Vintage American Sailor Tunic Suit


Figure 1.--This emacualte sailor tunic suit was worn by an American boy about the turn of the 20th century. It was made in white linnen. The tunic had basic sailor styling with a "V" front collar and back flap.

This emacualte sailor suit was worn by an American boy about the turn of the 20th century. It was made in white linnen. The tunic as with all such tunics had long sleeves. It had basic sailor styling with a "V" front collar and back flap. The "V" front is cut much deeper than on a normal middly blouse. The tunic is all white without any colored detailing as well. It was probably worn with a matching white linnen belt, although it is not shown here. The matching white linnen bloomer knickers have elasticized legs. They seem to have been made to wear above the knees. They opened at the side with two buttons to put on or take off. There are no pockets on the tunic, nor do they appear to be any on the bloomer knickers. Note that there is no label in the tunic or bloomer knickers. Labels were at the turn of the 20th century still not common in clothing.

Chronology

This emacualte sailor suit was worn by an American boy about the turn of the 20th century. We have noted these garments being worn in the 1900s and 1910s, but less commonly after World War I (1914-18). They are rarely seem after the mid-1920s.


Figure 2.--This is the back flap of the sailor tunic. Note the eyelet edge detailong continued front the front.

Linnen

It was made in white linnen. Linnen is acotton fabric that was widely used for children's clothing, especially summer garments, in the early 20th century.

Tunic

The tunic as with all such tunics had long sleeves. It had basic sailor styling with a "V" front collar and back flap. The "V" front is cut much deeper than on a normal middly blouse. The tunic is all white without any colored or striped detailing at all. There is, however, elaborate eyelet detailing work all along the "V" front and small back sailor flap.

Belt

It was probably worn with a matching white linnen belt, although it is not shown here. Most of these tunic suits were worn with belts, so we assume thisd one was also. The belt was ornamental, worn over the tunic and not used to hold up the bloomer knickers.


Figure 3.--Note that at the waistline on both sides there are button holes as well as one at the back. These were for the buttons on a shirt waist that were worn with this suit and held the pants up. Click on the image to see a back view and the gact that there was a back button hole.

Bloomer Knickers

The tunic was worn with matching white linnen bloomer knickers. Note that there is no belt to hold up the bloomer knickers. Rather, at the waistline on both sides there are button holes (and not buttons) as well as a button hole at the back. These were for the buttons on a shirt waist that was worn with this suit and held the pants up. The bloomer knickers have elasticized legs. They seem to have been made to wear above the knees. They opened at the side with pne button to put on or take off. There are no pockets on the tunic, nor do they appear to be any on the bloomer knickers.

Labels

Note that there is no label in the tunic or bloomer knickers. Labels were at the turn of the 20th century still not common in clothing.

Popularity

I'm not sure how populat these tunic suits were with boys. You would assumed that they would have liked a pocket or two. I'm not sure if the lack of pockets was an economy measure--making the pants cheaper to manufacture or if mothers didn't want yunger boys to have pockets.







Christopher Wagner






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Created: May 3, 2002
Last updated: May 3, 2002