Figure 1.--An American boy in 1838 is pictured here with his sister, Frances and Charles Cowdry. The painter is Henry Walton. Notice the large lace collar and puffed sleeves.

I have little information about mid-19th Century tunics. I believe that after the 1850s they became less popular until reappearing in the 1890s. However, my knowledge on tunics during this period is very limited. They were worn during the middle 19th Century. I have noted them both in America and England and believe they were worn throughhout Europe, although I have few European images from this period. Boys wore tunics to school during this period as images exist with boys carrying book bags. Double breasted styling was introduced on many children's garments during the mid-19th Century. This included double breasted styling on boys' tunics.

Chronology

Russian peasants wore tunics wore tunics thtoughout the 19th century. Tunics through the 1830s still had the destinctive look of early-19th century tunics. They might have open collars or elaborate ruffled collars. They were usually worn without bows and with pabtalettes for younger boys and long trousers for older boys. These styles began to change in the 1840s. A good example is an unidentified American boy, we believe in the 1840s. Another American example is Edward Edwards in the 1840s. We see the Russian aristocratic Gorchakov boys wearing what look like velvet tunics in 1848. The boys do seem to be wearing Russian peasant boy hairstyles. Another example is Alexander family in England during the mid-1850s. We note American George Oakley wearing a dancic tunic in 1856. We also notice English boy, John Denton, in 1858. We believe that after the 1850s they became less popular until reappearing in the 18709sand again in the late 1890s. This trend, however, varied from country to country. While the style declined in popularity, it did not disappear. They were worn during the middle 19th Century. Some styles began to change. Elaborate ruffled collars disappeared. Instead boys wore white, but not extremely large white collars. They were often worn with small bows or stocks. Belts began to become a stylistic element, Boys no longer wore them with pantalettes or long trousers, but instead knicker-length pants, usually with long stockings.

Figure 2.--This English boy was photographed in Shefield, England, probably in the 1860s. Note the school bag and cap, suggesting this is the clothes the boy wore to school. Note his cap on the table, it appears to be his school cap. Also note the hair knot type hair style.

National Trends

I have noted tunics both in America and England, primarily because of our greater access to images from those countries. A good example is an American boy Edward Edwards in the 1840s. Another example is the Alexander family in England during the 1850s. We believe they were worn throughhout Europe, although we have few European images from this period. We have seen French boys wearing tunics. A good example is the Caplain brothers in Paris about 1870. The tunic during this period may have been the inspiration for the French school smock. Here we are not sure.

Styles

Tunics continued to be back buttoning. We see a lot of front-buttoning tunics in America. There were a large number of varied styles. One common feature was an ornamental belt. A good example is Edward Ewwatds in the 1840s. I'm not sure why these velts were so common. I think it was mean gtto provide an element of military styling. Double breasted styling was introduced on many children's garments during the mid-19th Century. This included double breasted styling on boys' tunics. We notice diagonal styling appearing in the mid-1860s. A good example is an Americam boy, Thomas K. Christie in 1867.

Colors and Patterns

We note tunics done in solid colors. Unfortunately the black-and-white photograhy of the day does not reveal the actual patterns. We also note patterns, especially plaid. We note one American boy wearing a very bold paid pattern.

Pants

Tunics in the early 19th century were worn with long pants, often matching the tunics. Younger boys might wear pantalettes, somtimes even trimmed in lace and ruffles like their sisters. A good example is a painting by Rebecca Solomon of an idealized Victorian family in the early-1850s. Tunics at mid-century were mostly worn with below the knee, usually baggy knickers. The knickers often had styling details like buttons or piping. This contrasts with the very plain knickers worn with tunic suits at the the turn of the 20th Century.

Footwear

Shoes

Stockings

Boys almost always wore long stockings with their tunic suits. Rarely did a boy in tunics have bare legs, unlike younger boys still in dresses who might have bare legs. The stockings were commonly white. Some boys even wore red stockings. The dark stockings so common by the 1880s were not yet an established convention.

Bows

Boys at mid-century did not wear bows with their tunics. They did begin wearing tunics with closed-neck collars that were worn with tied stocks that look rather like bow ties. These ties were almost always realtively small. The large bows did not appear until the late 1870s and 80s.

Figure 3.--This is a difficult image to date. The double breasted tunic looks like a 1860s style and the large bow like a 1880s style. The photograph was probably taken in the 1870s.

Hair

Boys in tunics at mid-century generally had short hair. There were, however, many exceptions. One English image shown here has a school boy wearing a kind of hair knot. The Tennyson boys wore long uncurrled hair with their tunics.

Conventions

Boys in the early 19th century might wear tunics to school. This continued to be the case at mid-century, although I do not know how common it was. Images exist of boys during this period in tunics with boys carrying book bags. The image I have is English, but I believe this was also true of other countries.