English Boys' Dresses: Age -- 11 Year Olds


Figure 1.--Here we see in this CDV portrait two London children wearing matching fashionable dresses. Note the lace, ribbons, ruffles, and velvet trim. Theyb are presumably siblings. They look to be about 9-11 years old. Unfortunately they are not identified, but they lookm like boys especially the younger boy. Note his side hair part. Both have lockets and boaches. The oldervchils has braclets. We are not sure how to date the portatit, perhaps the 1870s, but the lace collars suggest the 80s. The studio was Turner & Killick in Islington, a London neighborhood. We note a similar portrait taken in Clapham.

It was very rare to find boys of 11 years of age. Most boys were breeched by age 6 years of age. We think that a few boys from wealthy family schooled at home may have continued to wear dresses. We have found some portaits from London photographers. The children are not identified, but they look like boys with short hair and sometimes side parts. Without the dates we can not be entirely sure that thy are boys, but they certainly look like boys. Notably the dresses they are wearing are not the relativel plain boy dresses we find in the United States. The dresses look very much like dresses girls might wear, fancy fashionable creation. The CDV here of boys about 9-11 years of age was taken in Islington, a London Neighborhoos (figure 1). The example we have found seem to date to the 1870s-80s. And they include large lace collars. We also note braclets, broaches, and lockets. We see bioys wearing lockets, but broaches and braclets were less common. Large lace collars are primarily associated with the 80s as part of the Fauntleroy craze. A reader writes, "I agree that the younger child is a boy, but I think the elder one is a girl with short hair. The child has feminine facial features, and the hair is loosely styled." Our reader could be right. I am not sure about the facial features, but the bracelets surely are a feminine touch that I ahve never seen boys wear. An older sister could also help explain the boy not yet being breeched in a wealthy family.






HBC






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Created: 7:18 AM 12/29/2013
Last updated: 8:27 AM 12/29/2013