Figure 1.--This American boy wears a mid-19th century tunic suit. The portrait is undated, but because it is an ambrotype it was probably taken about 1855-61. We would guess about 1860. Ambrotypes were still made in the early 1860s, but were very rapidly replaced by CDVs.

Our information on the 19th century is limited, especially the early-19th century. We believe that tunics were popular in the early and mid-19th century. Quite a number of naive artists painted boy wearing tunics of various descriptions, although the number od images is relatively limited. We think they were primarily a style worn by the urban elite, probably following European fashions. We also have noted them in the photographic record. A substantial number of photographs first becomes available in the 1850s. Quite a number of the early images show boys wearing tunics that look somewhat like shirts, although often the image quality is not very good or details obscured. Most of the phogogrphs we have found show boys wearing long pants with these tunics, but fashion plates often show bloomer knickers. The detinction is the length and front buttoning. These tunics can also be seen in the 1860s, but seem much less common. A good example is Stirling G. Anderson, we think in the early 1870s. They seem less common after the1860s, but the style became imensely popular at the turn of the 20th century. We see them being very commonly worn in the late 1890s through the 1910s. The photographic and catalog record provides a great deal of information about tunics in the 20th century.

The 1800s

Our information on the 19th century is limited, esoecially in the early-19th centurty before the invention of photography. . We believe that tunics were popular in the early 19th century. We are not sure about the 1800s, primarily because of the limited number of available images.

The 1820s

The 1830s

We have found more images showing boys wearing tunics in the 1830s. We do not yet have photography, but there continue to be sources we can use. Quite a number of naive artists painted boy wearing tunics of various descriptions, although the number of images is still fairly limited in the years before the development of photography. And we have vintage clothing. An excellent naive painting is an unidentified boy by Ammi Phillips in 1836. A good example is Octavius Eastman in 1837. We think they were primarily a style worn by the urban elite, probably following European fashions. A good example is Frances Francis Thomas Sully Darley (1834?-1914) in 1839. This boy came from a very fashionable, artisticv Philadelphia family.

The 1840s

With the development of photography we have more images available from the 1840s. We note Daguerreotypes of boys wearing tunics. We find it difficucult, however, to differentite between 1840s and 50s images. Almost all Dags were taken in the 1840s and 50s. A few were made in the early 60s. The problem is that we can not at this time differentiate between the 1840s and 50s Dags. Early 1840s Dags are rare and relatively wasy to identify. Most have plain rectagular or oval frames. By the mid-40s we begin to see much larger numbers of Dags and more varied frames. The problem is differentiating the Dags taken in the mid- and late-40s with 1850s Dags. Hopefully we will eventually be able to better date Dags. We welcome any insights readers may be able to offer. A good example is Edward Edwards which we think was taken in the mid-1840s. As far as we can tell, the tunic was a popular boys styles in the 1840s and 50s. Because we can not precisely date the available Dags, we are not sure to what extent styles varied in the two decades. We see boys wearing tunics with belts. As far as we can tell tunic suits with matching pants were not common.

The 1850s

Much more information becomes available with the development of photography. Larger numbers of images exist from the 1850s. They are not all Dags, we also see new formats, including Ambritypes and tintype. Most Ambros were taken in the 1850s or very early 60s so this may help us identify 1850s styles. We have noted quite a few American boys wearing tunics during the 1850s. It seems to have been one of the most popular outfits for boys. A substantial number of photographs first becomes available in the 1850s. Quite a number of the early images show boys wearing tunics that look somewhat like shirts, although often the image quality is not very good or details obscured. Most of the photogrphs we have found show boys wearing long pants with these tunics, but fashion plates often show bloomer knickers. The detinction is the length and front buttoning. A good example is an unidentified New York boy wearing a green plaid tunic. I think plaid may have been used to give it a kilt look. Another example is unidentified boy, probably in the mid- to late-1850s. Another good example is an unidentified boy. His tunic had a very large belt buckle. A problem vwe have, however, is that we do not yet have the capability of destinguising between 1840s and 50s dags and so msny dags are not dated. One interesting topic is the color of the tunics. We note a beautiful tinted Dag of an unidentified Baltimore family. with the tunic done in blue. A reader writes, "I read not too long ago that there was increased inerest in Russian and Turkish clothing styles as a result of the Crimean War (1854-56). Could this have influenced the appearance of tunics and Russian blouces in the United StatesS? Also, another influence may have been women wearing bloomer type baggy pants." The problem here is since photography only appeared in the 1840s, we are not sure what earlier styles were. We do not have a photograohic record to compare. We do know that tunics were not a new garments in the 1840s. From sketchy information I think tunics were fairly common throughout the early-19th century, at least among fashionable city boys. The Crimean War may have affected styling of the tunics. This we are unsure about. Of course the primary influence would have been in Britain and France, but American fashions atthe time were strongly influenced by Britain and France. We note an unidentified boy, we think in the 1850s, wearing a tunic suit with matching long pants.

The 1860s

American boys can also be seen wearing tunics in the 1860s, but seem much less common. We see a variety of stylish tunic suits. These wwere mot readt-made garments which helps to explain the variations in the sdtyling. Most seem to have been worn with bloomer knickers and white long stockings. These pants eem much less common with other outfits. With the appearance of the albumen process and CDV prints we seem much larger numbers of portraits. Even so, we do not nore many boys wearing tunics. We tend to note younger boys wearing cut-away jackets rather than tunics. We do notice some boys wearing tunics. A good example is 9-year old Tom K. Christie. Notice the diagonal styling that became popular in the mid-1860s. Another example is 5-year old Russel Parsons in 1869. Suits with matching jackets and pants became much more common in the 1860s. We believe that the same convention developed for tunics. The age range seems quite wide, but all seem to be pre-teens.

The 1870s

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 astyle 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 tht they were barely recognizeable as tunics. A good example is Stirling G. Anderson, we think in the early 1870s.

The 1880s

Tunics do not seem a very popular boys' style in the 1880s. Tunics were widely worn at the mid-19th century and were very popular in the early 20th century. We have found very few examples of tunics, however, in the late 20th century, especially during the 1880s. We thunk that is probably a good indicatpr of popularity. Tunics would have been most common in affluent or at leat families in confortable circumstances. Neither do we see tunics being advertized in 1880s catalogs, although are catalog entries for the decade are still limited. Our archive of 1880s images, however, is sizeable. This makes it difficult to assess the syling of 1880s tunics. While we have found very few photograohs ot boys wearing tunics suits in the 880s, we have found a few, including one unidentified boy in 1885 wearing a tunic styled like 20th century tunics.

The 1890s

Tunics seem less common after the 1860s, but the style became imensely popular at the turn-of-the 20th century. We see them being very commonly worn in the 1900s and the 1910s. The photographic and catalog record provides a great deal of information about tunics in the 20th century. We haven't found any images that we can definitively date to the 1890s, but we don't think that tunic suits suddenly appeard precisely in 1900. They were so popular in the 1900s that they must have appeared in the late 1890s. We believe that tunic suits were worn in the 1890s. The length of the tunic seems to have been shorter than the tunics that became popular in the 1900s. The sailor tunic seems to have been a popular style.

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Created: 7:17 AM 9/23/2006
Last edited: 2:14 PM 5/8/2015