Figure 1.--Here we have a modern illustration of Canadian children's underwear probably illustrating what children wore in Canada in the final decade of the 19th century. The artist has obviously done some useful research. The illustrator was Tom Tierney.

Canadian children wore underwear very similar to American children. Here the underwear seems much more similar to American than English or French styles. This seems in part because of the importance of American clothing styles as well as American mailorder catalogs and publications. The underwars styles offered in Eatons and other Canadian catalogs seems vurtually identical to American catalogs, perhaps with a somewhat heavier emphasis on warm Winter underwear. Here we have a modern illustration of Canadian children's underwear probably illustrating what children wore in Canada in the final decade of the 19th century. The artist has obviously done some useful research.

Bradley

Bradley, a boy of about 12 years, wears a white. short-sleeved and short-legged union suit with front-opening buttons down the front, long black stockings, and hightop shoes. Bradley's union suit itself seems fairly accurate historically, but his long black stockings come up under the legs of the underwear, which seems wrong since he apparently wears his garters underneath the underwear. I think the illustrator opted for this decision because the figures are drawn like paper doll figures to be dressed by a child from other (missing) pages of the same book, and the artist didn't wish to complicate the underwear very much since it would be covered up by the period outer clothing. Actually, Bradley would have worn some sort of underwaist or skeleton (garter) waist on top of the union suit, and his hose supporters would therefore be in full view. A reader comments, "There were garters that were worn inside underwear. Some of the advertising lists that. Though the suit is usually a waist unionsuit which these clearly are not."

Annie Laurie

Annie Laurie, the older of the two girls, would also have some sort of corset or corset-waist with garters to hold up her black stockings, and this would have been worn on top of her white slip with ruffled skirt. The slip itself, however, seems to be fairly accurate. Notice the shoulder straps which button to the bodice of the slip.

Eula

Eula's underwear is the most completely represented. Here we see a very accurate representation of a child's unisex underwaist with reinforcement straps, buttons down the front for closure, button-shoulder straps, and a series of waist buttons for outer clothing. Compare the Double V Waists illustrated on HBC during 1892. Notice the placement of the buttons at the sides of the waist, to one of which the hose supporter (often called "suspender" in Canada) is attached. In the 19th century hose supporters were usually attached to the waist by means of buttons rather than by safety pins (a later refinement). The girl also wears bloomers and striped black stockings. Eula's underwear would be the same for a boy of her age (about 6 years). A boy would wear the same underwaist with supporters attached, but might not have the decorated neck and sleeves of this girl's underwear and would probably wear a knitted union suit under the waist instead of bloomers. The striped black stockings seem to be correct for the period--and could be worn by either a boy or girl.

Created: 5:33 PM 7/21/2005
Last updated: 7:20 PM 7/21/2005