Figure 1.--Some boys in the 1950s and 60s wore their collar buttons closed. Some mothers saw it as proper to do so. Also notice the btton-down collar on the boy at the left.
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Figure 1.--Some boys in the 1950s and 60s wore their collar buttons closed. Some mothers saw it as proper to do so. Also notice the btton-down collar on the boy at the left. |
Boys have worn a variety of shirt styles. Some of these styles relate to the collar of the shirt. These have varried from the different styling such as western, Rugby, school, and a wide variety of other styles. Some styles like bush shirts are associated with specific countries like Australian. Other relates to the use of buttons and the existence of tails. One popular syule for younger boys was button-on shirts. There have also beem variations in usage, such as the development of important casual styles. Many of the different styles relate to the collars on the shirts, but the colars were not the only stylistic element. Some of these styles like the "buton-down" have endured over decades while others like the "shirt-jac" only lasted a season or two.
We note several different specific styles of shirts.
A HBC reader tells us, "I have prepared an e-Book on how to make "bush shirts". It unzips into a folder containing the e-Book and the pattern. The e-book unzips itself into any folder
you nominate, and also puts a shortcut onto the desktop. The system used is called 'keeboo' and it is used extensively in France and Canada."
Some shirts for boys in the first half of the 20th century were made in the button-on style. This mean that the shirts relatively largecbutton sewn at the waistline. These buttons could thn be buttoned onto the boys pants, usually short pants, making a belt unecessary. This style was considered practical for younger boys. The button on-shorts were generally made in sizes up to about 10 years of age, occasionally for larger sizes.
The terminology has never been precise on knit shirts, especially polo-shirts. I remember some t-shirts being described as polo shirts in Sears catalogs, and turtlenecks being called polo necks in English catalogs. I don't think that the polo shirt was finally regularly called a polo shirt until the 1980s. This was but that was the same time as when Ralph Lauren trademarked "Polo", so some other companies avoided using the term "polo shirt".
Rugby shirts are shirts where the front buttons only go half way down the front of the shirt. The grey school shirts worn by English boys during the 1950s included some with Rugby styling. They were a popular school uniform shirt in England and commnly worn with ties like other grey shirts for everyday school wear. (White shirts with normal styling were for special occasions.) Repton and Litchfield shirts were similar. (Repton is another English Public school.) While these shirts went out of fashion in England during the 1960s, they are still regular wear at New Zealand schools. Casual shirts with Rugby styling were also worn for football in the school colors. For actual Rugby matches they were worn with short grey
flannel short pants. These shirts with the horizonal-striped "T" shirts in bold colors with a white collar and partial front buttons became very popular in America during the 1970s-80s. They became a popular casual style for American boys during the 1970s.
Some designers marketed a shirt without tais that did not need to be tucked in. One company called it the Shirt Jac. One HBC contributor reports, "Several boys I
went to school with told me teachers (especially gym teachers) insisted that the shirt jacs be tucked in just like shirts with tails. They evidently found the look too sloppy. Possibly some parents felt the same way. It wasn't a very commom look." Shirt Jacs weren't well received, but how often did one hear a mom or teacher tell a boy "Tuck in your
shirt!" during the 1950s and 60s. It was fine to leave your shirt tail out (if you were one of the boys), but wear a shirt jac? No.
An important new style which appeared in the mid-20th century was the sweatshirt. HBC has not yet developed information on this imprtant garment. We believe it has American oigins. I can rember sweatshirts from the 1950s and even more commoinly in the the 60s. I suspect it may have been college athletic wear to begin with--but this is just a guess at this stage. Grey sweat shirts were at first very common. Then colored sweatshirts appeared with college and franterity logos. Later spprt team logos became very popular. Categorizing the sweatshirt is complicated. It is esentially a heavy "T"-shirt. It was at first worn for sports, but now more like a pullover sweater. We note that some English schools have substituted the school jumper with sweatshirts.
"T"-shirts and jeans are some of the most commonly worn clothes worn by modern boys. In is interesting to note that neither were commonly worn by American boys until after World War II (1945). Until the 1940s boys almost always wore shirts with collars, although collar styles had changed greatly over the years. These clothes did not reach Europe and Engand until the 1960s-70s. T-shirts became popular in America during the 1940s. The inital ones had bright horizontal stripes. There were both short and long sleeved styles. There popularity gradually
spread overseas. During the 1970s it became stylish to put logos on T-shirts. At first sport logos were popular. Corporate logo followed as did logos with social or a variety of other messages.
We first note turtle-neck shirts in the 1960s. I'm not sure if they were worn earlier as we do not yet have a full chronology. We notice turtle-neck sweaters much earlier, but shirts came later. Turtle necks were sometimes called "polos" in Britain.
A California reader writes, "A HBC page about the 1980s mentions that velour shirts were popular then. I remember velour shirts being very popular for a few years starting around 1964. Then they completely disappeared and I can't remember anyone ever wearing one for the rest of the time I was growing up. They were
long-sleeve, either V-neck or zip-up turtle neck and came in a very large selection of colors. A few boys wore a velour shirt every day."
We do not know the name of this shirt style. Hopefully HBC readers will be able to add some insights here. There is no vertical opening at all. There made have been some different arrangements. We note one arrangement with two buttons below the collar make the horizontal opening at the neck large enough that the shirt can slip over his head. We have noted boys in Scandinavia wearing this style of shirt in the 1950s, but have little additioinal information about it.
Some shirt types are different to descriminate from styles.
A variety of casually styled shirts have become fashion mainstays for the modern boy. There are two basic stylesm bith collared and collarless versions. Shirt styles such as "T"-shirts and polo shirts appeared in the mid-20th century and now have become favorires among boys. We start to notice some of these casual styled shirts in the 1930s, but they become much more common in the 1940s after World War II. "T"-shirts in particular now dominate boys' casual wear. An inovation in the 1970s was "T"-shirts with logos and messages. Another very popular causual shirt type is the knit shirt. A HBC reader reports that the HBC coverage of knit shirts is indeed sketchy. Considering what a dominant role
they have come to play in a boy's wardrobe, this is indeed a glaring omission. HBC hopes to rectify this and would be very interested in reader comments on knit shirts.
Some materials or fabrics have become associated with shirt styles. Perhaps the best example here is the flannel shirt, popular choice for American school boys during the winter. There were similar shirts made in corduroy.
One of the most destinctive element of a shirt is the collar. Collars have come in a wide variety of styles which have changed significantly over time. Boys' collars have varied from the elegant Fauntleroy lace collars of the 1880s to the preppy button down collars of the 1980s. These collar stles are mentioned above.
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