Full Button Front Shirts

[Longbranch 1]

And , I suppose, turn down collars...

Sirs and Madames,

Please don't shoot me down out of hand.

I am only just becoming tolerable doing basic stitches.
And while these may seem to be easy questions to answer for those with more experience, they are not easily answered without the same.

(A). When and why, did the ( perhaps terminology is my problem), " open" front shirt replace the " pullover" , "on the square"?
Gentleman's to workingman's....or vice-versa?

I do appreciate any quotes or references.

Humble Regards,
Kevin Ellis,
26th NC

[fahnenschmied]

Re: Full Button Front Shirts

I don't know about the where, but I can tell you this - the shirt of the soldier remained a pullover model for just about every nation during the Great War. A quick look at a 1909 Sears catalog shows all to be of the pullover sort, though the placket runs down almost to the waist in some. If you are truly interested in when the change took place, I would recommend finding a big college library with a bunch of old mail-order catalogs. I think the change came in the 20s. As to why - well - nobody can explain fashion. From the middle of the 19th century the shirt slowly evolved from a bunch of squares and rectangles to a garment made of shaped bits, and even in different sizes.
Hope this is even a little help...

David Stone

[billmatt04]

Re: Full Button Front Shirts

A good source for shirt questions is "Thoughts On Men's Shirts". This might help you with some of your questions. Best of luck!

[Canton Zouave]

Re: Full Button Front Shirts

I have found a reference to the "Vienna" style or open front shirt that comes from about 1895. There is no specific date as to when this style of shirt came to be "Most Popular", though the mid 1880's seems to pop up. The obvious reference to the "Norfolk Shirt" comes from around around 1866. The cut of this type of shirt resembled the "sack shirt" which came into style around the same time. The Norfolk is an Open Front shirt, and may be an early variety of this style, as I have not seen any earlier references...YET!

For the most part the "On The Square" had fallen out of style by the time the open front shirt came into vogue. The"Open Front" appears to be an adaption of the "French Cut". (However: I have seen some Baseball Uniforms that still utilize the dropped sleeve and Gusset of the "OTS" that date from the early 20th century.) Needless to say there are hundreds patterns of shirts and systems for drafting them that appeared from the 1850's to the turn of the century. Hard and fast rules are not common when it comes to shirt styles.

I have not seen one of these styles dated to the period of the 1860's, as of yet, but you never know what might show up. However, the style seems to rise in the late 19th century and onward.

[David Fox]

Re: Full Button Front Shirts

I believe my beloved U.S. Army adopted its first open-front shirt w/ the Pattern of 1931. This isn't indicative of cutting edge civilian style movement, of course: the Army rarely leads fashion trends and there were those enormous bales of unissued olive drab Pattern of 1916 pullover shirts (the last variant of the Old Army blue P.1883 shirts) left in quartermaster warehouses at the end of the Great War. These stocks had to be drawn down before a new pattern could be acquired. Early WW II inductees were perforce issued much WW I material, including pullover shirts. The Russian Army continued to issue pullover shirts into modern times, perhaps until c.1980, tho' I'm no expert on Ivan. As to 'why': one suspects in our Army's case by 1931 open front shirts were entirely established as male fashion norm and one further suspects open front shirts might be marginally cheaper and easier to manufacture, even w/ a few more buttons, as smaller bits of cloth go into construction, though this is mere hypothesis on my part.

[VMurphy]

Re: Full Button Front Shirts

Gentlemen
I'm finding this thread very interesting. Although an accomplished seamstress, I've always felt a bit threatened by men's shirts, not knowing for certain which style/construction techniques are correct. It's a fascinating to read the statement that with hundreds available there weren't any hard and fast rules. I've always personaly and privately thought this of vertually all clothing of the period, but had never heard it mentioned re: mens clothing. This is certainly the case with women's and childrens clothing. And it also makes sense with men's clothing as well, especially shirts which were either mass produced in the most simple way possible to get them to the men, or made at home. We all know that each seamstress/seamster has their own particular ways of sewing within a wide range of norm.
Thanks again...great thread
Vivian Murphy