Figure 1.--This unidentified boy wears a conservative dark suit. The jacket is single breasted. He has an Eton collar and small white floppy bow. As with most boys at the time he wears knickers and long stockings. The portrait was taken at the important Sol, Young studio. As was common by the 1910s, the locatiin wsas no longer indicated. Young opened his first studio at Union Square in New York City (1893). It proved very succesful and by the turn-of-the 20th century he had opened five more studios in the New York City area, (Brooklyn, New York and Newark, New Jersey). Eventually he opened studios in Philadelphia and Connecticut. When he died he was overseeing 18 studios. He offered a range of services and was especially known for colorizing with pastel and crayon.

We are developing some bassic information on the First Communion outfits worn by American boys in the early-20th century. Dark suits were very common, but we see a varuety of outfits. We notice some less formal blouse outfits, but almost all boys wore either knee pants or knicker outfits. This of course reflected popular fashiojns of the time. Knee pants were common for suits in the 1900s, but knickers were mostrly worn in the 1910s. The exception here were the blouse outfits which were commonly worn with knee opants even in the 1910s. Quite a few boys wore Eton collars and we still see floppy bows even ghough they were becoming less common. Almost all of the children wore long stockings as formality was a factor with First Communion.

Suit Styles

Most boys wore dark suits for their First Communion. We note a range of styles. Norfolk suits were very popular. We note boys with both single- and double-breasted jackets. We do not yet have sufficient information to assess suit styles in detail. Interedstingly, the sailor suit which was still popular, was not worn in America for First Communion.

Collars

We also note a variety of collars. Some boys had hirts with soft collars. We also notice detachable collars. We note quite a few boys wsearing Eton collars. The classic stiff, whuite style with pointed tips was probably the most common, but we note note a variety of variants, included rounded tips as well.

Blouses

Some boys did not wear suits, but rather a blouse or shirt and pants. A blouse with a formal collar like an Eton collar wouth often be chosen. Boys taking First Communion were often judged old enough that ruffled or lace collars would not be worn.

Bows and Ties

Boys would still often wear large floppy bows for First Communion, especially in the 1900s, ties became more common in the 1910s. For a formal event like First Communion, gowever, we still see small floppy bows in the 1910s.

Pants

American boys commonly wore either straight-leg knee pants or knickers suits in the early-20th century. We thus see this in First Communion outfits at the time. Neither short or long pants suits ewere common. These did no appear until after World War I in the 1920s. Generally speaking knee pants were more common in the 1900s decade and knickers in the 1910s. This change occurred very suddenly about 1908 and only in America. We do not see a simiar change in Europe. It is quite noticeable in the photographic record. We have no idea why and who was resonsible. This continues to be a mystery which we encountered soon after we began working on the HBC website. The dark knickers suit seen here is a good example of 1910s First Communion outfits (1910s). This convention did not entirely hold for First Communion outfits, primarily because of the age of the boys involved. Younger boys might continue to wear strait-leg knee pants during the 1910s into the early-20s. We thus see many boys wearing knicker suits for First Communion in the 1910s, but for First Communion boys also wore knee pants into the early 20s. They were we believe seen as more formal. It is thus somewhat difficult to date these old photographs when there is no date on the photograph. Often the knee pants Fist Communion outfits in the 1910s were not suits, but blouse outfits, neaning boys wore just blouses without suit jackets. They always wore long stockings with these blouse outfits just as they did with suits. The primary difference was that often the long stockings were white rather than black which was usually the case with suits.

Hosiery

Long stockings were still commonly worn in the early-20th century, especially for formal outfits. Virtually all boys with kneep ants or knickers suits wore long stockings. We do not yet see socks evem though nyjre-quiartervbsocks has appeared forbyoungervcoys. The hosiery worn for First Communion was usually dark stockings because dark suits were fairly standard for First Communion. We do yet see white suits to any extent. We do not sone white stockings with which were wiorm with blouse outfits. The dark outfits and stockings were the most common, but we see quite a number of boys in white outfits. For First Communion it was not common to mix the color of the suit and stockings.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Short pants suits] [Blazers] [Jackets] [Kilts]
[Sailor suits] [Sailor hats]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Shortalls]

Created: 8:25 PM 7/11/2010
Last edited: 3:11 AM 4/17/2022