Army Influences on Boys' Clothes

Figure 1.--Most ambrotypes were taken in the late-1850s-early-60s. This one looks more like the 1870s. It is aare outdoior portrait, pribanly a photographer in a seaside resort. We see very few outdoor Ambro portraits like this. It is also an early seaside portrait. Notice the frohhing on the boy's suit, bith th jacket and pants.

We see military styles and detailing appearing on all kinds of men and boys clothing. This was most pronounced during and after wars. We note all kinds of head-wear, coats, jackets, shirts, pants, and other garments that were influenced by military uniforms. Sometimes we see whole uniforms adopted for boys. Caps in particular were introduced for boys. We see both army and sailor caps becoming popular. Some were actual military styles and not just garments with military style elements. Other garments were more likely to be ordinary clothing with military style elements. We note these military style elements during both the 19th and 20th century. We believe this occurred earlier, but we have much more information on more recent times. We also see elements from military uniforms adopted and incorporated into garments. We notice elements such as braiding, buttoning, epaulets, flap pockets, frogging, sashes, stripe detailing, tassels, and other items becoming popular decorative items on boys clothing. This was most common with wars of some importance, often popular wars. Ironically, although the Vietnam War became very unpopular in America, Vietnam uniform items had considerable fashion influence. We later sea distinctive military camouflage being used for children's clothing. We also see it on girls clothing, although this was much less common. Sailor styling had the largest impact on girls clothing.

Created: 2:51 AM 9/26/2022
Last updated: 2:51 AM 9/26/2022