Figure 1.-- A Belgian costume magazine in 1852 offered this outfit for a boy of 7 years. HBC is not sure, however, why a another tunic outfit in the same magazine was deemed suitable for a boy of 5. Click on the image to view that outfit. Please let HBC know if you note any aspect of these two outfits that make than suitable for a 5 and 7 year old respectively. Image used courtesy of La Couturière Parisienne

La Couturière Parisienne website has noted a tunic garment in a 1850s Belgian fashion magazine. The tunic is depicted as that for a somewhat older boy than many similar garments. Although a skirted garment, it is clearly a tunic rather than a dress. It was worn with a prominent lace collar cut into prominent points. There is also lace trim at the cuffs. It was worn with a stylish hat and feather. The boy wears very fancy lacy pantalets with this outfit. We have less information on the extent to which tunics were worn in the 1850s. We have noted them being worn in England, but we are less sure about America.

Source

La Couturière Parisienne website has noted an tunic-like outfit in a 1852 Belgian fashion magazine. The illustration originally appeared in the Journal des Dames et des Demoiselles published by Bruylant-Christophe et Comp., Brussels.

The editors provided this description of the boys' outfit: "Petit garçon de sept ans. --Chapeau en paille d'Italie cousue à angles arrondis. Le bord des ailes du chapeau est replié ou roulé sur lui-mème La ganse est large, en coton blanc, bordée de petits agréments en paille: elle forme un noeud à droite. A gauche retombe un bouquet de plumes de coq blanches, qui sortent de dessous la ganse. Blouse en nankin, boutonnant de côté, avec boutons d`ivoire : elle n'est pas froncée dans l'épaulette. Ceinture de vernis noir avec boucle d'acier. Les manches, un peu courtes, larges du bas, sont boutonnées sur les côtés. Col cardinal. Sous-manches et pantalon en broderie anglaise." HBC translate this as: "Seven year old little boy -- Italian straw hat bent with rounded angles. The edge of the cap's brim is folded up or rolled on itself. The broad ganse, made of white cotton, is bordered with small straw decorations: it forms a knot on the right. On left white cock feathers falls down, which come out of lower part of the the ganse. The tunic is made of nankin [silk], side-buttoning with ivory buttons. It is not wrinkled on the shoulder. The waist belt has a black varnish with steel buckle. The sleeves, a little short, broad of bottom, are buttoned on the side. Cardinal collar. Under-sleeves and "pantalon" in English embroidery." The translation of 19th century fashion descriptions is complicated by the changing use of words and varying definitions over time. This is especially true of the word "patalon" which we have discussed below under "pantalets".

Chronology

The tunic shown here was worn in the 1850s. The actual image was published in 1852. We are not sure to what extent these tunics were worn earlier as we still have very limited information on the early 19th century, but we believe that tunics were a popular style during much of the early 19th century. We have noted the tunic style also being worn in the 1860s, but less commonly with the lacy pantalets.

Nationality

HBC had initially assumed that this was a French image. La Couturière Parisienne tells us, however, that it is from the Belgian magazine noted above. HBC believes that Belgian fashions were very strongly influenced by French fashions. Thus these styles probably reflect what affluent French boys were wearing as well in the mid-19th century. We are not yet aware of significant stylistic differences between French and Belgian tunic outfits. That does not mean, of course, that such differences do not exist.

Social Class

The depiction of this outfit in a fashion magazine suggests it would have been worn by a boy from an affluent Belgian family. It is likely that middle-class boys have worn similar garments, perhaps not quite as elaborate. We are unsure, however, to what extent tunics would have been worn by working class boys.

Patterns

Patterns were commonly included in 19th century fashion magazines. This is one reason that the ages of the children are commonly shown. We note that this fashion magazines tends to give many specific age rather than a wide age range. La Couturière Parisienne informs us that the practical reason is that patterns were enclosed on overlay pattern sheets, so you could only have one size per pattern. Those were free, so the question of how many you could sell didn't enter into it. Other sizes could be ordered for a fee, but the ages/sizes with the plates only refer to the pattern on the overlay sheet. This is very fortunate for fashion researchers. These mid-19th century children's patterns were done more specifically to a narrow range of sizes than modern patterns. A modern mother would never find a pattern specifically for a 7 yearold.

Age

The tunic is depicted as that for a Belgian boy--7 years of age. La Couturière Parisienne indicates that the magazine sometimes specified an exact age. In other instances there is an age range given instead of just one precise age, e.g. 5-6 or 9-11. One exact age appears to reflect the size of an available pattern rather than a statement that the fashion should only be worn by a boy of a very specific age. Remember that the the illustrations pictures come from fashion magazines. The plates usually illustrated patterns that were either enclosed or could be ordered from the publisher. Up to the age of 16 or 17, the size of the pattern was given as the age it was meant for. So if the boy in the illustration is 5 years old, the available pattern is meant to fit a boy aged 5.

HBC notes that a common convention in the late 19th century was to make minor differences in a boys clothing as he got older. There are many examples such as a boy wearing a Fauntleroy jacket with a kilt anf then kneepants. Or a boy wearing a suit with a large collar and large floppy bow and then relacing it with a smaller collar and eventually leaving off the bow. We do not know when this practice developed and to what extent it was common in the mid-19th century. We do not know if there were subtle differences in style for each age and to what extent they were employed i this outfit.

We do not know what about this outfit makes it appropriate for a 7-year old boy. We find this especially interesting as some other drawings from this same magazine show very plain tunic outfits being worn by younger boys. If the sources were different I would have expected some variation in such matters, but as they come from the same source you might expect some standard criteria. At this time we do not know what criteria the editors were using for ascribing these specific ages. The ages selected to offer interesting insights into contemporary fashion trends and we eventually hope to better understand the editors criteria in this regard.

While this outfit is specified for a boy of 7 years, HBC would estimate that such a tunic probably could have been worn by a much wider range of boys. What might change, however, are the accompanying clothing items, especially the lacy pantalets.

Stylistic Elements

The by clearly wears a tunic rather than a dress. It is a front buttoning tunic, although the buttons are set off to the side. HBC has also noted center front and back buttoning tunics. Note that the buttons on this tunic outfit continue the full length of the tunic down to the skirted hem. There are matching button details on the sleeves which appears to have been a common stylistic device in the 1850s. Besides the buttons, few stylistic elements are visible on the very plain tunic.

Tunic

The outfit looks much like a short dress, but we would tend to classify it as a tunic. The difference between a tunic and a dress is primarily that a tunic is a skirted garment worn over other clothes rather like a smock. Boys commonly wore tunics after being breeched. A boy of 7 years probably would have been breeched, although it was not unknown for a some boys of this age to still wear dresses in the 19th century. A tunic could be worn with trousers, either knickers and long trousers. Dresses were always worn with pantalets and not trousers. Not all boys wore their tunic with trousers. As pictured here, this boy's outfit includes fancy pantalets rather than trousers.

Color

The boys tunic was yellow, suggesting that boys clothing at mid-century could be quite colorful.

Material

HBC is unsure as to what material would have been used to make this tunic.

Accompanying Fashions

The boy is wearing a variety of other garments and accessories with his tunic. It was worn with a large lace collar, but no bow. There is matching lace trim at the cuffs, The most prominent element of the boy's tunic are his fancy lace-trim pantalets. It is worn with a hat decorated by a plume.

Hat

HBC is not sure what the hat the boy wears was called. One source describes it as a "leghorn" as as of Italian origin. We have not noted boys wearing this hat style, although we have noted men wearing it. It is unclear to what extent boys commonly wore it with tunics. We wonder if it may represent a fashion illustrator's fertile imagination rather than a hat commonly worn by boys.

Lace collar

The boy wears a large lace collar. It is a deeply pointed lace collar with no ruffles. It appears to be a collar pinned on to the tunic rather than part of the blouse he is wearing.

Bow

The boy does not wear a bow, but we do note two stings with tassels. They appear to be part of the elaborate lace collar.

Blouse

The boy's tunic covers his blouse, except for the sleeves. The collar looks to be pinned on rather than part of a blouse. The lacy cuffs, however appear to be part of blouse sleeves.

Figure 2.-- HBC does not fully understand the conventions for pantalets at mid-century. As this costume was for a 7-year old boy, they were apparently not just worn by younger boys. Were these fancy ones worn for formal occassions and plains ones for everyday wear? Such fancy ones were mostly worn by boys from affluent families. We note that by the 1860s, boys this age no longer wore them. The Pantelets were described as English. Image used courtesy of La Couturière Parisienne

Belts

Note that the boy's tunic is belted, in fact the boy has two belts of differing width. Some tunics at mid-century were unbelted. We are not sure at this time just what the stylistic conventions were concerning the belts which on tunics were decorative serving no practical purpose. HBC notices that boys wore smocks in a similar manner, both with and without a outside belt. The large belt the boy here wears is used to tighten the tunic around his waist. The more slender belt appears to support a sword, presumably a toy sword. HBC notes that the pairing of a lacy pantelets with a war-like sword in rather a unique fashion combination.

Pantalets/pantalon

The boy is wearing very fancy pantalets with elaborate lace trim. The magazine desceibes them as English embroidery. HBC is not sure why Belgium which had a large lace industry would buy lace in England for boys' pantaletes. Perhaps it was cheaper. Children during this period wore a wide variety of pantalets. Some varied as to how elaborately they were finished, ranging from very plain to quite elaborate like the ones shown here. Other pantalets varied in length, ranging from below the ankle to knee length. We note that a painting by Ludwig Aumont in 1838 shows a German boy, Wilhelm Fischer, wearing plain long white pantalets, quite different than what this boy wears. Wilhelm's outfit can be seen on the HBC Aumont page. What HBC does not understand at this time is if the type of pantalets worn just reflected age, or were they a reflection of the boy's circumstances. Might a boy with this outfit wear plain pantalets at home or even trousers with his tunic, but dress up in these lacy pantalets for special occasions such as church or parties and other outings.

Note that the French term used is "pantalon". This is the modern French word for "pants" as used in America to mean boys' and mens' trousers. In Britain is is used to mean underwear. The Enhlish term "pantaloons" was used in Enhlish for a wide range of meanings from sailor's trousers to women's underwear. We are not sure, however, how the French word "pantalon" was used in the 1850s. Here it seems to mean "pantalets" or "drawers". We note that ir is also used to describe much plainer pantalets. What we are not sure about is what French words was used in the 1850s to describe boys' and mens' trousers. We assume that "pantalon" was also used to describe the similar fancy pantalets worn by girls and women.

Hair Style

This boy wears long, but not shoulder-length hair. The curls may be natural curls.

Breeching

Boys in Europe and America often wore dresses until they were about 5 or 6 years of age. This varies widely, however, from family to family and social class. Boys from wealthy families might wear dresses longer than boys from working class families. Some boys were breeched at a younger age and others at an older age. In this regard, the tunic appears to have been used as something of a transition garment between the dresses of a younger boy and the suit and trousers of an older boy. In this regard the tunic could be worn by boys over a fairly wide age range. A younger boy might wear pantalets with his tunic, but they could then be substituted for trousers as the boy gets older. A shown here, however, it was not just very young boys who wore their tunics with pantalets. The tunic itself however, could be worn for several years.

Other Countries

We have less information on the extent to which tunics were worn by boys in other countries during the 1850s. We have noted them being worn in England. Available English images show the son of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and sons of Lord Tennyson wearing tunics at a much older age. The Tennyson boys wore them with knicker like trousers. We are less sure about how extensively tunics were worn in America.

National Influence

The influence of national fashion industries across national lines is interesting to note.

Belgian styling

La Couturière Parisienne and HBC concur that Belgian fashions were probably very similar to French ones (especially in French-speaking Wallonia), if not the same.

English styling

Fashions for men and older boys (whose fathers were increasingly involved with their clothing) might be more influenced by English fashion. One interesting note is that the pantalets were described as English embroidery. As Belgium was notable for the fine lace manufactured, HBC was somewhat surprised to see the refefernce to England in connection with the pantalets. La Couturière Parisienne tells us that "broderie anglaise" is the French term for a certain kind of embroidery that may have been of English origin, but I don't think that Belgian people still perceived it as a specifically English-made garment--it's just the name of the technique. the English term is "whitework", i.e. white on white, the kind you still get on so-called cotton lace."

French styling

Most of Europe and even North America had their attention on the latest Paris fashions. Fashion magazines helped to equalize styles over time. La Couturière Parisienne suggests that for proof, look at the lavender dress in a plate from an American magazine (Godey's or Peterson's) and then at the maroon dress in a French plate. HBC believes in this regard that French fashions were particularly important in America for women and younger boys who were commonly outfitted by their mothers.

Italian styling

The boy's hat is described as Italian. HBC has little information on this hat style, as it was not commonly worn for boys.

La Couturière Parisienne Website

The image shown here comes from a wonderful European costume website. HBC has received many requests for readers about women's and girl's clothing. We find ourselves unable to handle the information we have gathered on boys clothing, so this will not be possible. Although we include many family images showing what contemporary girls and women were wearing. La Couturière Parisienne Website has a wonderful collection of women's and girl's fashions over a wide historical period. HBC on its pages tends to enlarge images so that stylistic details can be examined and to help the pages load faster. We know that some viewers would prefer to see the smaller, clearer images. These are available in the La Couturière Parisienne website.

Created: August 12, 2001
Spell checked: August 13, 2001 Last updated: September 15, 2001