Ernest was born in 1879. His brother appears a couple years older. Much of the book is set about 1886 when Ernest was about 7 years old.
Garments
The text and the delightful drawings, some done as a child, convey a great deal of information about boys' clothes during the 1880s. Some of the outfits pictures are mentioned in the book:
Most of the book is set around the mid-1880s when Ernest was wearing Fauntleroy suits and sailor suits. Some of the drawings show him in dresses. In one he appears to be wearing short pantalettes. Unfortunately he does not mention wearing dresses in the text, but he must remember because of the drawings. The dresses he wore appear relatively short with the hem above the knee. In the drawings he wears them with short white stocks and strap shoes. One of the drawings is a summer image. I do not know what he wore with dresses during the winter, presumably long stockings. The dresses depicted in Shepard's drawings are relatively short dresses with the hem above the knee. The fact that Shepard does not comment on wearing dresses means we do not know what he thought of his dresses as a boy. He clearly remember's wearing dresses as a little boy because he depicts scenes with him in dresses. I am not certain how long he and his brother wore dresses. The drawings show him at about 4 years of age in dresses and then at about 6 years of age in sailor suits and Fauntleroy suits. Thus he was probably was breeched at about 5 years of age.
Figure 2.--Even as very small boys, Ernest and his brother Cyril were taken to the park. The boys in a pram are pictured in this drawing. Ernest at this age was wearing dresses. Note the broad-brimmed sailor type hat that Ernest is wearing.
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Reefer jackets
Ernest, during the winter and fall, wore a reefer jacket over his sailor suits.
Sashes
One available image shows Ernest in a white dress at about 4 years of age. He wears a plaid sash.
Hosiery
Ernest appears to have worn short white socks with his dresses, at least during the summer months. I'm unsure what kind of socks he wore with his dresses during the summer. As older boys, Ernest and his brother appear to have worn long stockings with kneepants. All of their outfits Fauntleroy suits, sailor suits, and Norfolk suits were worn with knee pants and long dark stockings. While Ernest wore his dresses with bare kegs, he never seems to have bare kegs with his Fauntleroy suits or sailor suits. With these outfits he always wore ling stockings. even during the winter.
Footwear
Ernest wore strap shoes with white ankle socks with his dresses as a little boy. I'm not sure what type of shoes the boys wore when older. The drawings seem to suggest high-top shoes or boots.
Hair Styles
Ernest appears to have worn longish hair, covering his ears, but not long-shoulder length or curled hair. His brother appears to have worn a similar style, but much shorter hair cut as a somewhat older boy.
Figure 3.--Ernest and his brother are depicted here reading in the parlor. Ernest wears a Fauntleroy suit with a lace collar. Cyril wears a jacket with an Eton collar. Both boys wear knee pants with long stockings.
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Styles
Much of Shepard's book deals with the time when he was about 6 or 7 years old which would be about 1885-86, just when Mrs Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy. I'm not sure if Ernest's mother followed boys fashioned trends closely, or if she choose a velvet suit and lace collar even before the Fauntleroy craze. It is not known, for example, if Ernest's older brother Cyril also wore A Fauntleroy suit when he was Ernest's age. Ernest appears to have worn a rather plain Fauntleroy suit His jacket is a quite large front buttoning garment, completely covering any blouse or jacket he might be wearing. Many early Fauntleroy suits had very small jackets to better display the elaborate blouses and lace collars that the boys wore with them. His Fauntleroy suit had kneepants and were worn with long dark stockings.
Neither Ernest or his brother appear to have worn kilts as boys. Ernest tells of one incident at a party where a boy outfitted in a kilt took issue with Ernest's Fauntleroy suit and lace collar. Ernest who wasn't to impressed with the other boy's kilt told him so. A party stopping fight ensued and Ernest had to go home in disgrace.
Figure 4.--Ernest as a boy mostly wore sailor suits for everyday wear, a white suit for the summer and a heavier blue suit for the fall and winter. He had several different hats. Here he wears a soft cap with his winter sailor suit.
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Sailor suits were one of the most popular outfits for Victorian boys. Ernest appears to have primarily worn sailor suits for everyday wear. His brother Cyril, also presumably wore sailor suits when he was Ernest's age. Ernest had both white or light-colored sailor suits for summer wear and blue suits for fall and winter wear. All of his sailor suits were worn with kneepants, always with long stockings. While Ernest wore dresses with bare legs and ankle socks, he always wore long stockings with his sailor suits, even during the summer. Shepard provides us little information about school. He does indicate a few details about the school he attended at 7-years of age. There was not required uniform. He appears to have worn his sailor suit.
Collar
Ernest wore a lace collar with his Fauntleroy suit. In fact it is the only article of clothing he specifically objects to. Apparently other boys teased him and he says he was very sensitive about it. Ernest does not appear to have been a blouse with a lace collar, but rather a lace collar sewn on his velvet jacket. With his sailor suit he wore sailor collared middy blouses. His brother appears to have worn Eton collars with both his Norfolk and other jackets.
Hats: Hats and caps for men and boys were much more common than is the case today. Victorians did not go out without the appropriate head gear. I'm not sure what kind of hats the boys wore while still in dresses. One drawing of the boys in a pram show Ernest, who was still wearing dresses. in a kind of wide-brimmed sailor hat. That is probably representative of the kind of hat he would have normally worn while still in dresses. I'm not sure what Ernest wore with his Fauntleroy, probably a broad-brimmed sailor hat. With his sailor suits he often wore wide-brimmed hats with streamers during the summer with his white suit. During the fall and winter, a soft cap was common with his heavy blue suits or reefer jackets.
Figure 5.--Ernest mostly wore white sailor suits during the summer with wide-brimmed sailor hats. Note the streamer. Even during the summer he wore long stockings with his knee pants.
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His father once took him to the store to purchase a new cap. His father chose a peaked cap. Ernest was dubious, but his father assured him it looked fine. When they got home, his mother took one look and sent them right back to the store to purchase a more suitable hat. Older brother Cyril had graduated from sailor hats and mostly wore schoolboy peaked caps or straw boaters on dressier occasions.
Norfolk suits: Ernest's older brother is usually depicted in a Norfolk or other jacket with an Eton collar. Like his younger brother he wore kneepants with long stockings.
Age Grading
The Victorians commonly made obvious and subtle differences between the clothes of children based upon their age. Earnest and Cyril were relatively close in age, but Cyril dressed much differently. In the years depicted by Shepard his brother was not wearing either sailor suits or Fauntleroy suits, nor did he wear boyish sailor hats. Shepard did not comment on the more mature styles his brother was permitted to wear. Presumably this was quite accepted by Victorian boys.
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Created: September 10, 1998
Last updated: July 15, 1999sc
