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The primary difference between a blouse and a shirt is that blouses do not have shirt tails. Although the name refers to the blousing affect at the waitline--which not all blouces had. HBC is unsure about whay American boys wore in the early 19th century. We notice blouses in the mid-19th century. They were often covered by jackets, but we can make out some details. Generally the collars were realatively small--sometimes so small that they can barely be seen. We also notice sleeves that balloon out worn with jackets that were cut below the elbows. A good example is the blouse worn by an unidentified boy in the mid- or late-1850s.
We still see fairly simple blouses in the 1870s. A good example is an unidentified Philadelphia boy.
Some of the early blouses that we can be more definitive about are the middy blouse and the Fauntleroy blouse. We noted sailor styles appearing in America by the 1860s, but they do not become a major style until the 1880s. Likewise, boys wore fancy blouses in the 1870s well before Mrs. Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy, but it was in the 1880s and 90s that the Faintleroy-craze occurred and the collars of the blouses reached enormous sizes and level of frills anf other detailing. A good example is an unidentified American boy in the 1890s. Another example is two New York City boys at the turn of the 20th century.
HBC is unsure about whay American boys wore in the early 19th century. Without photography it is difficult to tell. There are painted portrais of course, but the number is limited and the cost of paintings restricted the dunjects to the affluent--a relatively narrow segment of the population.
We notice an American boy, Thomas Sully, wearing an open-necked blouse with ruffled trim. in 1839. It ois, however, almost covered up by his tunic. We are not sire how common these blouses were in the late-1830s. The fact that Thomas came from a fashionable Philadelphia fanily may have been a factor here.
We notice blouses in the mid-19th century. They were often covered by jackets, but we can make out some details. Generally the collars were realatively small--sometimes so small that they can barely be seen. Younger boys might wear blouses wihout collars, but sewed on frills. We also notice sleeves that balloon out worn with jackets that were cut below the elbows. A good example is the blouse worn by an unidentified boy in the mid- or late-1850s. They sid not blouse out like the blouses of the 1880s. The term blouse was we think not yet used. We note many f these garments done with button styling. Other blouses just hung down and were not employed in holding up psnysd. Tunics were also popular at the time. It is often difficuklt to destunguish between tunics and blouses, in poart because so many photographs at the time primarily showed the subjects torso.
There was a major shift in the 1860s. We see many fewer boys wearing just vlouses without a suit jacket. Just wraring a blouse was very common ikn the 1840s and even more so in the 50s. But suddenly in the 1860s we see most boys wearing suit jackets or matching button-on outfits. This of course is what we see in the portraits, this may or masy not reflect how boys dressed every day, but there is definitely a notable shift in the studio portraits. This makes it difficult to assess blouses as so msny are covered by the jackets the boys are wearing. That said we have found a number of portraits where the boys are ust wearing blouses. The collars varied, but were generally small. Some blouses had no collar at all eexcept a kind of neck band. Sleeves were all long, but varied. Some sleeves were voluminous which was a popular 1850s style. We are not yet sure about the age cionventions. Younger boys wore them, but we are unsure about the upper age range. We are also not sure about gender variations. Most blouses seem to be white or light colors. We note far more colored and patterned blouses in the 1840s and 50s.
We still see fairly simple blouses in the 1870s. A good example is an unidentified Philadelphia boy.
Some of the early blouses that we can be more definitive about are the middy blouse and the Fauntleroy blouse. We noted sailor styles appearing in America by the 1850s, but they do not become a major style until the 1880s. Likewise, boys wore fancy blouses in the 1870s well before Mrs. Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy, but it was in the 1880s and 90s that the Faintleroy-craze occurred and the collars of the blouses reached enormous sizes and level of frills anf other detailing.
Sailor blouses and Fauntleroy blouses were very popular in the 1890s. The classic Fauntleroy blouses were for younger boys. These were the very fancy blouses that sometimes seemed to almost engulf small boys. There were not only large fancy collars, but also fancy trim down the front which could be admired when worn with tghe cut-away veklver jackets. . A good example is an unidentified American boy in the 1890s. Another example is two New York City boys at the turn of the 20th century. Not all fancy blouses were Fauntleroy blouses, but blouses with large fancy collars showing the Fauntleroy influence were widely worn by boys upop to age 12-13 years old. They commonly had large ruffled but not lace collars with back flaps. The collars were almost always rectangular. The Fauntleroy blouses worn by the younger boys were more varied. Unlike the Fauntleroy blouses which were usually white, these fancy blouses were for older boys were usually donr in colors or patterns. They were often worn without a jacket during the summer. When worn with a jaclet, it was not the cut-away jackets the younger boys wore, but regular single- or double breasted suit jackets.
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