*** Canadian boys garments -- Fauntleroy suits








Canadian Boys' Clothes: Garments--Little Lord Fauntleroy Suits

Canadian Fauntleroy suits
Figure 1.--These three brothers were photographed in Norval, Ontario. The portrait is undated, but we would guess sometime in the 1890s. The younger brother in the Fauntleroy suit looks to be about 5 years old.

We notice Canadia boys wearing Fauntleroy velvet suits in the late-19th century. This was a very popular style, both in North America and Europe. As far as we can tell the stles and chronology as well as the conventions involved were very similar to those in the United States, although our archive of Canadian images is still quite limited. We note the same styles and trim such as lace collars and floppy bows. Boys seem to have worn Fauntleroy suits from about 3-8 years of age, but we note some older boys as well. The original inspiration for fancy suits for younger boys was France where Mrs. Burnett who was English and moved to America as a youth lived for a few years. The style began in the late-19th century with the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book and continued into the early 20th century. We are unsure if there were differences among the English and French community concerning the styles and wearing of Fauntleroy suits. Many Fauntleroy suits were back velvet, but we notice other colors of velvet and other material as well. We note a burgandy Fauntleroy suit that a Canadian boy wore for a wedding in 1896.

Chronology

We notice Canadia boys wearing Fauntleroy velvet suits in the late-19th century. We first note the fancy velvet suits with lace and ruffled trim in the 1880s. We continue to see them into the 1900s. The chronology seems as best we can determine virtually identical to that in America, although we have few dated images.

Influences

This was a very popular style, both in North America and Europe. As far as we can tell the stles and chronology as well as the conventions involved were very similar to those in the United States, although our archive of Canadian images is still quite limited. There were diferences between Faintleroy styling in the United states and Britain. For example, knickers style pants were common in Britain for Fauntleroy suits, while most American Fauntleroy suits were done with straight-leg knee pants. And so far the Fauntleroy suits that we have noted in Canada look more like American suits than British suits. We mostly see the Canadian suits done with knee pants.

Garments

The Fauntleoy suit consisted promarily of two garments, a jacket and trousers, usually knee pants. Younger bopys might wear kilt suits. Vests were not worn with Fauntleroy suits. Although not part of the suit itself, an important element of the Fauntleroy suit was a fabcy blouse. We note the same styles and trim such as lace collars and floppy bows that we see in America. We see the same small, cut-away velvet jacket and knee pants that form the classic American Fauntleroy suit. We mostly see Canadian boys wearing these jackets with knee pants as was common in America. We note many English boys wearing bloomer knickers rather than knee pants as part of Fauntleroy suits. This seems less common in Canada. The cut-away jackets were popular for Fauntleoy suits because they displued the fancy blouses commonly worn with Fauntleroy suits. There were other styles of Fauntlerou suits, but we do not yet have enough images to know how common they were in Canada.

Ages

We suspect that the ages of Cnadaian boys wearing Fintleroy suits were similar to that of American boys. We believe tht the prevalence of Fauntleroy suits was different in that Canada as not as prosperous as the United States in the late 19th century. Canada was not nearly as industrialized as the United States. Industrialization began in lrge part becuse of the development of the American autmobile industry (early-20th century) abd that was after the era in which the Fauntleroy suit was of any real importance. Age is a differenbt matter. We see no real reason why there wuld be any difference in the ages of the boys wearing Fauntleroy suits. Perhaps there were fewer middle-class bits wearing them, but we have so few Canmadian examples that it is difficult at this time to make any valid assessments. As faras we can tell, the age range is about the samne as see in America, about 3-8 years of age. And as we see in America, a few older boys as well. The boy here looks to be about 5 years old (figure 1). This is an age in which Fauntleroy suits were very common. After thus we see far fewer boys wearing them. Which seems primrily the result of school. Once boys began school, they began to have more ideas about how thry should be dressed and their hair styles. they begin tom want to dress like the other boys. And we see very few examples of boys wearing Faunleroy suits in school portraits. We do see individual portraits showing older boiys wearing Fauntleroy suits up to bout 8 years of age, but they are not nearly as common as younger boys. We do commonly see older boys wearing a range of Fauntleroy items, but not the classic Fauntleroy cut-away jacket suits.

Inspiration

The original inspiration for fancy suits for younger boys was France where Mrs. Burnett who was English and moved to America as a youth lived for a few years. The style began in the late 19th century with the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book and continued into the early 20th century.

English and French Communities

Canada is a bi-lingual country with both English and French speaking communities. We are unsure if there were differences among the English and French community concerning the styles and wearing of Fauntleroy suits. As far as we can tell, France had relatively little influence on French Canadian fashions. Perhaps there was some limited influence through the French clerics in Catholic schools and other institutions, but for the most part we do not detect fashion differences, other than the fct that French Canadians were not as affluent as English-speaking Canadians. nd of course income level affects what parents can purchase for their children. And of course a velvet Fauntleroy suit was an expensive choice and thus less common for low-income working-class families. A problem here is that language is not readily apparent from photogrphs unless there is an inscriotion on the back. One might infer that images from Quebec are more likely to be French spekers because of the large French-speaking community there, but that can not be assumed with any surity because there are many English speakers in Quebec, actually more in the 19th century than today. We do not have a large archive of Canadian Fauntlroy portraits, but as far as we can tell, we do not detect differnces in Fauntleroy suits and popularity of Fauntleroy styling in Quenec than the rest of Canada.

Colors

Many Fauntleroy suits were back velvet, but we notice other colors of velvet and other material as well.

Individuals

We note a burgandy Fauntleroy suit that a Canadian boy wore for a wedding in 1896.







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Created: January 30, 2004
Last updted: 10:17 AM 6/11/2022