Figure 1.--Several boys at this one-room school n rural Tennessee wore fancy blouses, but just the younger boys. Click on the image to learn about the school. |
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Blouses were widely worn in the 19th century by boys of all social classes. We see boys at the turn-of-the 20th century still wearing blouses. Blouses with draw-string waists were very common. Catalog sizing and the photographic record suggests that boys up to age 12 commonly wore them. Social class was probably a factor here. We note boys at a rural school in Tennesse wearing fancy blouses, but only the younger boys. These fancy blouses become much less common in the 1910s. Blouses began to decline sharply after World War I, esopecially for school-age boys. Boys began wearing shirts rather than blouses in the 1920s. After World War II blouses were mostly worn by boys from affluent families, primarily by boys not yet of school age.
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