Figure 1.-- This unidentified boy in 1912 wears a white tunic suit while plsaying outdoors with the fmily dog. The pine trees suggest the south. White does not seem all that practical for play, but we see many wehite tunic sduits in the photographic record. The twoo seem a great pair and we suspect they had a lot of fun together.

The major trends at work in the 1900s played out in the 1910s. Dresses for boys became much less common, although we still see some, mostly very young boys wearing them. Kilt suits disappeared completely, but we still occassonally see little boys wearing very plain dresses, This development is notable in both catalogs and the photographic record. The tunic suit became popular at the turn-of-the 20th century. We continue to see boys wearing tunic suits in the 1920s. We see some variastion in styling with some older boys wearing shorter-length tunics well above their knees. They were done in vsarious colors, but white tunics are very common in the photograpohic record. Here home sewing may have been a factor. The tunic worn with bloomer knickers were a very flexible garment. There were worn both for play and when dressing up. Some younger boys even wore them to school. We see pants becoming increasingly important for younger boys. Most school-age boys wore knickers. And unlike dresses and kilts, tunic suits were worn with bloomer knickers. Most were bloused above the knee, but some were worn with straight-leg knee pants as well.

Conventions

Younger boys for centuries were dressed like their sisters. This varied from country to country, but was commin in Europoe and also in America. This was prevalent in the 19th century, although we seea destinct declkimn in the 1890s and far fewer any younger boys wearin skirted garment in the 1900s. In virtually a blink of an eye, a convention which was prevalent fir centuries suddenly passed away. And did so without any fanfare or commrent. Without any real fanafare. By the 1910s this conventiion had largely disappeared with one major exceotion--tunic suits. Tunics had been worn in the 19th century, but were not all that common. Then for some reason which we do not fully understand becamr very connon at the turn -pf the 20th century and were commonly won in both the 1900s and 10s.

Why the Change?

It is still not know why this conventioin chanmged. Some fashion conventiond persist for centuries. Othr changed very rapidly. It is especially interesting why suvch a long established cvonventioin changed so dramatically in such a short period of time. This was not just an American development. It occurred at the same time in Europe as well. We know why boys wore dress. It is less clear why they stopped. This is another issue that we have not seen addressed in other sources. Here we can only speculate at this time. It may relate to changing attitudes toward childhood. Children were regarded as asexual beings until Freud's work in the late-19th century. We are not sure, however, to what degree this had penetrated the popular mind. Freud's work, however, was affecting professional thought. Another factor is public education. Younger children were no longer closeted within the family, most boys began school at age 6 years. They could not wear dresses to school. And their little brothers would not be happy wearing dresses. Modern media exploded at the turn-of-the century. Newspapers and magazines could print photographs for the first time. Movies began to become popular. This meant that popular fashion became increasingly pronounced, leaving less latitude to the doting mother. The development of rubber training pants may have been an important factor. One researcher suggests that the earlier Little Lord Fauntleroy craze was a factor. Mothers rushed to breech their boys so they could wear Fauntleroy suits. And perhaps those grown up boys remembering the indignities of the Fauntleroy suit, involved themselves in how their younger sons were dressed to a greater degree than their fathers. A reader writes, "Some people at the time, most prominently President Teddy Roosevelt, were stressing that boys had to be "real boys". [Nugent] The word "sissy" then began to be used more frequently. People become more gender conscious, promoted by advertising companies. As I said in an earlier e-mail, did the people want gender differentiated garments/shoes, or was it the companies' profit motives?"

Specific Garments

There were several different skirted garments that boys wore. Dresses and skirts were the major skirted garments. Dresses were the oruginal skirted garment, evolving from medieval robes. We are less sure when skirts became important, but they were clearly important by the 19th century when photography first appeared. And kilt suits appeared in America during the mid-19th century (1850s). We see large numbers of Ameriucan booys wearing them> Actually one than dresses in the ohoyogrphic record. They were popular until the turn-of-the 20th century. Smocks were never of any importance in America for boys or girls. Pinafores were widely worn, but almost entirely girls. The only skirted garment we continue seeing boys wearing to any extent in the 1910s was tunic suits. .

Created: 7:13 PM 2/11/2010
Last updated: 12:28 AM 6/30/2021