Figure 1.-- This Ivory mount cabinet card portrait shows siblings Laura, Elwin, and Etta Williams. They look to be about 9-14 years old. Their little brother wears a double-breasted knee pants suit, but without the bow that was so popular at the time. Most portaits at the time showed some sign of the Fauntleroy Craze, but here we see almost nothing. His sisters wear similar dresses with small lace collars. Notice the large baloon sleeves. They help date the portrait to about 1895. The natural color whicker furrniture also helps date the portrait to the late-1890s.

This Ivory mount cabinet card portrait shows stylishly dressed siblings Laura, Elwin, and Etta Williams. They look to be about 9-14 years old. Their little brother, Elwin, is posed in a rather strident manner, unusual in these old photogrphs. This is not a natural pose and clearly Elwin was carefully posed by the photographer. The girls are more casually posed. Elwin wears what looks like a double-breasted knee pants suit, but without the decorative bow that was so popular at the time for boys this age. The knee pants for some reason do not have the thee button trim at the hem that was so common. It is difficicult to make out his neckwear and collar at a time that many mother choese to enphasize these items. In fact there arre very few decorative touches of any kind in an age where outsized decoration were all the rage. Elwin's suit also has a conservative flat weave without any pattern. Most American portraits at the time showed some sign of the Fauntleroy Craze, but here we see almost nothing--only the very moderate-sized lace collars that the girls are wearing. Even so the girl's dresses show signs of the most up to date fashion trends. Elwin's big sisters wear similar dresses with small lace collars. Notice the stylish large, extended baloon sleeves--the height of mid-1890s fashion. The sleeves help date the portrait to about 1895. The natural color whicker furrniture also helps date the portrait to the late-1890s. The girls both have long hair and perfectly combed center parts. Their hair is, however, done differently. The older girls has ringlets done with colored bows--unfortunately we do not know the color. The younger girl has long, uncurled hair. This suggests that the girls each were allowed to choose their own hair styling. Notice how mother has carefully placed hair on each girl's shoulder so that their hair styling is clearly apparent and thehair not just hung unseen at the back. Their brother has short hair that would not look out of place today. They all wear long black stockings and high-top shoes, almost standard for American children at the time. A reader writes, "It appears to me that the boy's suit is brand new and slightly large for him. It would make sense to schedule the buying of new clothes for an expensive event such as having the children's portrait taken. It also makes sense to buy clothes slightly larger to account for rapid growth of a child. I know at that age my mother did." The studio was Sturdevant in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Girls] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 11:41 PM 6/7/2016
Last edited: 11:32 AM 6/8/2016