Figure 1.-- Here we have a white sailor tunic. These white tunics seem to have been very popular for summer wear. We believe it is the tunic part of a tunic suit, but the pants are lost. The pants were probably white bloomer knickers, but knee pants were also worn. There is some embroidered white detailing on the back flap and sleeve, but this is difficult to see on the white suit. Click on the image to see the dickey with the two button holes..

The tunic had a detatchable dickey which as often at the time referred to as shield. I think it was called a shield because it often had an embroidered decoration. We note some dealers calling it a bib. It does look rather like a bob, but it is clearly a sailor suit dickey. It buttoned into place. The dickey gave the tunic a more dressy look. The tunic could be worn without the dickey for play in hot weather. Most portraits being formal show the boys wearing the dickies. Here we can se how they buttoned on in an actual tunic suit. The dickey buttoned togerger at the back of the neck. Two button holes at the front were used to secure the dickey to the inside of the tunic. This would have had to be secured before the boy pulled it over his head. This was not how all the dickies worked, but the available imasges show us how yhis one worked. We suspect it was a fairly common approach.