Figure 1.--The CDV portrait here was made at the R. Goebel studio in St. Charles, Missouri. The boy looks to be 2-3 years old. Notice how short the tunic skirt was. The portrait us undated, but looks to have been done in the 1870s. Notice the stick prop the boy is holding. Such crops as whips and riding crops were populasr for boys.

We seem to find fewer images of boys wearing tunic suits during the 1870s, at least in the photographic record. Our information is limited, but the photographic record probably is a resonable ibdicator of actual trends. We think that the tunic suits were generlly a style populasr with urban elites. We notice considerable variation in designs. A popular deign was a diagonal design element. A reader writes, "You can see these diagonal front cuts of the jackets conciderably often in the 1870s. One major stylistic element is the length of the tunic skirt. Some of the tunic sjirts were so short that they were barely recognizeable as tunics. The Missouri boy here is a good example (figure 1). Other boys had tunics with quite pronounced skirts. A good example is Stirling G. Anderson, we think in the early 1870s.

Popularity

We seem to find fewer images of boys wearing tunic suits during the 1870s, at least in the photographic record. Our information is limited, but the photographic record probably is a resonable ibdicator of actual trends. We think that the tunic suits were generlly a style popular with urban elites.

Diagonal Design

We notice considerable variation in designs. A popular deign was a diagonal design element. A reader writes, "You can see these diagonal front cuts of the jackets conciderably often in the 1870s." We are not entirely sure about the chronology of these disgonal cut tunics. I believe the style first appeared in the 1860s, but it seems most popular in the 1870s. The diagonal cut was commonly accented with both piping and buttons.

Belts

Tunic suits mostlt came with a belt or other waistline device.

Skirt Length

One major stylistic element is the length of the tunic skirt. Generally the tunic skiers were fairly short in the 1870s, but there was some variation. Many of the tunic skirts were so short that they were barely recognizeable as tunics. They seem more like jackets. The Missouri boy here is a good example (figure 1). Other boys had tunics with quite pronounced skirts. A good example is Stirling G. Anderson, we think in the early 1870s.

Pants

We note boys wearing a variety of pants with tunics in the 1870s. We see boys wearing bloomer knickers, straight knee pants, and long pants with tunic suits. We do not see as many long pants as in the 1860s, but they were still quite common. This reflected general fashion trends associated with pants and trousers and no specific tunic suit trends. Many of these outfits were done as suits with the tunic and pants matching. We also see tunics and pants that did not match. The matching pants were often heavily stylized with stripes and other detailng to match the fancy tunic styling.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main American tunic 19th century cronology page]
[Return to the Main American tunic cronology page]
[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: 2:12 AM 3/12/2007
Last edited: 12:40 AM 9/12/2007