Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows three unidentified children, two boys and a girl. They look to be about 5-12 years old. The younger boys wars a tunic suit with decorated knee pants, the older boy a very plain cut-away jacket with bloomer knickers. Their little sister wears a heavily embroidered dress with a two tier skirt. Notice how small the neckwear and collars are. The portrait was taken in September 1873. The studio was J. Burgoyne in Birmingham.

Neckwear varied widely in the 19th centutry, both in type and size. Cravats were connon through mid-century. The cravat we see on the previous page is a good example (figure 1). We see boys wearing bows, sometines quite large (late-1890s)--although not as large as in America. Generally smaller bows were worn with sailor suits. A good example is fashionable London boy, Osborn Ricards, in 1876. One English fashion source tells us that "A gentleman always wear a tie." This is not the case in the 21st century, but was standard in the 19th and 20th century. The British (English) were regarded as improperly dressed without a tie until quite recently. A reader tells us, "At my golf club (Royal Cinque Ports) a tie was required in both the mixed lounge as well as the Gentlemen's lounge. After much debate the rule was relaxed a few years ago and 'smart casual' dress was permittd in the mixed lounge. To this day a jacket and tie are required in the Gentlemen's lounge. It was at this club in pre WW II years, Byron Nelson was refused admission for lunch as he was a professional golfer (Working Class - don't you know). He arrived in a Rolls Royce and was served lunch in the car park by his servant on a camp table with linen table cloth and full silver service, and champagne! Many Golf Clubs still have a similar rules, but they are gradually being toned down. Many British schools required boys to wear ties. They were often brightly colored stripes matching blazers and caps.

Created: 6:56 PM 11/17/2023
Last updated: 6:56 PM 11/17/2023