Figure 1.--This London boy has a rather cheeky pose, probably in the late-1860s ir ealy-70s. The CDV was taken at the Barnes and Son Mile End Road studio in London. There is an added "E", presummably meaning East London. Notice the fancy embroidery on the cut-away jacket and continued even more boldly on the knickers. He seems to be wearing spats on his shoes. The boy has combed his hair with a center part. That is something we do not see very commonly for American boys in the 1860s.

Cut-away jackets were one of the most common suit styles for younger boys and they varied a great deal. Not only the cut, but the decoration varied. Some of these cut-away jackets were very plain without any ornamentation. This was the most common option, but we see heavily decorated jackeys, especially in the 1860s and 70s. The three most important types of decirtion were embroidery, frogging and buttons. Primarily we notice embroidery. We note other jackes that were decorated with embroidery. And often that same embroidered decoration was continued on the trousers. The designs employed could be quite simple or highly florid and many variations in between. We think that the embroidery here was hand sewn, but perhaps readers with more knowledgeable about emroidery than we do. We believe that a store kept patterns and the patron picked from the various patterns and also decided the extent of the embroidery or if she wanted in repeated on the vest (waistcoat) and pants. Ready made suits may have been more common by the 1870s. We are not sure as to the colors used for the embroidery. We note these fancy patterns on both light and dark suits, but it is the embroidery on the light suits that is more visible. This is because dark thread was for some reason commonly used for the embroidery on dark suits. We also notice this embroidery in other countries, but fancy patterns seem more popular in England than America. We also see buttons and frogging being used on some suits, but not nearly as commonly as embroidery. Buttons of coure had utilitarian functions as closing devices. But we see them also being used for decoration.

Prevalence

Cut-away jackets were one of the most common suit styles for younger boys during the second half of the 19th century. They varied a great deal. Not only the cut, but the decoration varied. Some of these cut-away jackets were very plain without any ornamentation. This was the most common option, but we also see many heavily decorated jackets as well as the decoration extebnding to the pants, especially in the 1870s. The decoration was commonly done on the jackets, but we see some deciofrated oants. Here as in other HBC sections we are talking about prevalence in the photographic record. As we have fairly large English record, we believe prevalence in the photographic record is a fairly valid metric.

Chronology

We believe British boys began wearing cut-away jackets in the 1850s, but we do not have many images until the CDV became popular in the 1850s. We see some decorated jackets in the 1860s and even more in the 1870s. Decorated jackets were less common by the 1880s. We have few 1850s images, but mre images when the CDVs become popular (1860s) and several images from the subsequent decades og the late -19th century. Unfrrtunately many are not dated, but we think we can date them to a fair level of accuracy. It is in the 1860s and especially the 70s that we see most of the decorated cut-away jacket suits, usually decorated jackets. Cut-away jacket declined sharoply afrer the turn of the 20th century and we nolonger see many decorated jackets. .

Types of Decoration

The three most important types of decortion we see on cut-away jackets were embroidery, frogging and buttons. Primarily we notice embroidery. We note other jackets that were decorated with embroidery. And often that same embroidered decoration was continued on the trousers. The designs employed could be quite simple or highly florid and many variations in between. We think that the embroidery here was hand sewn, but perhaps readers with more knowledgeable about emroidery than we do. We believe that a store kept patterns and the patron picked from the various patterns and also decided the extent of the embroidery or if she wanted in repeated on the vest (waistcoat) and pants. Ready made suits may have been more common by the 1870s. We are not sure as to the colors used for the embroidery. We note these fancy patterns on both light and dark suits, but it is the embroidery on the light suits that is more visible. This is because dark thread was for some reason commonly used for the embroidery on dark suits. We also notice this embroidery in other countries, but fancy patterns seem more popular in England than America. We also see buttons and frogging being used on some suits, but not nearly as commonly as emroidery. Buttons of coure had utilitarian finctions as closing devices. But we see them also being used for decoration. Here we are normally talking about white buttons on dark suits. The use of frogging was a boyish approririation of a military style.

Created: 11:25 PM 12/27/2010
Last updated: 12:19 PM 9/28/2024