|
We have begun to work on American school tops, commonly called shirts. We note a range of shirt-like garments, including blouses, polo shirts, shirts, and shirt-waists wirn with detachable collars. And by the by the 20th century casual styles like T-shirts and polo shirts were worn, like the T-shirts we see here. Shirts are a difficult topic, especially in the 19th century when most boys were wearing suit jackets. We don't get to see much of the shirts. We have very little information on the early-19th century. With the advent of photography we know much more about the second half of the century. Still there are problems. Many boys just wore shirt-like blouses at mid-century. Some look rather like tunics. Colorful plaid are other patterns were common. While we have some information on these shirts, we do not know to what extent they were worn to school. Boys commonly wore jackets and vests, especially by the 1860s. And the jackets and vests commonly covered up the shirts. So all get to see in many instances is a little bit of white fabric peaking out at the collar. And as luck would have it the fashion at mid-century was for very small collars. Occasionally we see a bit of cuff as well. And by the late-19th century we begin to see school portraits which shows definitively what garments were worn to school. We see some Eton collars, but they were much less popular in America than Britain. We see boys wearing suits to city schools in the late-19th and early 20th century. School wear was more varied in rural areas. Overalls became a major item at rural schools worn with various shirts about 1910. This was about the same time that shirts waists and blouses were phased out and shirts became standard wear. School clothes gradually became more casual, first in primary schools and then in secondary schools as well. We see boys beginning to wear collarless shirts in the 1930s and they were very common by the 40s. They were, however, striped T-shirts both long a short sleeved were very popular. but far from universal and we also see boys wearing a wide variety of collared shirts.
Shirts or tops are a difficult topic, especially in the 19th century when most boys were wearing suit jackets. We don't get to see much of the shirts. We have very little informtion on the early-19th century. With the advent of photography we know much more about the second half of the century. Still there are problems. Many boys just wore shirt-like blouses at mid-century. Some look rather like tunics. Colorful plaid are other patterns were common. While we have some information on these shirt-like garments. we do not know to what extent they were worn to school. Blouses were very common, especially for grade school boys. Boys commonly wore jackets and vests, especially by the 1860s. And the jackets and vests commonly covered up the shirts. So all get to see in many instances is a little bit of white fabric peaking out at the collar. And as luck would have it the fashion at mid-century was for very small collars. Occasionally we see a bit of cuff as well. And by the late-19th century we begin to see school portraits which shows definitively what garments were worn to school. We see some Eton collars, but they were much less popular in America than Britain. We see boys wearing suits to city schools in the late-19th and early 20th century. This was about the same time that shirts waists and blouses were phased out and shirts became standard wear. After world War I boys shifted from blouses to shirts. School clothes gradually became more casual, especially after World war II (1939-45). This occurred first in primary schools and then in secondary schools as well. We see boys beginning to wear collarless shirts in the 1930s and they were very common by the 40s. They were, however Striped T-shirts both long and short sleeves were very popular. far from universal and we see boys wearing a wide variety of shirts.
School wear was more varied in rural areas. Overalls became a major item at rural schools worn with various shirts about 1910. During the summer, because of the bib-front some boys did not wear shirts at all.
We have begun to work on American school tops, commonly called shirts. We have begun to work on American school shirts. We note a range of shirt-like garments, including blouses, shirts, and shirt-waists worn with detachable collars. And by the by the 20th century casual styles like T-shirts and polo shirts were worn, like the T-shirts we see here.
Blouses were widely worn by American boys to school in the 19th century. The gender association with girls did not exist. As a result, the definition of blouses have changed. A blouse in the 19th century was a top or shirt-like garment worn by both boys and girls. The basic difference was that blouses were shorter garments that shirts and did nit have tails. The term blouse was acquired because the garment often bloused out at the waist. Without tails it was not tucked in. In fact it was designed that way, because children wire stocking supporters which held up both pants and skirts, but also long stockings. We do not know a great deal about early-19th century tops, but with the advent of photography (1840s), we know much more about the second half of the century. We see blouses at mud century, but soon most boys are wearing suit jackets to school. And all we see are the collars which tended to be very small. The collar sizes gradually increased until the they became really large and fancy during the Fauntleroy era. We still see boys wearing blouses after the turn-of-the 20th century, but they rapidly disappeared after World War II in the 1920s, al least for boys. They continue to be a major garment for girls.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
[The 1990s]
[The 2000s]
Navigate the Relate Boys Historical Clothing Style Pages
[Main country page]
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Lederhosen]
[Kneesocks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Return to the Main U.S. school regular garment page]
[Return to the Main U.S. school garment page]
[Return to the Main National School Uniform Page]
[Australia]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[Poland]
[Singapore]
[Scotland]
[Singapore]
[United States]
Navigate the HBC School Pagese
[Activities]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Debate]
[Economics]
[Garment]
[Gender]
[Hair]
[History]
[Home trends]
[Literary characters]
[School types]
[Significance]
[Transport and travel
[Uniform regulations]
[Year level]
[Other topics]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Return to the Historic Boys' School Home]
