Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified American boy wearing a gtunic, psntaslettes. white long stocking and strap shoes. It is a CDV portrait that looks like the 1860s. The diuagonsl styling is more associated with the 1870s. We would thus date it to the early-1870s, aslthough gther late-60s is possible. Like nost tynic outfits, this would have been a formaln outfit. The studio was Mrs. A. Gibson in Ceder Falls, Iowa.

All we know about the 19th century is boys were generally dressed up in their best clothes for a studio photographic portrait. And as far as we can tell, tunic were considered a dressy outfit. We know very little about the early-19th century, but we begin to see them at mid-century. All look to be formal dressy outfits. The situation was a little different After the turn-of the 20th century, tunics were still worn as a dressy garment, but we see some younger boys wearing them as a play garment. After the mid-19th century we mostly see boys wearing high-top shoe. This was not the case for the boys wearing tunics, least what we have found so far in the photographic record. We see quite a number of low-cut strap shoes. This may reflect to some extent the age of the younger boys commonly wearing tunics. High-top shoes were very common and this continued into the 20th century. We see see more varied footwear in the 20th century, but the choices do not seem to have been determined to a large degree by formality. We see boys wearing strap shoes which might be seen as formal wear for casual occasions. And we see sandals, although it is not always clear that they were seen as casual footwear. Notice the boys here playing at home wearing strap shoes. They look to be dressed rather formally. We see a few boys wearing closed-toe sandals in the early-20th century. Perhaps the most clear indication of fasual wear, however, is boys going barefoot.

Created: 9:25 PM 4/12/2023
Last edited: 9:25 PM 4/12/2023