** Scottish boys clothes: garments -- tunics








Scottish Boys' Garments: Tunics


Figure 1.-- The portrait seen here was undated, but was pribably taken in the early 1900s, perhaps about 1905. It was taken in Ayr. We note some differences with the tunic suits that American boys were commonly wearing at the time. The matching pants are straight-leg knee pants and not bloomer knickers.

We do not yet have much information on Scottish boys tunics. We believe that the general pattern was similar to England, but we have relatively few images in our archive to assess this. We have no information at this time about Scottish tunics in the 19th century. We have noted English boys wearing them in the early 19th century and suspect that Scottish boys did also, at least in the cities. Younger Scottish boys at the turn of the century wore tunics as was common in England and America. The style of tunic is somewhat different than was common in America. HBC know less about tunic styles in England. We do not know how common tunics were in Scotland. The portrait seen here was undated, but was pribably taken in the early 1900s, perhaps about 1905. It was taken in Ayr. We note some differences with the tunic suits that American boys were commonly wearing at the time. We especially note the Peter Pan collar and the below the knee pants which could be bloomer knickers, but we are not sure.

Limited Information

We do noy yet have much information on Scottish boys tunics. We believe that the general pattern was similar to England, but we have relatively few imfes in our archive to assess this.

Chronology

We have very limited information at this time about Scottish tunics in the 19th century. Our Scottish archive is still relatively limited. We have noted English and other European boys boys wearing tunics in the early-19th century and suspect that Scottish boys did so as well, at least in the cities. We have, however, no confirmation of this from the early decades of the century. With the advent of photography we are able to follow the fashion trends. We note Scottish boys wearing tunics at mid-century/ The styles seem similar to those we see English boys wearing at the time. We don not know how prevakent they were. We do not yet have any infomation on the late-19th centuty. Younger Scottish boys at the turn-of-the 20th century wore tunics as was common in England. They so not, however, seem as common as in America. The portrait seen here was undated, but was probably taken in the early-1900s, perhaps about 1905 (figure 1). It was taken in Ayr.

Age

The ages of Scottish boys wearing tunics varied over time. We sdee boyh opre-school and school age boys wearing tunics. We do not yet know about the early-19th century. Befoire the advent of photography it is difficlt to make assessments because there are so few vailabke images. We belive trends, at least in the Lowlands, mirrored tunic conventions in England. We see boys up to about 10-12 years of age wearing tunics at mid-century. A good example is John Napier in 1858. He was in the United States at the time. This portrit is useful because we see his older broyher wearing a suit wu=ith trousers therby showing age parameters. Amotyher unidentified Glasgow boy wears a tiunic outfit in the v1860s. He looks to be about school age, anout 8-9 years old. This may have been his school clothes, but we are not certain. Tunics continued to be worn into the early-20yh century, although by somewhat younger boys as we see here about 1905 (figure 1).

Garments

A tunic suit is primarily made up of a tunic and some kind of pants. Note the Peter Pan collar and the below the knee pants which could be bloomer knickers that the boy here is wearing (figure 1). The tunics could be done in many different ways. This included the collar and buttoning as well as length nd styling. The style of tunics may have been somewhat different than was common in America. HBC know less about tunic styles in Britain. We note some differences with the tunic suit here (figure 1) than what we normally see American boys were commonly wearing at the time. They were worn with various kinds of pants, including pantalettes, knee pants, bloomer knickers, and long pants. We note one portrait of boys wearing tunics with skirts. I don't think this was very common.

Popularity

We do not know how common tunics were in Scotland.







HBC







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Created: March 5, 2002
Last updated: 7:46 PM 12/25/2021