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Tunics were a popular garment for boys in both Europe and America. We believe Austrian boys wore tunics in the 19th century, but still have very limited information at this time. Our Austrian 19th century archive is still very small. We believe that Austrian boys commonly wore tunics in the early- and mid-19th century, but have few details at this time. Our impression is that tunics were more of an upper- and middle-class style. Avaiable images of peasant children show no indication of tunics. We note the Redtenbacher boys in a portrit by Gabriel Decker duing the mid-19th century. The two older boys wear tunics, one is a plain brown tunic, the other a Scotish plaid. The waists utilize cords rather than the more military-looking belts. A second Decker portrait of an unidentified father and son painted at about the same time shows another tunic, this time a blue checked tunic. We do see boys wearing tunic suits in the early-20th century (figure 1). Younger Austrian boys may have wore tunic suits in the early-20th century. Caution is necessary in using commercial postcards as fashion indicators. They may have been a better indicator of how mothers wanted to dress their sons and how ordinary Austrian boys were actually dressed. We have found some actual portraits, but our Austrian archive is not large enough to know how common they were. HBC believes that the primary fashion influence for this style was France. It was also a popular style in America. Austrian boys, like French boys commonly wore tunics with with short socks, unlike American boys who more commonly wore long stockings when not wearing long pants, although tunics during the summer were a bit of an exception. It was also a popular style in America. We know that that Crown Prince Otto wore a white tunic with short pants during World War I. Presumably this affected the popularity throughout the Empire, but I can not yet confirm this. Of course the monarchy fell at the end of the War.
Tunics were a popular garment for boys in both Europe and America. We believe Austrian boys wore tunics in the 19th century, but still have very limited information at this time. Our Austrian 19th century archive is still very small. Austria is a small country and as best we can tell the tunic was worn by just the affluent urban population. So the number of paintings and photographs is only a fraction of larger countries. We believe that Austrian boys commonly wore tunics in the early- and mid-19th century, but have few details at this time. Our impression is that tunics were more of an upper- and middle-class style. Avaiable images of peasant children show no indication of tunics. We note the Redtenbacher boys in a portrit by Gabriel Decker duing the mid-19th century. The two older boys wear tunics, one is a plain brown tunic, the other a Scotish plaid. The waists utilize cords rather than the more military-looking belts. A second Decker portrait of an unidentified father and son painted at about the same time shows another tunic, this time a blue checked tunic. We do see boys wearing tunic suits in the early-20th century (figure 1). Younger Austrian boys may have wore tunic suits in the early-20th century.
Caution is necessary in using commercial postcards as fashion indicators. They may have been a better indicator of how mothers wanted to dress their sons and how ordinary Austrian boys were actually dressed.
We have found some actual portraits, but our Austrian archive is not large enough to know how common they were. HBC believes that the primary fashion influence for this style was France. It was also a popular style in America.
Austrian boys, like French boys commonly wore tunics with with short socks, unlike American boys who more commonly wore long stockings when not wearing long pants, although tunics during the summer were a bit of an exception. It was also a popular style in America.
We know that that Crown Prince Otto wore a white tunic with short pants during World War I. Presumably this affected the popularity throughout the Empire, but I can not yet confirm this. Of course the monarchy fell at the end of the War.
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