Figure 1.--This German boy from Hamburg wears a tunic with clear sailor styling. This partcular one has a lacy edging. The portrait is undated but looks to have been taken about 1900. Image coutesy of the BP collection.
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Figure 1.--This German boy from Hamburg wears a tunic with clear sailor styling. This partcular one has a lacy edging. The portrait is undated but looks to have been taken about 1900. Image coutesy of the BP collection. |
We have noted several styles of tunic suits worn by German boys at the turn of the 20th century, although they appear somewhat more limited than in America. We are just beginning to collect information on the different styles. Two important styles were the sailor style and the Russian blouse style. There were, however, other styles. The sailor suit was the most popular tunic style in Germany. One problem with identifying tunic suits is that they were often not detailed in traditional sailor styles. We note some sailor tunics that have been done with lace and ruffles and do not immediateky convey the sailor image. We have also noted Russian blouse tunic suits, but have realtively few images. We are not yet sure if tunic suits like the American Buster Brown suits were worn in Germany.
The sailor suit was the most popular tunic style in Germany. We have only noted a few sailor tunics, but this may be limited number of German images. Oner problem with identifying tunic suits is that they were often not detailed in traditional sailor styles. Note the boys on the previous page. These tunic suits had sailor styling and were easy to identify. The same is true of the boy here (figure 1). The "V" colar and back flap is the most obvious stylistic feature. There are other features, but are often difficult to make out on the darker suits. We note some sailor tunics that have been done with lace and ruffles. This does not immediateky convey the sailor image, but tunic suits were of course done for younger boys.
We have also noted Russian blouse tunic suits, but have realtively few images. We notice the term Russian blouse used extensively as a fashion style. We note the style being used both for tunic suits and blouses. We are not, however, precisely sure how to describe it. It seems to be based on the kind of loosely fitting Russian serf costume that extended below the waist. It was often worn with a kind of strig/rope waist tie. Often they were done with decorative trim at the neck and sleeve cuffs. The collar was commonly tight around the neck, althoufgh there were many variations of this.
We have noted some tnics similar to American Buster Brown suits. We are not sure what these tunic suits were called in Germany.
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