Figure 1.--William wears a patterened blouse with a polka-dot floppy bow, knee pants, and long stockings. The knee pants have a very loud check-like pattern. He is holding a rounded-crown hat with a very wide hat band. Note the bow with the band. These rounded-crown hats were very common at the time.band.

William wears what would seem to be very common clothing at the time. He wears a patterened blouse with a polka-dot floppy bow, knee pants, and long stockings. As he does not wearsupenders, the blouse probably buttoned onto buttons on the inside of the knee pants waist band. The knee pants have a very loud check-like pattern. Notice that there are only two buttons at the knee hem. We see more boys wearing knee pants in the 1880s. Knee pants were worn earlier, but mostly by younger boys. During the 1880s, knee pants became very common for boys up to about 10 years old. In the 1890s, knee pants became almost universal for American boys. He is holding a rounded-crown hat with a very wide hat band. Note the bow with the band. These rounded-crown hats were very common at the time.

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Created: 8:32 PM 6/12/2008
Last edited: 8:32 PM 6/12/2008