lace. This seems rather popular for white tunic suits. Thus boys could wear tunic suits for a wide range of activities and events.

Play Suits

Some tunic suits were worn as utilitarian play suits. Of course this should be viewed in the comntext thzt dress in the early 20th century was still more formal than later in the century. Play tunics would normslly be simpler with out the fancy frills of dressy tunics and in sturdy easy to launder fabrics. This is interesting because until the appearance of tunic suits we do not really see play suits. Some tunic suits were quite inexpensive and made in basic materials. Children clothes were fairly standard and mothers used old clothes as play clothes for children. Girls would wear pinafores to protect their clothes. Most images we have found of boys wearing play tunics seem to be summer tunics. We are less sure what children wore for play during cold weather.

Dress Garment

The tunic was a garment which could be used fir play, but could also be worn for more formal events by younger boys. We also see fancy, dress tunics that were made for formmal occassion. Often the basic garment was the same, only with fancy trim added to create dressy tunics. The fabric used could also be different. These may have been the boy's party outfit or dressiest grment. We see basic tunic suits trimmed with copious amounts of lace. This seems rather popular for white tunic suits.

Schoolwear

We do not see boys commonly wearing tunic suits to school. This is not to say boys never wore them ro school. We do see a few younger boys wearing them, but not very many. This is apparent in the photographic record. The reason was probably because the tunic suit came to be seen as a garment for younger boys. We note a boy identified only as Stanley who was 7 years old wearing a tunic suit to school. This was not, however, very common.








HBC





Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing hair style pages:
[Return to the Main long hair page]
[Return to the Main curl hair page]
[Bangs] [Ringlet curls] [Hair bows] [Caps] [Collar bows]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main American tunic page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Created: 7:32 PM 8/7/2007
Last edited: 4:04 AM 7/28/2008