Figure 1.--These children look to be peasant boys and girls. They were probably wearing their best clothes. Notice the boys wearing Russian blouses. This is not a coloized photograph. It is an actual color photograph taken in 1909, one of the Prokudin-Gorskii images. It was taken by a country church, marked only White Lake, somewhere in northern European Russia. Click on the image for the full picture including the church.

There continued to be a sharp dichotomy in Russian children's clothing during the early-20th century. Russia was rapidly industrializing and the economy changing. Russia continued, hoever, be a relatively poor, backward largely agricultural country. The upper-class and urban middle-class were prosperous and adopted fshionable Western European attire. The urban working-class and huge rural population, however, survived on earnings below Western European standards. A substantial part of the rural population was barely part of the moneyed economy. They dressed very different thn the prospeous urban population. Many rural boys still wore the peasant tunics that were still standard in the 19th century. We even see this influnencing the outfits of urban boys as well as quite a number of schools because it was essentially the uniform worn by Russian Army soldiers. Other than this, the clothes worn by the prosperous urban population was not greatly different than the styles popular in the West. Little boys continued to wear dresses after the turn of the Century, but this fashion was passing and for the most part relatively young boys wore dresses. Sailor suits were popular for boys. The Tsarevitch Alexis almost always wore sailor suits, at least until World War I began (1914). Then he mostly wore army uniforms. Many other aristocratic and wealthy boys, as well as middle-class boys, also wore sailor suits, but this was a realtively small part of the population. The sailor suit was probably a reflection of the German influence. More common for most Russian boys were loose fitting Russian blouses with closed collars. This style also became popular in Germany and other European countries, but there the open square collared Russian blouse was more common. School age boys sometimes had their hair shaved as in Germany. Many rural children ccommonly went barefoot in the summer . The noted Russian photographer, Prokudin-Gorskii has left a wonderful color record of the Russian Empire in the early-20th century.

Russian Economy

Russia was rapidly industrializing and the economy changing. This is often missed because the Soviets painted such a bleak picure of pre-Revolutionary Russia. In fact the Russian economy, especially the industrial sector was growing very rapidly before the Revolution. The Revolution, especially Stalin's disasterous collectivization program, set the Russian economy back, significantly impairing the prosperity of the average Russian. This was pariculrly true of food, but also consumer products like clothing.

Two Fashion Sectors

There continued to be a sharp dichotomy in Russian children's clothing during the early-20th century. This reflected the stark division in the Russian population between the rural peasant masses and the much smaller prpsperous urban upper- and middle classes. The photographic record does not show this division very well. We do see many portraits of Russian children wearing clothes similar to the those in the West. Unless the images are identified, however, it is difficult to tell that they are Russian showing how similar the fashios were. There was one difference. There was a kind of nostalgic popularity of peasant styling. Some of the prospersous class held the rural class in disdain. Others saw it as a destictive nationl style. We also see boys dressed up in cossack outfits which were a kind of off-shoot of peasant dress. We do not see this same trend for girls. Much less represented in the photographic record, however, is the urban working class and the peasant masses. We note very few portraits of this group.

Working-class

As Russian began to indutrialize, an urban wirking-class developed in the cities. The great bulk of the population was, however, the rural, largely peasant population. A substantial part of the rural population was barely part of the moneyed economy. They dressed very differently than the prospeous urban population. Many rural boys still wore the peasant tunics that were still standard in the 19th century. Rural girlswore plainpeaant dresses, often with head scarves. The noted Russian photographer, Prokudin-Gorskii has left a wonderful color record of the Russian Empire in the early-20th century. Unlike the studio photography, he did not focus on the upper-class and prosperous urban middle-class. Here we see a fascinating image of a group of rural peasant children in 1909 (figure 1). Many rural children ccommonly went barefoot in the summer. The prosperous middle-class was growing, so the photographic record forthe early-20th century is substantial, at least until the tragic outbreak of World War I (1914).

Prosperous urban class

The upper class and prosperous middle class dressed very different than the working-class, especially the large rural peasant popultion. We see boys' peaaant styles this influnencing the outfits of urban boys to some extent. We see Russian blouse outfits as well as quite a number of schools adopting aind of peasant style because it was essentially the uniform worn by Russian Army soldiers. Other than this, the clothes worn by the prosperous urban population was not greatly different than the styles popular in the West. Little boys continued to wear dresses after the turn of the Century, but this fashion was passing and for the most part relatively young boys wore dresses. Sailor suits were popular for boys. The Tsarevitch Alexis almost always wore sailor suits, at least until World War I began (1914). Then he mostly wore army uniforms. Many other aristocratic and wealthy boys, as well as middle-class boys, also wore sailor suits, but this was a realtively small part of the population. The sailor suit was probably a reflection of the German influence. More common for most Russian boys were loose fitting Russian blouses with closed collars. This style also became popular in Germany and other European countries, but there the open square collared Russian blouse was more common. School age boys sometimes had their hair shaved as in Germany.

Decades

We generally try to create decade page in our chronologies. This is certainly possible for the 1900s, but we do not know if the 1910s would tell us much. World War I began in 1914 and we do not know of any major changes in the 1910-14 period. Once the War began, the Russian econommy began to go down hill and fashionbecame an increasinly limited concern as food and consumer goods became increasingly difficult to obtain. And this situation only worsened with the Revolution and Civil War (1919).

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Last updated: June 20, 2001
Created: 3:33 PM 12/20/2016