Fashion in the 1910s, U.S.A.
Mode der 1910er, U.S.A.

More about the Marshall's clothing and general fashion in general in the 1910s (U.S.A.)

Children: The three Marshall boys underneath were dressed very similarly. All three would have worn union suits, depending on the season they would have worn either long or short sleeved and long or short leg suits. The two younger boys might have worn three-quarter socks during the summer and long stockings during the winter with the necessary stocking supporters. The older boy would have worn long stockings even during the summer. Of course many boys went barefoot during the summer, but this was affected by where they lived and social class. Some younger boys wore dresses, but this was much less common in the 20th century, especially by the 1910s. There were a variety of outfits for younger boys. Little boys and girls both wore rompers. A very popular style for boys' Tom age was the tunic suit. We also see many boys wearing button-on outfits such as Oliver Twist suits. School age boys like Carl (7) wore more mature styles. Sailor suits were still popular. Younger boys wore variously styled suits, often with straight-leg knee pants. Knickers had become popular in the 1910s and boy's John's age (12) would probably have worn a knickers suit.

Mehr über die Kleidung der Marshalls und generell Mode der 1910er (U.S.A.)

Kinder: ---

Underwear

-Children:
Union Suits: Union suits were still the main underwear style for both girls and boys during the 1910s although separate undershirts and ankle-length drawers were an alternative. The union suit is a close-fitting underwear garment. The term union refers to the fact that it involves the combination of both a shirt and pants (drawers) in a combined one-piece suit. The garment commonly included a drop seat with buttons for closing. The buttoning was a little different for the younger children. They had more buttons. There was a choice of short or long sleeves and a choice of length for the pants. This was necessary because some of the summer styles for the younger boys were garments like rompers, tunics or knee pants which were often worn with socks during the summer. Long-leg union suits would have been unsightly with bare legs. Another choice was whether the legs of the knee-length pants were close-fitting or loose. The wrists of all long-sleeve union suits were knitted elastically (like modern sweatshirts or sweaters).
Regular untaped union suits were for any age of a boy or girl and were essentially the same as what father wore.

Seperate Shirt and Drawers: During the 1910s separate undershirts and drawers were available but union suits were still the main underwear style for children. Many drawers were ankle-length, but some models had legs that just covered the knees. Probably the ankle-length type was more popular. But union suits were much more common than two-piece long underwear for several reasons: (1) they were cheaper (only one garment to buy); (2) there was no bunching up at the waist with more than one layer unless the boy or girl wore a separate underwaist on top of the union suit; (3) union suits could eliminate the waist by having waist buttons and garter taps already built in (these were called waist union suits).

Waist Union Suits: Waist had waist buttons and garter taps already built in. Waist union suits were made in ages up to 13 and sometimes even 14.

Unterbekleidung

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Support Garments and Hosiery
American children wore a garment called a waist to hold up various other garments such as underpants or panties, skirts, short trousers, and long stockings. The waist (or sometimes a waist union suit) had multiple functions but, gradually, the principal function became the support of long stockings, although some of the later models still continued to provide waist buttons for other functions. We note a variety of different bodices or underwaists with more or less the same function. And they could look somewhat different from each other. For example, some models were like a sleeveless shirt with garters attached while others consisted of a belt with shoulder straps and attached garters. The terminology for waists and associated garments can be confusing and is rather flexible. We have tried to create categories but the terms are sometimes used loosely and a certain amount of overlap results.
1. Younger children like Tom wore underwaists (sometimes called panty-waists), probably up to the age of ten, to support additional underwear (such as bloomers or panties) or outer clothing (such as trousers or skirts). Underwaists were bodices made of stretchy knitted fabric (and therefore rather form-fitting) or bodices of cambric material and a bit looser. They nearly always were equipped with shoulder reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs for attaching hose supporters (the popularity of underwaists declined in the later 1930s and early 1940s).
2. Older children (up to 18 years) wore suspender waists to hold up stockings and other garments. So-called "suspender waists" were invented at the turn of the 20th century. The style did not last very long but was most popular during the 1910s and very early 1920s. They were called "suspender waists" because they combined trousers suspenders with hose supporters and had leather suspender attachments for holding up knee pants in addition to hose supporters for long stockings. Although some models of the suspender waist (such as the Kazoo) were manufactured in styles that could be worn also by girls, the main wearers of these waists were boys.
3. Garter waists could simply be an underwaist with garters or a skeleton waist worn under the outer clothing with shoulder straps, a belt, and hose supporters. They were worn by boys and girls alike.

Garter waists and underwaists were available in sizes up to 12, but some garter waists were for boys as old as 14.

Leibchen und Strümpfe

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Outer Clothing

Adults
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Children

-Boys:
The three Marshall boy's outfits shown are intended to stand for outer clothing as the most representative for the 1910s for three middle-class boys. Of course, there were a variety of other possibilities for boys.
An important option was dressing all three boys in the same outfit. The appropriate outfit was affected by the age. Therefore a style would have been to be selected that was not too mature for Tom or too juvenile for John. Here about the only appropriate garment for the three Marshall boys would have been the sailor suit.

Boys aged about upto 6: Some younger boys wore dresses, but this was much less common in the 20th century, especially by the 1910s. There were a variety of outfits for younger boys. Boys and girls wore rompers A very popular style for boys' Tom age was the tunic suit. We note Russian blouse/tunic suits for boys from 2 1/2 up to 6 years of age. We also see many boys wearing button-on outfits such as Oliver Twist suits (the name refers to the fact that the buttoning resembled the skeleton suits worn in the early 19th century, the era in which the author Dickens set the story of Oliver Twist). Button-on styles were increasingly popular in the 1910s and the Oliver Twist suits are a primary example of this.
Wide brimmed hats were popular, but were often turned down. Sailor caps were also worn.

Boys aged about upto 10: School age boys like Carl wore more mature styles than boys like Tom. Boys still commonly wore (variously styled) suits to school. The sailor suit was still popular, although only worn by a minority of boys to school. The suits often were worn with straight-leg knee pants.
In summer the boys wore blouses without suit jackets with knee pants or a sailor suit.
Large collars were still popular for younger boys, but not as large or fancy as in the 1900s.

Boys aged about upto 16: Knickers had become popular in the 1910s and boy's John's age would probably wear a knickers suit. Both double breasted and Norfolk styles (from 8 to 16 years of age) were popular. In the United States knickerbocker pants were called just knickers. In the 1910s knickers more and more replaced knee pants for older boys.

Stockings: Boys began wearing knee socks in the 1910s, but long stockings were much more common, especially black long stockings.

Shoes: High top shoes probably were the most common shoes for boys, although oxfords did exist. Sandals were only beginning to become popular and it seems that there were destinct social-class factors. Sandals were worn by children from affluent families. And instep strap shoes probably were more common, here again social class factors were important. They were worn by younger children like Tom. And strap shoes were also considered more formal than double strap sandals. They were worn year round. The ankle strap shoe was a popular choice when dressing up.

Hats: A variety of headwear styles were worn, but the flat cap was the most popular style for school-age boys. Caps were becoming increasingly popular for boys. One type of hat did continued to be worn, the wide-brimmed sailor hat. Wide brimmed hats were popular, but were often turned down. Here the entire brim might be turned down. We have also noted boys wearing it with the brim turned down, but one side turned up in a rather sporty style. The down-turned brim is a destinctive style for the 1910s. Soft sailor caps were also worn, some rather like tams.

Oberbekleidung

Erwachsene

-Hüte/Haarschmuck:

-Haare: ---

-Schuhe:

Kinder

-Mädchen:
Kleider, Röcke, Blusen:

-Knaben: ---

-Matrosenanzüge:

-Schule: