** vintage clothing French Zouave uniforms








Vintage Garments: French Zouave Uniforms


blFigure 1.-- This is an actual Zouave uniform, dating probably to the 1860s or 1870s. It consists of a red wool cut away jacket decorated with wide black piping, lined in orange ribbed cotton. One piece vest with false front with buttons at the right shoulder and side. Of gray wool decorated with black piping and a pair of red wool pantaloons lined in pink cotton, belt loops and suspender buttons. Numerous cryptic numbers and letters are stamped on the jacket lining. The colors here are more muted than some Zouave uniforms we have seen. And the pants do not seem as baggy as often depicted. We wonder if this could have been a Confederate Civil War uniform rather than a French uniform.

The Zouave uniform is one of the modst destinctive uniform worn in modern times. The name derives from the Zouaoua, a Berber tribe found in the mountains of the North African Jurjura range. The French in the process of colonizing Algeria raised the first battalion of Zouaves informally (1831) and latter recognized by the royal governmrent (1833). The first Zouaves were raised from the Zouaoua. As a result the uniforms reflected the native dress. Subsequently the Zouaves became a Force of French soldiers recruited from Algerian settlers. The units. however, retained the destinctive native-styled uniforms. The reputation of the French Zouaves resulted in the formatioin of volunteer Zouave units during the Amerucan Civil War (1861). The distinctive dress and dash of the Zouaves made them well known outside France and they were frequently portrayed in the illustrated publications of the period. Thus the exploits of the Zouaves were widely reported and their colorful uniform widely recognized. Miitary uniforms often influence both mens' and children's clothes. We Note that by the 1850s that cut-away jackets and bloomer knickers had become a basic fashion style for boys. We are not positive, but the French Zouave uniform may have been the primary fashion inspiration for this new style of boy's suit.

Historical Background

The Zouave uniform is one of the modst destinctive uniform worn in modern times. The name derives from the Zouaoua, a Berber tribe found in the mountains of the North African Jurjura range. The French in the process of colonizing Algeria raised the first battalion of Zouaves informally (1831) and latter recognized by the royal governmrent (1833). The first Zouaves were raised from the Zouaoua. As a result the uniforms reflected the native dress. The Zouaves played an important role in the French colonization of Algeria. They fought an important action at Mouzaia Pass and at Mitidja (1836). They were also involved with the siege of Constantine (1837). The French than began forming the Tirailleurs algeriens--the Turcos (1838). This became the principal unit for Muslim troops. The Zouave battalions became units of French soldiers. They consisted of three regiments (1852). The Zouaves of the Imperial Guard ere formed (1854). The French recruited the Zouves through voluntary enlistment. Zouaves units were not filled with conscripts. Men also transfered from other regiments. As a result of their performance in Algeria, the Zouaves acquired a reputation as tough fearsome fighters and were seen as an elite force in Algeria. Their actions received considerable attention in the French and foreign press. The Zouaves saw service in other French campaigns outside of Algeria beginning with the Crimean War (1854-56). They subsequently served in all of the major French military campaigns, including the Franco-Austrian War (1859), the Mexican Intervention to support Maximillian (1864-66), and the Franco-Prussian War (1870). French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War resulted in a major reform of the French Army. The Zouaves lost their status as an elite force of veteran fighters and became a conscript force recruited from French North African settlers, bith in Algeria and Tunisia. To fill out the ranks, conscripts were added from southern france. The Zouaves were expanded just before the outbreak of World war by men recrited from the Paris area. With the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, volunteer Zouave units were formed both in the North and South. The motivation was the martial reputation and dashing appearance of the French Zouaves. The uniforms varied some what from unit tonunit, but in all cases were destinctive and based on those of the French Zouaves, They were bright colored and might include a fez, emroidered jacket, vest, sash, and baggy trousers.

Garments

The basic Zouave uniform was the Berber-styled red fez ("chechia"), blue sash, braided blue jackets with vest (waistcoat), and bloomer-like red trousers. White trousers were apparently worn as a summer option. The four French regiments wore basically the same uniform, but were differentiated by different colored (red, blue, white and yellow) "tombeaus" or false pockets on their jackets. I believe the American Civil War Zouaves wore this basic color scheme, at least in the North. The blue jackets fit in with the blue uniforms of other Northern or Federal units. I'm less sure about the Southern or Confederate Zouaves.


Figure 2.-- This is an actual boy's jacket done in the style of a Zouave uniform. It was worn by a German boy, probsably in the 1860s. Although a little difficult to see, there are two garments here, the jacket and vest. Unfortunsately we do not know what pants were worn with the jacket here.

Embroidery

An important part of the decoration of these uniforms was emroidery. Often it was bright red emroidery on the blue jackets. The trfoil pattern seems to hsave been popular. This was, however, not always the embroidery style used on boys' suits. Many boys' cut away jackets had embroidered desisns.

Actual Uniform (1870s)

Here is an actual French colonial Zouave uniform, dating probany to the 1870s (figure 1). It consists of a red wool cut away jacket decorated with wide black piping, lined in orange ribbed cotton. One piece vest with false front with buttons at the right shoulder and side. Of gray wool decorated with black piping and a pair of red wool pantaloons lined in pink cotton, belt loops and suspender buttons. Numerous cryptic numbers and letters are stamped on the jacket lining. Typical of those uniforms worn by French and Algerian troops during the period of 1870-90. The colors here are more muted than some Zouave uniforms we have seen. And the opants do not seem as baggy as often depicted.

Boy's Jacket (1860s)

This is an actual boy's jacket done in the style of a Zouave uniform (figure 2). It was worn by a German boy, probsably in the 1860s. It was a blue jacket with elaborate red embroidery. Unfortunately we do not know what kinds of pants were worn with it.

Fashion Impact

The distinctive dress and dash of the Zouaves made them well known outside France and they were frequently portrayed in the illustrated publications of the period. Thus the exploits of the Zouaves were widely reported and their colorful uniform widely recognized. Miitary uniforms often influence both mens' and children's clothes. We Note that by the 1850s that cut-away jackets and bloomer knickers had become a basic fashion style for boys. We are not positive, but the French Zouave uniform may have been the primary fashion inspiration for this new style of boy's suit. This occured first in Europe, presumsably France, but soon soread to other countries, including the United States. White suits with cut-away jackets were very common, we note relatively few actual boys' Zouave suits.






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Created: 5:54 AM 6/9/2007
Last updated: 9:41 PM 6/9/2007