|
Tunics were normally worn as a kind of suit. The two principal garments were the tunic itself and the matching pants which varied chronologically. The pricipal garment is the tunic. We notice quite a range of tunics. . Styling different, but the basic garments were the same. We also note some tunic suits that had matching headwear. Boys mostly wore a variety of headwear that did not match. The excepion was sailor-styled tunics. These basic garments, however, were done in many different styles. The major garment in addition to the tunic itself were the matching plants thsat wnt with them. We have noted knee pants, but bloomer knickers were more common. We also notice a range of hosiery and footwear which also varied chronologically.
Many boys wore their tunic suits without headwear. This was certsainly the case with studio portraits. It was also the case with family snapshots which are a better relection of actual trends. Some tunic suits came with matching headwear, but no many excepot for the sailor styles. This was not tge case for many suits. Boys mostly wore a variety of unrelatred caps and to a lesser extent hats. We do see, however, a number of tunics being sold with headwear. This was particularly the case of sailor tunics. Often sailor caps were made in the same or cordinated colors. A good example is the floppy cap worn by Ellis Gray Holden in 1908. The enormous popularity of R.F. Outcault's comic strip character Buster Brown helped to associated broad-brimmed sailor hats with tunic suits, both Russian blouses and sailor tunics. The tunic suits were, however, were worn with just about every conceivable type of cap.
The principal garment in a tunic suit was obviously the tunic. Thre tunic have a variety of stylistic features. Tuics were worn for more than a century, unfortuntelt we have almost no information about features in the early-19th century. With the invention of photography we know much more about the fearures of tuics beginning with the mid-19th century. Most of the variations in the tunic were associated with the neck and sleeves. These could be done in various ways. The collar was in part a reflectin of the stle of tunic. Sailor tunics had saikloir collars. These were the most destinctive. There wee, however, many other tyoes of collars. The sleeves were mostly long sleeves. We also see half-sleeves. The half-sleeves were primarily home sewn. We do not see them offered in catalogs. There were, however, a variety of other variations. Many tunics were fairly standard basic garments. Others like the one here seem much more complicated. A major variation was the length of the tunic. We notice rather short tunics when we first see them in rarly photigraphs (mod-19th century). They were mostly knee length when they becane very popular in the early-20th century. Also there were variations in how the tunic closed which wwas done with buttons. We note both side and front buttoning tunics. We are not sure about back buttoning tunics. Front buttonig tunics generally buttoned vertically down the front, but in the 70 a diagonl buttoning sarrangement was popular. Manty tunics had belkts, epecially in the early-20th century.
In addition to the tunic itself there was some kind of bottom worn with the tunic, almost always pants. We do not have much information about the early and mid-19th century. We think boys wore long pants with tunics. We know much more about the tunic suits worn at the mid-19th century and the turn of the 20th century. For some reason we fon't note many tunic outfits in the late 19th century. By the mid-19th century we notice tunics being worn with knickers, commonly above-the-knee bloomer knickers. Different terms were used for these pants. Tunics were also worn with knee pants, but to a lesser extent. Here the knee pants seem different than standard knee pants. They seem to have used the lighter-weifgt material used for tinics rather than the heavier weight material commonly used for trousers. A related style, the Russian blouse suit was occasionally worn with long pants--mostly in the long pants variant. We notice tunics in the early 19th century being worn with both pants or pantalettes. When tunics became popular again at the turn-of-the-20th century, they were commonly worn with above-the-knee bloomer knickers. Less common were knee pants. While tunics were almost always worn with pants, we see a few boys wearing them with what look like skirts.
The hosiery American boys wore with tunic varied over time. We are nbot sure anout the early- and mid-19th century as boys commonly wore long pants with tunics. As we begin to see shortened-length pants we know much more about hosiery. Basically what we see are the popular hosiery styles during each chronological period. We do not see any hosiery types or styles specifically worn with tunics. We do not yet have information on the hosiery worn with tunics (early-19th century). Only with the invention of photographic do we begin to see examples of the hosiery worn with tunics. We mostly see long-stockings (mid- and late-19th century). There was a degree of variety during this period, but there ere some observeble trends. We note white stockings (1860s). We commonly see striped stockings (1870s). We see a lot of dark stockings (1880s-90s). At the turn of the 20th century we still see long stockings, often white long stockings with formal outfits. We also see mostly white three-quarter socks. Here noth seasonlity and formality were factors. As the tunic suit became popular as a play outfit, we also see boys going brefoot with tunic suits. We mostly see this in the early-20th century. We are not entirely sure that it was not the case in the 19th century, but the family snapshot showing boys in informal family situations only became prevalent at the turn-of-the 20th century.
We are not sure about the footwear worn with tuniuc suyits in the ewaely- abd mid-19th century. We know muchg more about the late-19th century. e see mostly hifh-top shoes. In the early-20th century we see both strap hoes nd sandals.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing hair style pages:
[Return to the Main long hair page]
[Return to the Main curl hair page]
[Bangs]
[Ringlet curls]
[Hair bows]
[Caps]
[Collar bows]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main American tunic garment page]
[Return to the Main American tunic page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
