|
We have only limited information on styling at this time. Our archive is too limited to develop this tpoic to any extent at this time. The tunics worn in the early- and mid-19th century were destinctive to those worn at the turn of the 20th century. Our information on styling is still limited. We know relatively little about tunics in the early 19th century before the development of photography. We note quite a range of styles at the mid-19th century. We see some tunics that were very plain and others that had detailing such as highighted colored strips. Tunics were worn with and without belts. We are not sure how to describe the styling of many of the tunic images we have vfound, especially the 19th century tunics like the one here. At the turn of the 20th century we see tunics like the Buster Brown suits worn in America. Both the sailor style and Russian blouse style were popular. We see many tunics being worn with Eton collars, but none that can ve otersise idebtified as Eton styling.
We are not sure how to describe many of the English tunics we have found. And there were bquite a few in the19th century. The tunic the boy here is wearing is a good example. one boy here is wearing is a good example. The best we can come up with at this time is a dress styled tunic. They would be plain dresses with boyish collars/necklines, and long sleeves. We see boyish elements like Eton collars and floppy bows. This of course varied chronoloically depending on collar and neck styles. Boys wore these tunics with pants, including knickers, knee pants and long pants which was not the case for dresses. Some boys may have worn them with pantelettes in the first half of the 19th century. This was during a period with limited photographicv coverage so it is difficult to assess. Girls did wear pantalettes with dresses. This is our preliminary assessment for these tunics. We may eventually find a better way to cateorize these tunics.
We notice some tunics done with the same styling elements we see on Norfolk jackets. We see both belts and vertical elements. Only the boy is wearing a tunic rather than a jacket. They may have front buttons, but they look more like decorative elements than actual button closures. It is hard to be sure from just a photograph. These tunics look a little like a collar bittoning jacket, but more like a tunic. We have not found many examples of these tunics, but we have found a few. They seem to have been popular in the early-20th century.
One eleement of styles was length. We note tunics of all lengths from short lengths just a little below the waistline down to lengths all the way down to the ankles. We do not have a complete set of images to investigate, only a few images for the first half of the 19th century. Once photography became available, we have acquired some images for the second half of the century, although not large numbrrs. For this period we see all the different lengths being worn. We are not yet sure how lengths varied chronologically during this period. Our English archive is still limited. The really long lengths see popular at mis century. After that we see shorter lengths. including very short lengths. These were less common in America. Afe seens unrelated to length. The length was simply a reflection of mother's fashion proclivities. Tunics were also worn in America, but we do not see the really short and long tunics in America.
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main English tunic page]
[Return to the Main English garment page]
[About Us]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
