Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
I have few details a this time on Little Lord Fauntleroy velvet suits in France. Actually I am not sure that they were even called Fauntleroy suits, alothough the book and play was popular in France. I know from available images and fashion magazines that fancy suits made of velvet and other luxurious fabrics for boys was a popular style. I can not yet detail any specific stylistic differences between French Fauntleroy suits and those worn in other countries. There were in fact many similarities, in part because the fancy suits worn by French boys helped inspore Mrs. Burnett both tp sew outfits for her sons and to write her famous book. HBC is assembling images of French Fauntleroy suits to try to determine any specific stylistic characterictics. One of the oproblems here is that we do often do not know the names for the various styles. Even the fashion magazins of tyhe day are often not helpful, often describing an suit as something like "a outfit for a little boy" ("costume pour petit garçon") without any destinctive style name.
The two main garments composing a Fauntlerou suit are the jacket and pants. The classic Fauntleroy suit was worn with a small velvet jacket so as to best display the fancy blouse worn with it. The pants could be either kneepants or above the knee bloomer knickers--a style particularly popular in France.
Appearing after the classic small-jacket style, Fauntleloy suits appeared that bittoned to the neck or had no front buttons at all. This style appedared in the mid-1890s and was common in the early 1900s and 1910s before World War I (1914-18). These suits were usually worn with pinned on collar and wrist lace and ruffle trim. Sometines so much of this trim was pinned on that it was not possible to see much of the jacket underneath. Like the classic outfits, the pants could be either kneepants or above the knee bloomer knickers. Most examples we have seen have the bloomer knickers. A sash might be added for formal occassions. Hosiery varied, but strap shoes were common.
Some sailor suit outfits might have added lace and ruffled trims. This included both Fauntlerou outfits with sailor collars are essentially a sailor suit with added trim. While the Fauntleroy style was extremely popular for a generation, it was infact worn by a relatively small percentage of well dressed boys. Some have extimated 10 percent in America, I'm less sire about France. The sailor suit, hpwever was worn by boys for mpre than a decade. From about 1880-1930 probably most French boys as some time in their life had a saolaor suit. Most had traditional styling, but there were also many suits with widely divergent styling based on the easily regonizable "V" front and back flap. Some middy blouses and sailor tunics had Fauntleroy stling to different degrees. This usually involved adding varying amounts of lace and riffled trim to the front "V" and back flap. Some sailor outfits had even greater degrees of Fauntleroy styling.
Rather than a jacket and pants, some tunics were done on the Fauntleroy style with lace and ruggled trim. These tunics were normally wprn woth above the knee bloomer knickers.
Like American mothers, some French mothers were very enamored with the Fauntleroy style. Iften they did not think that there son was old enough to be breeched and wear a proper Faintleroy suit. They thus choses dressed with Fauntlerou styling--lace and ruffle trim.
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