Figure 1.--There were a variety of options for a 4-year old boy like Tom age. Tom would not yet have begun schol and would have been called Tommy. Younger boys Tom's age might still wear dresses. This was common in the 19th century, but by the turn-of-the-20th century was beginning to go out of style. There were a range of options for a boy's Tom age. We believe that a likely outfit would have been a tunic suit.

There were a variety of options for a 4-year old boy like Tom age. Tom would not yet have begun schol and would have been called Tommy. Younger boys Tom's age might still wear dresses. This was common in the 19th century, but by the turn-of-the-20th century was beginning to go out of style. Tom might have also worn a kilt suit in 1900 (but not later in the decade). Many boy's Tom age by age 4 were already breeched in 1900. Thus another option was a Fauntleroy suit. Tom might also have worn a blouse. Blouses were white as well as colored or with patterns. Some were quite fancy. They were worn with kneepants, although a boy Tom's age might have worn a kilt skirt. Boys in rural areas might have gone barefoot, especially when waring kneepants. He might also have worn a sailor suit, because many manufacturers were making sailor suits beginning in size 3 or 4. One very popular garment for younger boys at the time was the Tunic suit. Even Teddy Roosevelt's younger son Kermit wore won. (Kermit was killed in France during World War I.) Thus we have chosen a white tunic suit for Tom. They were different styles. We have chosen the saior style. Tom wears a sailor cap with his tunic suit. They were done in various colors. A white one was a dressy outfits. The Tunic Tom wears here would have probably been his best summer suit. The colored ones were often for play. Tunics outfits were called tunic suits because they were made with bloomer knickers that matched. We have seen tunics with kneepants, especially in Europe. American boys mostly wore bloomer knickers with elasticised leg closures. Note the double strap shoes. There were different styles with different numbers of straps. Laster the single strap style would become more common, but there was quite a diversity of styles in 1900.

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Created: 10:53 PM 2/10/2005
Last updated: 10:53 PM 2/10/2005