Figure 1.--This unidentified American boys wears a sailor nlouse with what look like bloomer knickers. The postcard-back portrait is undated, but was probably taken in the 1910s. He has white three-quarter socks and strap sghoes. |
|
Tunic suits after the turn-of-the 20th century became very stylish for younger boys. Tunic were worn throughout the 19th century, but only in the very late-19th century do we see sailor tunics. They were much more common in early-20th cenyury. We see them worn with a variety of pants, but by a large margin the great majority of American boys wore them with bloomer knickers. These were a type of knickers, but made in a lighter-weight fabric than normal knickers and with draw-string closures. They were made in different styles. The most popular were sailor tunics. we see a number of suits made with bloomer knickers which were mostly worn with as part of tunic suits. The styling varied substantially with tunic suits. We note some traditinal stripes, but there were a wide range of other sailor motifs. All of the styling was done on the tunic itself. The bloomer knickers were very plain and done without any detailing. They were lsrgely covered by the tunic. These were bloused with draw strings. Large numbers of boys wearing sailor tunucs are archived in HBC. An example is Harold Howes in 1907. Some boys also wore wore sailor blouses with these bloomer knickers. They were often worn just above the knees, but we also see them just below the knees. It is not always wasy to tell if the knickers are regular or bloomer knickers. They were commonly worn with three-quater socks and long stockings. Strap shoes were often worn.
A reader writes, " I am looking at this boy in a slightly oversized sailor suit thinking that this is probably his first non tunic/dress styled outfit (figure 1). If you notice catalogs of the era, younger boys tended towards the tunic
suit while older boys wore the blouse suit. There was a great deal of overlap between the transition but it is noticeable. Notice the tunic and blouse suits offered for youngr boys in 1914, about the same time the boy's portrait here was taken. Knee pants were offered, but bloomer knickers seem much more common."
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to the Main U.S. sailor suit pants page]
[Return to the Main U.S. individual sailor suit garment page]
[Return to theMain U.S. sailor suit garment page]
[American]
[English]
[French]
[German]
[Italian]
Other Related Pages:
[Sailor suits]
[Kilts]
[Smocks]
[Pinafores]
[Sailor Hats]
[Blouses]
[Ring Bearers]
[Long hair]
[Ringlet curls]
[Hair bows]
[Bangs]
[Collars]
[Bows]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]