German Suit Jackets: Blouse Jacket


Figure 1.--I'm not sure how to describe this suit. For want of a better term, we are calling it a blouse jacket.This is another suit for a younger boy. Blouses of course were a kind of shirt (without tails) for a girl or younger boy. It was worn with or without a suit jacket. We notice some boys wearing a blouses garment that was worn as more of a jacket with a shirt underneath. We have no information on this portrait except that the boy was probably froim Dresden, at least the portrait was thaken there. Note the straw boater hat. Also mote the striped stockings. We are not sure how to fate the portrait, perhaps the 1890s. Image courtesy of the BP collection.

This is another German suit for boys. We see these garments in other countries as well. We are not sure what it was called in Germany at the time. It is a kind of combination of a suit jacket and blouse. Blouses of course were a kind of shirt (without tails) for a girl or younger boy. IBlouses were worn with or without a suit jacket. We notice some boys wearing a bloused garment that was worn as more of a jacket with a shirtwaist or blouse underneath. This seems to have been a fairly popular style. We are not yet sure about the chronolgy, but the style seems most common in the 1890s and 1900s. We notice two types. Some had shirt-like collars. Others did not or at least were covered with large white collars like Eton collars. These jacket blouses were made with a suiting fabric rather than shirting fabric. The blouse-jacket and pants, usually knickers, matched. Like many early garments, we are not sure what this suit was called nor do we know the German term. It seems a type of button-collar jacket, but most of the collar buttoning jackets were not done with this waist bloucing affect. were not done with the bloucing affect as these. There was a drawstring in the blouse/jacket hem. We are calling this a blouse jacket, but if we learn of an actial period term we will rearchive it under that term. We prefer to use period terms when availavle and were fully accepted terms at the time. These jackets were normally worn with either kneepants or knickers. We are not sure about the chronology of these jackets. The portrait of the German boy here is undated, but probably had his photographed taken in the 1890s (figure 1). It was a style for school-age boys.

Terminology

German boys wore a wide variety of suits. Blouse jackets are one of the popular German suit style for boys. We see these garments in other countries as well. We are not sure what it was called in Germany at the time. Like many early garments, we are not sure what this suit was called nor do we know the German term. We are calling this a blouse jacket, but if we learn of an actial period term we will rearchive it under that term. We prefer to use period terms when availavle and were fully accepted terms at the time.

Construction

These blouse jackets are a kind of combination of a suit jacket and blouse. Blouses of course were a kind of shirt (without tails) for a girl or younger boy. IBlouses were worn with or without a suit jacket. We notice some boys wearing a bloused garment that was worn as more of a jacket with a shirtwaist or blouse underneath. There was a drawstring in the blouse/jacket hem. The draw-string waist was the destinguing feature of these jackets. We nitice many with vertical features similiar to Norgolk jackets.

Collar-buttoning Jackets

The collar-buttoning jacket was a major type of boys jacket style. Most of the collar buttoning jackets were not done with this waist bloucing affect. were not done with the bloucing affect as these. We note many younger German boys in the late-19th and early-20th century wearing plain jackets without lapels which buttoned at the collar. We do not know what this style of jacket was called in German. We are not sure if there is a specific name for these jackets either in German or English. We will use the term collar-buttoning jacket until we find a better term. They were, however, very commonly worn. These jackets were worn by younger boys. They were done in a variety of styles.

Shirt Waists/Blouse

These blouse jackers were not worn like a shirt garment. There seems to be a shirt waisr underneath. We do not see collars other than detachable collars, but we do shee shirts wauiss buttoning at the collar and with sleeves tv the wrist cuff.

Pants and Trousers

These jackets were normally worn with either knee pants or knickers. Here the boys wore the standard types of pants and triysers popular at the time. These blouse jackets were only worn for a relatively shirt prriod so the types of pants worn did not chsnge a great deal.

Chronology

We are not sure about the chronology of these jackets. The portrait of the German boy here is undated, but probably had his photographed taken in the 1890s (figure 1). We also note many examples in the 1900s. We are not sure about the other decades yet, but believe they were worn in the early 1910s. This still has to be confirmed. The problem is that many of the omages wec havde archived are undated and we can only estimate the dare.

Age

These blouse jackets seem to be a styke for school-age boys through to the hounger teems. It was a style for a younger boy. This boy here looks looks to be about 8 or 9 years old (figure 1). We have noted mostly school age boys from about 6-13 years of age wearing these jackets, but we hope to refine this assessment as HBC expands.

Popularity

This seems to have been a fairly popular style. We are not yet sure about the chronolgy, but the style seems most common in the 1890s and 1900s.

Types

We notice two types of these blouse jackets. Here we ate still assessing if the jackets were constructed differently or just worn differently. Perhaps our German reades will know more. And as we archive more images we will be able to learn more about this. The first tyoe had shirt-like pointed collars. They are essentially attached collars part of the jacket and made in the same material as the jacket and pants. They look like the collar buttining jackets only with the bloised waists. Here we can often see the shirt waists worn underneath. The second type did not have collars or at least the collars were covered with large white collars like Eton collars. Here we are are not entirely sure what is under the detachable collar, but it looks to us that here is no jacket collar there. This needs to be confirmed. We see both classic Eton collars as well as collars that had rounded rather than the pointed collars of the classic Eton. Here there was a considerable amountb of diversity. We mostly see large white-Eton k=loke ciollars. There may have been other detachable collars woen. We are still assessing that at this time. The white collars were worn both with and without floppy bows, usually fairly moderate sized bows.

Fabric

These jacket blouses were made with a suiting fabric rather than shirting fabric. The blouse-jacket and pants, usually knickers, matched.








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Created: 4:21 AM 9/22/2005
Last updated: 10:09 PM 7/26/2013