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The sailor style was the most popular style of tunic in the United States. Tunics were worn throughtout the 19th century. We do not note sailor tunics, however, unil about the turn-of-the 20th century. Some tunics like the one seen here does not seem to fit into any specific style, but is in fact a fancy sailor tunic. Sailor collars had the prominent "V" front and back flap and were very popular. Many had other features of sailor styling. Other sailor tunics only had the basic "V" feature. There were substantial variations in the styling of the sailor tunics. Some were done with traditional styling or some resemlance to it. We also note sailor tunics done with elaborate lace and ruffle trim. These fancy tunics were of course dressy garments reserved for special occassions. The age range for sailor tunics was a little wider than for tunics suits in general. Sailor tunics were often made in larger sizes than the other tunic styles. The older boys who wore tunics normally the sailor styles. Russian blouse tunic did not have collars. Buster Brown tunics had a wide white collar. Many tunics had prominent belts. They were oramental without any real purpose. Sailor tunics were widely worn in America during the early 20th century.
The sailor style extremely popular in the late-19th and early-20th century. There were a variety of saiolor garments dyring this period. One of these was the sailor tunic. It was the most popular style for the tunics many boys wore in the United States. Tunics were worn throughtout the 19th century. We do not note sailor tunics, however, until about the turn-of-the 20th century. They may have cappeared in the very late-1890s, but we have not yet found examples before the turn-of-the century. We notice numeous examples from the 1900s and 1910s. We see tunics advertized in mail order catalogs duting the 1900s.Some tunics like the fancy one seen on rthe previous page about 1910 does not seem to fit into any specific style, but is in fact a fancy sailor tunic. There is no stripe detailing, but the "V" front collar is a sailor style. Sailor tunics were widely worn in America during the early-20th century. A good example is the Hubbard brothers in 1913. Mother dressed all the younger boys in sailor tunics. Another example is Theodore Roosevelt Johnson in 1912. We continue to see tunics advertized in mail order catalogs during the 1910s. We still see some after Workd War I in the1920s, but they were not nearly as common as before the War.
Sailor collars had the prominent "V" front and back flap and were very popular. We see countless tunics duting the 1900s and 10s with these sailor tunics done in a variety of styles. We almost always see the front-V, butrarely back views to see he back flaf. Somne times the front-V is shallow ooking rather like a sports collar which were becoming popular for blouses abnd shirts, but this is less common than the full-frontal V-collar. We commonly note dickies, except withb the tuics done similar to sportys collars. Many of these tunics had other features of sailor styling. Other sailor tunics only had the basic "V" feature. Many had marching sailior scarves, but done looking somewhat like a short, wide tie rather than the loosely tied carfe more commonly wiorn with American sailor suits. There were substantial variations in the styling of the sailor tunics. Some were done with traditional styling or some resemlance to it. We also note sailor tunics done with elaborate lace and ruffle trim. Russian blouse tunic did not have collars. Buster Brown tunics had a wide white collar. Many tunics had prominent belts. They were oramental without any real purpose. One rarely sees tunics without the belts, regardless of the styles.
Sailor tunic suits came in several different colors. The most common was white. We also note white tunics with blue trim, including stripes. We also note quite a few blue tunics. The blue was done in various shades. The boy here is probably wearing a light-blue suit (figure 1). We also notice red whichh was also commonly used for detailing. There were also brown and grey suits. These colors were popular as play suits because they did not show the dirt as much as white suits. Other colors were less common. This is a difficult topic to research because the photographs were black and white. We have found some colorized portraits and some infirmation is available from catalogs.
The usage for sailor tunics varied substantially depending on the and material. Boys might wear these tunic suits rasther tyhan a formal suits worn by other boys. The fancy tunics were of course dressy garments reserved for special occassions. The sailor tunics could be used for both dressing up and play. We see quite a few images where tunic suits seem to be used as the boys' dress up garments. White tunics were a popular color for the dress-up tunics. This included both dressy lace trimmed tunic and sailor-styled tunics. Tunics were also done as play garments in a range of styles and and colors. These were often the colored tunics. We see a few younger boys wearing these tunics to school, but not very many. Tunics were on the outer range for all but the youngest primary school boys. We see very few in the available school photography. This had become a major source of fashion information for children's clothing. The pants were done as both knee pants and knickers. Some older dressy tunics might become play tunics.
The sailor tunic and other tunic suits were a boys' garment. We have not noted girls wearing them, but some dresses were styled rather luke tunics making it difficult to differentiate. The girls, however, would not wear the knee-length bloomer knickers like the boys.
We note sailor tunics in America made in sizes from about 2 1/2 to 8 years of age in available catalogs. This varied over time and from catalog to catalog. This range is confirmed by the photographic records, although they seem most popular for pre-school boys about 3-5 years of age. The age range for sailor tunics was a little wider than for tunics suits in general. Sailor tunics were often made in larger sizes than the other tunic styles. The older boys who wore tunics normally the sailor styles. We have seen sailor tunics made in sizes up to age 8 years in catlogs. We note mothers often dressing boys in matching sailor tunics. If the older boy was over 7-8 years old, mothers might buy an ordinary saoilor suit for the older boy. She might or might not attempt to coordinate the color or styling.
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