Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows three unidentified brothers who look to be about 5-10 years old. They all wear cut-away jackets without lapels and similar small white collars and neckwear. The younger boys wear bloomer knickers and long stockings. The CDV is undated, buthe sharp corners suggest were found in the 1860s and early-70s. We would guess that this poortrait was taken in the early-70s.

The age conventions vaied over time. Of course it was the younger boys who wire bloomer knickers. But the actual age convetions varied over time and among countries. And this also varied by country. This meant that the age boys shifted to long pants varies, And of course thaere were differences from country to country. Generally speaking the age at which boys shifted to long pants were the same for both bloomer knickers and knee pants. This was very destinctive and continued throughout the scond half of the 19th century. The first images we see in the 1850s are very young, we believe are pre-school boys. Then by the 1860s-70s we see younger primary-age boys wearing bloomer knickers, say boys to 7-8 years of age. This varied by family. We see some noys wearing long pants from the earliest school ages. Here it gets more complicated. We see younger teen boys wearing knickers, often as part of school uniforms. They may be actual knickers rather tham bloomer knickers. It is a little difficult to tell from photographic images. We do notice boys wearing tunics with bloomer knickers. we see boys including early teens wearing bloomer knickers on the continent. We do not see that in Britain and America.

Created: 2:36 AM 9/17/2016
Last updated: 2:36 AM 9/17/2016