Figure 1.--Yhis American boy wears a double breasted tunic with an Eton collar and floppy bow. HBC dates the photograph at about 1910.
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Figure 1.--Yhis American boy wears a double breasted tunic with an Eton collar and floppy bow. HBC dates the photograph at about 1910. |
Most of the tunics worn by boys did not have front button. Many like the sailor tunics were pullovers. The Russian blouses had buttons set to the side, somrtimes not all of the way down. The double breasted tunic had a more boyish look as it was front buttoning. Some ogf the outfits looked rather like Buster Brown tunics. They often had large white collars--often Eton collars, with usually worn with smaller bows than worn with Buster Brown tunics.
Rge double breasdted style was used for a vatiety of clothes during the 19th cetunry. HBU has noted the double breasted tunic peimarily in the 1900s and the 1910s before World War I (1914-18). It may have appeared in the 1890s, but HBC can not yet substaniate that. The style was little seen by the 1920s.
The double breasted style tunic was a loose roomy blouse or jacket. The jacket would often come below the waist giving the impression of a smock-like garment. The buttons came all the way down the front od the tunic. One of the columns of buttons was used to close the tunic.
The tunic was worn with knickers. The knickers do not appear to be the bloomer style of knickers worn with other types of tunic suits. Rather they appear to be fuller cut, more formal knickers.
All of the boys HBC has noted wearing double breasted tunics have been wearng lomg stockings. This compares to Busterr Brown tunics and other tunic styles where the boys often wore three-quarter length socks or wnt barefoot.
HBC has note boys from about 5 to 10 or 11 years of age wearing double breasted tunics.
HBC is not sure why boys in double breasted suits always wore long stiockings. It could be because it was a seasonalt style. Short stockings and especially bare feet were summer styles. It also could be because the double breasted style was seen as a style for older boys than the other tunic styles.
The collars worn with double breasted tunics varied. HBC noted that Eton collars were commonly worn with double breasted tunics. In part this was because the Eton collar was so popular at the turn of the 20th century.
Boys tended to wear bows with their double breasted tunics. The bows did not tend to be as large as the bows worn with Buster Brown suits--but never-the-less, good sized bows.
HBC is unsure about what colors tunics suits were nade in. The tunics were geb\nerally pain flat weaves. The bost likely colors aere probably blues and browns.
HBC believes that doubre breasted tunics were only worn by boys.
I have little information about what countries in which double breasted tunics were worn. HBC knows that they were commonly worn in America, but is less sure about other countries.
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