The tunic is basically a rather simple garment with few elemets. The simplicity of the tunic made it popular with many mothers. Even so there were differnt elements and several features concerning those elements that made for stylistic differences among tunics. Most of the stylistic variations in the tunic were associated with the neck and to a lesser degree the sleeves. There were also variation in the opening/closure. These features could be done in various ways creating quite a substanbtial variation in styles. The belt was a virtually required element. We see very few tunics without belts of some kind. The belts also varied. The length of the tunic was also an important variant and varied chronologically..

Collar

The collar was in part a reflectin of the stle of tunic. Sailor tunics had sailor collars. These were the most destinctive. There were, however, many other types of collars. Russian blouse collars wre also important. Buster Brown tunic suits wee perhaps the best know, in part bcause of Bjuster Brown Shoe advertisements and comic strips. Many collars such as Russian blouse tunics were tight around the neck. The boy on the previous page has a rather wide opn collar, but there are some collar features. We are not sure how to describe this one.

Figure 2.--This unidentified American boy wears a summer tunic with shirt sleeves and a wide belt. The bllomer knicker seem very full. The snapshot is undated, but looks to us like it was taken about 1920. The boy looks to be about 6 years old.

Sleeves

The sleeves for tunics seem fairly standard. We see mostly long sleeves. We see long sleeves on the vast majority of tunics in the photographic record. We also see half-sleeves like the boy on the previous page. There were also short sleeves. We think that the half-sleeves and the short sleeves were primarily home sewn. This is suugested by the fact that we do not see shortened sleeves in the catalogs. The tunic was a very simple garment and thus a popular item for home sewers. And we only notice them in the 20th century. We are not yet sure about the chronolgy. We suspect that they date to the late-1910s and early-20s, but can not yet confirm that. These half and short sleeves seem relatively rare. The lack of catalogs offerings and the rarity in the photographic record all suggest prevalence. There were a variety of other minor sleeve variations.

Opening/Closure

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. We have not noted them. Front buttoning tunics generally buttoned vertically down the front, but in the 70 a diagonal buttoning sarrangement was popular.

Length

A major variable in tunic construction was the length of the tunic. We have very few early-19th century tunic images, but some of them were quite long down to about calf level, but this varied. And because we have so few images, we can not at this time assess early length trends. There are just not enough early-19th century images. And unlike women's fashions, boys fashion was not a topic that inspired extensive comments in contemporary publications. So we have very little to go on. This only becomes possible with photography when it appeared (1839). We see rather short shirt like garments thay look like tunics at mid-century. We see these garments in the small numbers as the small numbrs early formats appeared. It is with the CDV that we begin to see really large numbers of images (1860s). Suddenly we have a huge photographic record to work with. And we see rather somewhat longer garments, mostly at about knee length. Tunics continued to be mostly knee length when they became very popular at the turn-of-the 20th century. The length of the 20th centiry tunics was fairly standards, about knee length. This changed at the end of the era, about (1915-25). Suddenly we see very short tunics that look mote like jackets. Rather than knee length, these tunics extended just below the waist. Anafter this last gasp, tunics disappeared from the fashion landscape.

Belts

Most tunics had belts. We see belts of some kind throughout the 19th and early-20 century. The belts had no practical purpose put on as they were around the tunic. The belt is a suspension garmentused to hold up trousers. But worn over tunics, there was nothing to hold up. And we have no idea why belts were so commonly worn with tunics. So it is interesting that they were so common for the more than a century that the tinics were popular. The belts were done in manydifferent material. Some matched the tunic or contrasted with it, often in the same material as the tunic itself. We can usully not tell the actual color, but can tll matching or conntrasting shades. Notice that the boy's belt has white piping at the edge on the previous page. We also see belts in diffrent material, including dark heavier material including leather. The belts also varied in how they were worn. Some were worn like regular belts, straight across the waist or above it. Others were designed to be longer abd fell down in front where they connected like the belt the boy on the previous page. In this case connecting with a button. They were never worn joining up, always down. While the great majoeity of tunics were worn with belts or waistbands, some boys wore tunics without these belts, but not very many. Given the purely ornamental function, it is surprising that they were so common. We believe that most of these blts were separate itens and unlike dresses, not conecting in the back.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main american tunic suit garment--tunic]
[Return to the Main American tunic suit garment page]
[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]

Created: 4:06 AM 7/27/2012
Last edited: 6:53 AM 2/23/2017