Figure 1.--Here we have unidentified siblings about 5-7 years old. The boy wears a front-buttoning tunic. The girl wears white dress with a plaid waistband and bow. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1870s.

Buttons were used for both decoration and closures. This varied widely. As did the closures. We believe that tunics mostly had closings and were not poncho-like slip on garments. Tunics usually were closed with buttons. In fact they were often an imortant part of the styling of the tunic. This is a little difficult to tell because studio portraits are almost always taken from the front. And in the 19th century most photography was studio photography. Thus we casn not see the back of the available tunuic portraits. We believe that these were mostly back-closing garments. As best wee can tell the fitst tunics in the early-19th century were mostly back-buttoning. There were, howeverr, also side and front-closung tunics. A kind of angular/diagonal fastening was popular in the 1870s. This was primarily used for tunics. This was often done set off to the side rather than down the front. Buttons on one of the shoulders were a common feature.

Created: 7:00 AM 2/17/2023
Last updated: 7:00 AM 2/17/2023