Figure 1.--We do not see many images like this in the 1890s. Suddenly because of the Kodak Brownie, we see countless family images like this one in the 1900s decade. While the children are unidentified, they are clearly two boys and two girls. Images like this provide us for the first time views fashion trends outside the photographic studio.

Blouses today are almost entirely a garment worn by boys. In the 19th century and the early-20th century, the blouse was primarily worn by boys. This was because in the 19th century, girls mostly wore dressers and this included when they were dressing up as well as for school and casual wear. This is rather difficult to assess because in the 19th century, photography was mostly studio based. The family snapshot did not yet exist, although by the 1890s We are seeing more photography outside the studio, although still rarely casual family images around the home. This changed dramatically at the turn of the 20th century first in America because of the Kodak Brownie (1900). Suddenly we see large numbers of casual image of the children in and around the home. And the term snapshot was created to describe this phenomenon. The Kodak Brownie was soon followed by other companies and other countries. And in many of these new family snapshots we see boys wearing blouses and girls wearing dresses. Countless images from the decade show girls wearing dresses rather than blouses and skirts. Another factor was casual dress. We see this beginning slightly with many boys wearing just blouse without suit jackets. But the girls still mostly wear dresses rather than blouses and skirts. Not only the new snapshots, but school images provide a wonderful insight into 20th century fashion trends.

Created: 2:16 AM 4/16/2025
Last updated: 2:16 AM 4/16/2025