Figure 1.--Charles is seen here in what looks to be a black Fauntleroy suit with a plain, but very large collar. We had thought that he was wearing knicker pantschere, but on closer examonation theybappear to be tight-fitting kneepants.

Elizabeth appears to have liked velvet Fauntleroy suits. There appear to have been more portraits taken of Charles and Leopold boys in lighter-colored outfirs, but there are several in what look to be dark Fauntleroy suits. Some were worn with lace or ruffled collars, but as older boys, large palin collars seem to have been more common. Both boys at 11 or 12 appear to have worn these suits. The boys appear to have worn them at least through about 11 years of age. They could have worn them longer. Photographs show them still outfitted in cery fancy blouses at about 12 or 13 years of age. I'm not sure if they were still wearing Fauntleroy suits at that age. Their Fauuntleroy suits were worn with ruffled rather than lace collars and without bows. This reflects the changing fashion trends with lace collars becoming less popular after the turn of the century. One velvet Fauntleroy suit had kneepants and was worn with long stockings. The boys wore their light-colored kneepants suits with white long stockings, but there dark Fauntleroy suit always seem to have been worn with dark long stockings. They do not appear to have any velvet short pants. I'm not sure what color these suits were, but they seem to have been black. It is difficult to tell in these old black and white phitographs, but they do look black. These suits look very similar to suits worn by the Bavarian princes.

Created: May 17, 2002
Last updated: May 17, 2002