Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows an unidentified father and son, we think in the 1860s, although the early-70s is possible. The boy looks to be about 4 years old. He wears what looks like a jacketed dress, perhaps an early attempt at a kilt suit. He wears Glengary cap. The stuio was Robinson & Thompson in Liverpool and Birkenhead.

Scottish styles were also poplarized by England. Scotland was part of Britain, but it was england that was bt far the dominnt part of Britain, the great part of the popltion and economy. Several garments were part of scottish dress, but the kilt bd Scottish caps were by far the most important. A deritive not really a Scottish garment was the kilt suit. The kilt was a Scottish garment and was worn more in Scotland than any other country. When Queen Victoria began dressing the princes in kilt she made in a populae English fashion. Royalty, especially the British monarchy were a major fashion influence in the 19th century. And we see quite a number of English boys wearing Highland kilt outfits. we see fewer boys in other countries wearing kilt outfits. Nothing approched the popularity of the sailor suit which Queen Victoria and Primce Albert also popularized., not only in England, but the Americas and Europe as well. A related style, the kilt suit proved even more popular in foreign countries. This was especially the case in America where Higland kilts were not a major style, but the kilt suit proved to be a major style for three decades (1870s-90s). We see a few kilt suits in Scotland, but not very many. Another important Scottish style was headwear, both Glengary and Balmoral caps. We see them being worn with kilt outfits and non-Scottish styled garments.

Caps

Scottish cap styles proved popular for English boys in the second half of the 19th and early-20th century. Thre were two styles, Balmorals and Glengaries. The Balmoral was a tam-like cap. The Hlengary was an early campaign cap. The Glengary was by far the most popular. We see these camps worn with Scottish styke outfits, bith kilt outfits and kilt suits, but no exclusively. We also see them worn with na variety of on-Scottish styles.

Kilts

The kilt as we know it today has ancient origins. It is generally associated today with Scotland or the Gaelic peoples of the British Isles and Normandy. The kilts use as a style of boys' clothing is much more recent in origin. In the British Isles, the kilt is mostly associated with Scotland and to a lesser extent Ireland. Boys in England itself, however, also occasionally wore kilts, especially after Queen Victorian began dressing the princes in Highland kilts during the 1840s. The full extent to which English boys wore kilts is somewhat difficult to determine. The photographic record shows that while it was not common, neither was it an extremely rare garment. Available photographs often do not indicate who the boy is or where he is from. Thus it is difficult to determine if it is an English or Scottish boy involved. We mostly see English boys wear kilts as dress garments. For some boys it was their party outfit.

Kilt Suits

Few English boys in the 19th Century wore proper Scottish kilts with Highland regalia. Another kilt fashion was the kilt suit. I know that the kilt suit was very commonly worn by American boys in the late 19th Century. American mothers used the kilt suit as an intermediate step between dresses and outfits with kneepants, such as Fauntleroy suits and sailor suits. These mothers were not yet ready to fully breech their sons, but felt that they were becoming to old to still wear dresses. I am not sure if this fashion was as common in England as it was in America. Most of the images I have seen are American, but this could be simply a reflection of my greater access to American images. Social and economic factors may have affected the popularity of kilt suits. Americans less aware of social, nation and class sentiment in Britain, probably viewed the kilt suit as fashionably British. Americans in the 19th Century were very influenced by European fashion. Some English mothers, like Queen Victoria, may have been smitted with the allure of Scotland. Other English mothers probably viewed Scotland as a bleak, poverty stricken region of Britian and the kilt suit fashion may not have appealed to them.

Created: 2:17 AM 3/27/2016
Last updated: 2:17 AM 3/27/2016