French First Communion Suits: 19th Century


Figure 1.--This is one of the earliest images we have of French First Communions. This French boy had his First Communion portrait taken in Limoges, France. Boys in the 20th century often wore short pants suits for First Communion, but this was not common in the 19th century when long trousers were still commonly worn. This portrait was probably taken in the 1880s, be we are not positive about this. The boy looks to be about 10 years old. Children in the 19th century seem to have done their First Communions later than is now the case.

Dressing boys up in suits for their First Communion presumably may have predated the 19th Century, but we have no information on this. Our knowledge on 19th century boys fashions in France is still limited so this inhibits our ability to assess the available First Communion images. The subject does not seem to have elicited great interest on the part of the painters of the day. Once photography was developed this change and there are some late 19th Century photographs available on First Communion. (In America Catholics were generally from the lower income groups, so expensive suits and photographs were limited before the 20th Century.) This of course was not the case in France. Uniforms appear to have been a popular choice for a First Communion suit. Some appear to have been military style school uniforms. School uniforms could be worn without purchasing a new suit. We also note what appar to be outfits purchased especially for First Communion. Another appears to have been a sailor style uniform, but not the middy blouse style. Hopefully French HBC visitors will provide us more insights on boys' wear during this critical time in a boy's life.

Chronology

We do not yet have sufficent 19th century images of French First Communion to devrlop a 19th century chrononology. We have no infofmtion from the early- and mid-19th century. We have found a few images from the late-19th century, both school portraits and individual studio portraits. We get the impression that boys at the time did not have special First Communion outfits. The boys might have new suits purchased for the occassion, but they were not purchased just for First Communion. We just notice the boys wearing regular suits. This included sailor suits shich were very popular by the late-19th century.

New Suits

Dressing boys up in suits for their First Communion presumably may have predated the 19th Century, but we have no information on this. The subject does not seem to have elicited great interest on the part of the painters of the day. Once photography was developed this change and there are some late 19th Century photographs available on First Communion. (In America Catholics were generally from the lower income groups, so expensive suits and photographs were limited before the 20th Century.) This of course was not the case in France.

Styles

Our knowledge on 19th century boys fashions in France is still limited so this inhibits our ability to assess the available First Communion images. Uniforms appear to have been a popular choice for a First Communion suit. Some appear to have been military style school uniforms. School uniforms could be worn without purchasing a new suit. We also note what appar to be outfits purchased especially for First Communion. Another appears to have been a sailor style uniform, but not the middy blouse style. Hopefully French HBC visitors will provide us more insights on boys' wear during this critical time in a boy's life.

School uniform

We note one boy in the 1870s wearing what looks to be his school uniform. Our knowledge of French school uniforms in the 1870s is still incomplete. We do know that France was badly mauled in the Franco-Prussian War, causing a great soul searching on France's part. The new republican government introduced school smocks at this time. We also think that many schools had military uniforms, but we are not sure just wjat kind of schools had the military inoforms. We do not think that these were necessarily military schools. Some French thought, however, that more military discipline was needed to prepare for a future war with Germany. The boy shown here does not look to have a new suit for first communion, but rather his ordinary school uniform.. He is wearing a First Communion shoulder bow, but a rather primitive one. We do not know if these bows were a new inovation in the 1870s or perhaps his parents could not afford a fancy one. The later is inlikely given the fact he was having a portarit taken in the 1870s. The cost of a portrait was declining, but still not cheap.

Sailor suit

We note one rather confident-looking boy wearing what looks to be a new suit purchased for his First Communion, probably in the 1890s. The outfit is a bit hard to classify. He wears a dark (probably blue) double breasted blazer with military detailing and white kneesocks. It is not the middy blouse enlisted uniform style, but looks more like an officer's uniform. It does not look like a school uniform. The dark jacket and whiteknee pants are unusual in that boys mostly wore suits with matching jackets and pants for First Communion. The short socks also give the oufit an informal look. The trousers reflect how pervasive kneepants had become for boys by the 1890s. He wears a rather unusual braided sleeve adornment rather than the npre conventional bow. He has a flower in his lapel. While he is not wearing white gloves, he looks to be holding them in his hand.






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Created: May 17, 2002
Last edited: 7:49 AM 11/19/2011