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We note Sears waist suits (Fall and Winter, 1926-27). Waist suits were very popular during the 1920s and 1930s. During the Depression of the 1930s mothers needed to save money and could do so by buying waist suits (three garments in one--undershirt, drawers, and waist for trousers and long stockings). These suits were sold for children from 2 to 13 years. The model boy shown here seems to be about 12 years old. These suits came in several
styles: Medium low or Dutch neck with short sleeves and knee length; Medium low or Dutch neck with short sleeves and ankle length; High neck, long sleeves, ankle length. All four styles have the typical waist union suit features
The Sears, Roebuck and Co., huge merchandising firm centered in Chicago was founded by Richard W. Sears (1863-1914) and A.C. Roebuck (1864-1948). Sears had begun a career in mail-order business in Minnesota 1886. In Chicago he and Roebuck joined resources and formed a corporation in 1893 as a mail-order business under title Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) bought Roebuck's interest in firm and became president on Sears's retirement 1908. A retail-store system was added 1925. The first foreign store added in Havana, Cuba during 1945 and becane te first expropriated store in 1960. The Sears-Roebuck brought the production of industry to the fartherest corner of rural America, opening the cornucopia of the consumer age to rural America. All the new things that were changing American life danced across their pages. Through it, a huge Chicago warehouse offers to modernize the farms and small towns of the Midwest.
Sears uses the term "waist suit". The term waist suit could have a range of meanings. This is one of many terms that was not sandardized in catalogs and advertisements. The Sears garment described here was actually a waist union suit.
In the early 1920s the waist union suit was developed and remained popular until the 1940s. This garment (for both boys and girls up until about the age of 13) combined the basic one-piece union suit, the standard form of children's underwear, with the underwaist (with reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs) so that a single garment could do duty for two. Wearing one layer rather than two made getting dressed easier, and mothers saved money by not having to buy both a union suit and an underwaist or garter waist. These suits were sometimes referred to as "combination suits." Waist union suits came in both summer and winter styles. The summer style was usually made of nainsook and was like a junior version of adult BVDs. It had short legs and was usually sleeveless so as to be cool. Usually the girl's summer style was a bit different from the boy's summer style, the latter having front buttons from the neck to the crotch. The winter style was knitted like ordinary union suits and could be had with short sleeves and knee-length legs or with long sleeves and ankle-length legs. All these garments, whether winter or summer, or whether for boys or girls, were equipped with waist buttons for outer clothing and tabs for hose supporters. Waist union suits normally had all the features of an underwaist plus the usual features of a summer or winter union suit. These went out of style in the mid-1940s when long stockings ceased to be widely worn and when garter tabs on underwear were no longer necessary.
We note Sears waist suits (Fall and Winter, 1926-27). Waist suits were very popular during the 1920s and 1930s. During the Depression of the 1930s mothers needed to save money and could do so by buying waist suits (three garments in one--undershirt, drawers, and waist for trousers and long stockings).
These suits were sold for children from 2 to 13 years. The model boy shown here in the Sears illustration seems to be about 12 years old.
These suits came in several styles: Medium low or Dutch neck with short sleeves and knee length; Medium low or Dutch neck with short sleeves and ankle length; High neck, long sleeves, ankle length. This was lasrgely a seasonal matter. These three styles were in white knit fabric. A fourth style, shown here, is mottled gray, with high
neck, long sleeves, and ankle length legs. These waist suits are heavy weight for the colder climates of the United States in 1926.
All four styles have the
typical waist union suit features--drop seat, reinforcement straps over the shoulders, waist buttons for trousers or skirts, and tape loops at the sides for fastening hose supporters for long stockings.
The Sears ad copy read, "74 cents Each Suit. Heavy, Warm Cotton Waist Suits. Your Choice of
Four Styles.
White:
16F7094--Medium low (Dutch) neck, elbow sleeves, knee length.
16F7085--Medium low (Dutch) neck, elbow sleeves, ankle length.
16F7087--High neck, long sleeves, ankle length.
Each suit 74 cents.
[Some mothers preferred the low or "Dutch" neck for children,
particularly girls, who didn't want their underwear to show under
open-necked dresses or shirts. Other mothers preferred the high neck
style for greater protection during winter, especially if the boy or
girl would be wearing buttoned up shirts or high-necked sweaters or
dresses.]
Clean Mottled Gray:
16F7096--High neck, long sleeves, ankle length.
Each suit 74 cents.
Ages, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 years. State age. Shipping
weight, 11 ounces.
We honesty believe these to be the greatest values known today in waist
suits. An extra fine grade of cotton has been used and all the
trimmings have been especially selected. Has a soft brushed fleecing
on the inside, all seams are flatlocked, and all sizes are full and
roomy. Buttons down front to crotch. Drop seat. [Reinforced tubular
straps over shoulders and under the arms to support trousers and skirts
and long stockings. Tape loops at sides for attaching hose
supporters.] These suits are practical for both boys and girls."
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