Figure 1.--Here we see a CDV portrait of an unidentified English boy. The dealer though he was wearing a school uniform because there was a compasnion portaits which shows an identically dressed boy and photographed on the same day. We think the other boy is more likely to be his younger brother. We have not noticed school uniforms with cut-away jackets. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the early- or mid-1870s. The studio operator was John Thomas who had galleries in Liverpool and Llangollen. Click on the umage to see his younger brother.

English boys wore cut-away jackets were worn with all kinds of trousers, knee pants, bloomer knickers, and long trousers in addition to skirted grments. The types of bottoms varied by age and over time. Some of the younger boys wore cut-away jackets with skirts/kilts. Skirted garnments might be called kilt suits. We are not yet sure just how common the various types of pants were. Our 19th century English archive is too limited to form any valid judgement. We note all these different types of trousrs being worn. All the shortened-length trousers were cut rather long in the 1960s and 70s, often at calf leve, some nearly to the ankles. Only in the 1880s do we begin to see these pants more toward knee lengths. We see the same variety of trouses in America for which we have many more images. We are just not sure how common the different types were in England. The cut-away jacket was primarily worn by younger boys so we believe that the shortened-length pants were more common with cut-away jackets than they would have beem for a wider age cross section. The type of trousers worn with cut-away jackets were in part affected by the decade. While we see boys wearing these shortened-length pants, long pants were still very common, even for younger boys. This included even pre-school boys, at least in the 1860s and 70s. By the 1880s the shortened-length pants were being more widely worn, although cut-away jackets were declining in popularity.

Skirted Garments

Some of the younger boys wore cut-away jackets with skirts/kilts. Skirted garnments might be called kilt suits. American kilt suits had skirts that were usually kilts in ame only. English kilt suits often had skirts that has some acual featurs of ailt. In a fe cases we even see sporans.

Trousers

We are not yet sure just how common the various types of pants were. Our 19th century English archive is too limited to form any valid judgement. We note all these different types of trousrs being worn. Bloomer knickers seem very populr, nuch more popular than in Smerica. All the shortened-length trousers were cut rather long in the 1960s and 70s, often at calf level, some nearly to the ankles. Only in the 1880s do we begin to see these pants more toward knee lengths. We see the same variety of trouses in America for which we have many more images. We are just not sure how common the different types were in England. The cut-away jacket was primarily worn by younger boys so we believe that the shortened-length pants were more common with cut-away jackets than they would have been for a wider age cross section. The type of trousers worn with cut-away jackets were in part affected by the decade. While we see boys wearing these shortened-length pants, long pants were still very common, even for younger boys. This included even pre-school boys, at least in the 1860s and 70s. By the 1880s the shortened-length pants were being more widely worn, although cut-away jackets were declining in popularity.

Created: 12:34 AM 3/22/2011
Last updated: 6:43 AM 7/30/2012