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United States America shirt types shirtwaist waist chronology
American Shirtwaists: Chronology
Figure 1.--Here we have three unidentified Iowa children. This is what was referred to as 'shirt tailed young ones' in 'The Music Man'--also set in Iowa. The children look to be about 6-13 years old. This new style cabinet card helps to date the portrait. It was was an extra large, 6" by 8". It would have been taken about 1905. We are fairly confident with the date because about 1908, American boys began wearing knickers. Notice similar shirtwaists being offered with knickers in 1910. The boys look to be wearing shirt waists with detachable collars. Notice that the boys are wearing blouses not shirts. The term shirt aist was a generic tern for collarless shirts abd blouses. Also notice the bow ties. The children were from Lanmomi, Iowa.
A reader has provided a more detailed secription of the garments. "Notice that the boys are both wearing patent leather shoes with laces that are fairly complicated and probably needed help tying. Also the knee trousers are side buttoning which also makes them more likely to have help (but not necessarily). The shirt waists are the blouse type indicating that the trousers were attached to a waist of some sort which probably also held up their stockings. If you look closely at both boys' knees you can see the sagging at the knee of the stockings. The bulge on the younger brother appears that he is wearing ankle length underwear whereas the older brother appears to have something more knee length. The trousers are not identical, the older brother wearing darker trousers than the younger brother. I assume they are both gray but different shades, but they could be another color. The older brother has knee buttons running down the side of his trousers, I don't see any on the younger boy's. The shirtwaists appear to have linen collars that attached to bands on the shirtwaist neck. The younger brother has a shirtwaist where the placket buttons are visible. The older brother may have one where the buttons are hidden. (it is too hard to tell). The box pleats are identical which makes me think the shirtwaists are too, but I cannot be certain,. The brothers wear bowties but they are not identical. Both boys wear similar but not identical hair styles. The older brother's part is on the left side near the center of his head while the younger brother has what looks like a center part."
Shirt waists were popular in the second half of the 19th century and very early 20th century. Do not be confused. Shirt wausts were not just shirts. They were also blouses. The detachable collar was invented in the mid-19th century. We believe that this was when the shirt waist appeared, but we are not yet sure about this. The detachable collar was a response to the drugey of wash day. It was the collar that would get dirty the fastest. Having a detachable collar meant that men and boys could replace the collar and continue wearing the shirt waist. We also believe that it was at first a garment for men and boys. Women at mid-century were more likely to wear dresses, especially fashionable city women. This would change at the turn of the century when the ready made shirt waist became a virtual uniform item for working-class women. Covering boys shirt waists is a little difficult. We only begin seeing large numbers of images with the CDV by the 1860s. And by this time. Boys almost always when they are having their portraits taken were wearing suit jackets. Thus we do not get to see much of the shirt waist. We only get to see is the coilars--which was not even part of the shirt waist. We do not believe in everyday life that boys always wore jackets, but the 19th century photograohic record is largely studio photography. Which means this is what we have to go on. This changes with the turn-of-the 20th century. The Kodak Brownie created the family snapshot as a major paet of the photographic record. Soon after the snapshot appeared, the shirtwaist and detachable collar began going out of style. Here it wa not just fashion that was involved, but a huge change in wash day. The invention of detergents and washing machines maent that wash day was no longer a huge effort. And there was no longer a need for detachable collars.
