Figure 1.--This unidentifid Bulgarian boy wears a short pants suit. He looks to be about 10-years old. The portrait is undated, but looks like the late-1930s to us. |
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We have only limited information on Bulgarian suits at this time. We know very little about suits in the 19th century. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Balkans gradually shifted from Otoman provinces to independent Christian kingdoms. This began with Greece (1820s) and then reached Romania and Serbia, but grdually reached Bulgarian in the southern Balkans as well. Russia stronglysupportedthe process because of strategic, religiou, and ethnic ties. We note boys by the late-19th century beginnng to dress like boys in other European countries, especially Bulgarian boys in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. We notice boys in Bulgarian cities after World War I (1914-18) dressed much like boys in other European countries. It is virtually impossible to identify Bulgarian boys and suits just from available photographs unless they are identified. We see various styles of jackets as well as the short pants, knickers, and long pants wesee in other countries. This was less common in rural areas, but fairly standard in the cities. The same age conventions seem to have governed the selection of pants as was the case in other European countries, but again varied from family to family. Knicker suits seem the least common, but we see a few teenagers wearing them. Short pants suits seem standard for school age boys and the long pants become common as boys reach the teen years, espcially after the early teen years. Economic conditions were extremely difficicult after the Communists seized control following World War II. We do not have much information on suits during this period. After World War II we begin to see most boys waring long pants suits by the 1960s.
We have only limited information on Bulgarian suits at this time. We know very little about suits in the 19th century. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Balkans gradually shifted from Otoman provinces to independent Christian kingdoms. This began with Greece (1820s) and then reached Romania and Serbia, but grdually reached Bulgarian in the southern Balkans as well. Russia strongly supported the process because of strategic, relgious, and ethnic ties. We note boys by the late-19th century beginnng to dress like boys in other European countries, especially Bulgarian boys in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. We notice boys in Bulgarian cities after World War I (1914-18) dressed much like boys in other European countries. Economic conditions were extremely difficicult after the Communists seized control following World War II. We do not have much information on suits during this period. After World War II we begin to see most boys waring long pants suits by the 1960s.
It is virtually impossible to identify Bulgarian boys and suits just from available photographs unless they are identified. We notice the same basic styles as we see in other countries. We think there may be some differences in detailing, but our archive is not large enough yet to establish this. The detailing almost always is on the tops.
The stuit garments are primarily the top and bottoms. The top is usully a jacket, but we also see blouse tops in the 19th century. Although the blouse was a shirt-lik garmnt, the material for these suits looks to be the same as the pants. Blouse suits were a little less fiormal than jacket suits and genrally worn by younger boys. There were various style jackets, the same oern in other countries. We see various styles of jackets as well as the short pants, knickers, and long pants we see in other countries. The boy here wears a standard single-breasted jacket, in this case notice the large lapels (figure 1). We do not have a large Bulgarin archive so do not yet have a lot of information on the various jacket styles.
Other garments associated with suitss are matching headwear and vests. We have not yet found matching headwear, but we do notice vests. The bottoms are pants and we niotice ll of the major types: short pants, knee pants, knickers and long pants. The prevalence of each varied over time. The short psnts suit here probably dates to the late-1930s.
Suits by the 20th century were fairlty standard in urban areas, but kess common in the countryside. Traditional styles persisted in many rural areas. This did not finally change until after World War II. And styles worn in the contryside gradually became similar to urban trends.
The same age conventions seem to have governed the selection of pants as was the case in other European countries, but again varied from family to family. Knicker suits seem the least common, but we see a few teenagers wearing them. Short pants suits seem standard for school age boys and the long pants become common as boys reach the teen years, especially after the early-teen years.
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