German Suit Jackets: Cut-Away Jackets


Figure 1.-- We see younger German boys wearing suits with cut-away jackets in the mid-19th century. I'm not sure what the German term was for this style of suit. We believe these suits were very common, at least with boys from afluent families. This seems to have been a fairly standard and popular style throughout Europe and America. Our contributor reports that the child is a German boy and he was probably photographedf in the late 1860s or 70s. The suit seems to have a hint of Zouave styling with the embroidery. Image courtesy of the BP collection.

We see younger German boys wearing suits with cut-away jackets beginning in the mid-19th century. I'm not sure what the German term was for this style of suit. We believe these suits were very common, at least with boys from afluent families. This seems to have been a fairly standard and popular style throughout Europe and America. The suits were often elaborately decorated--commonly with embroidered designs. Most were done with shortened-length pants, with knee pants or knickers. Our understanding of the chronological range is incomplere at this time. I'm unsure what kind of headwear would have been worn with these suits. The boy here was probably photographedf in the late 1860s or 70s (figure 1). We are not sure when this style first appeared and how long the style was popular. I'm also not entirely sure about the age range for these suits, but would estimate from about 3 years old (or wnen the boy was breeched) to about 8 years of age--but this is just an estimate at this time. The collars worn with these jackets varried. This boy wears a small ruffled collar.

Chronology

We see younger German boys wearing suits with cut-away jackets beginning in the mid-19th century. Our understanding of the chronological range is incomplete at this time because of our limited archive of images. This is a difficult style to assess because it appeared at a time when photography was not yet common and we do not have any information on German fashion magazines. And of course the fact that many images are not dates is another complicating factor in building a chronology. We are not precisely sure when this style first appeared and how long the style was popular. We do not yet know if these jackets were worn in the 1840s. We do know that they were worn in the 1850s. The boy here was probably photographed in the late 1860s or 70s (figure 1). We know that the cut-away jacket was very popular for younger boys in the 1860s and 70s. We are not sure about the 1880s. The cut-away jacket was still common in America during the 1880s as it was commonly worn as part of a Fauntleroy suit. As the Fauuntleroy suit was not as commonly worn in Germany, we are not sure how coomon the cut-away jacket was in Germany during the 1880s. As far as we know, the cut-away jacket was not commonly worn in the 1890s.

Terminology

I'm not sure what the German term was for this style of suit. Our English-langage term is simply derived from the physical attributes of the jacket. A German reader tells us, "Actually, there is no German term for these cut-away jackets. I racked my brains to find a fitting translation that sounds at least reasonable but there is none. Translating it word to word sounds horrible."

Popularity

We believe these suits were very common, at least with boys from afluent families. This seems to have been a fairly standard and popular style throughout Europe and America. It is difficult to assess popularity at this time. Our principal method is the appearance of these suits in the photographic record.

Decoration

The suits were often quite plain, but could be elaborately decorated--commonly with elaborately emroidered designs. Piping was also commonly used. Designs on the jacket were repeated on the pants. The suit here is a good example of emrroidered decoration. The decoration suggests Zouave styling, although I am not sure the Germans would have called in Zouave styling at the time. Another good exanple is a Poznan boy. Other jackets were very plain. A Bremen boy in 1873 is a good example of this. We can see a hint of Zouave styling on some of the jackets, but this was not very common in Germany.

Suit Garments

Cut-away jackets were most commonly done as suits. As with most suits, the name of the suit derives primarily from the style of the jacket. Many were three-piece suits with vests. They were worn both with and without vests. The three-piece suit vest option seems to have been the most common. Many of the cut-away jacket suits were three-piece suits made with matching or coordinted vests. There was When worn with vests the blouse was covered up except for the collar as in the outfit here (figure 1). You can hardly see the vest here. A Bremen boy wears a cut-away jacket showing more of the vest. Most were done with shortened-length pants, with knee pants or knickers. We note some Germany boys wearing very long-length pants. The boy here is a good example (figure 1). In many cases these suits were done with ankle-length pants. Shorter-length pants, often knee-length bloomer knickers, were much more common in other countries.

Types

There were different types of cut-away jacket suits. The basic cut-away jacket suit varied quite a bit, bth in the cut of the jacket and the decoration. The two principal variants were the Zouave suit and the Fauntleroy suit. Neither of these types were particularly poplar in Germany--especially the Zouave suit wuth its French association. Bolero jackers wee another type, but we have not yet noted German boys wearing them.

Accompanying Clothes

We are unsure what kind of headwear would have been worn with these cut-away jacket suits in Germany. We have not found many portraits with headwear. We have not noted matching headwear with these suits. Boys commonly wore blouses with them. It is difficult to see much of these blouses in the available photographs. The collars worn with these jackets varried, but tended to be quite small. The boy here wears a small ruffled collar (figure 1). We do see larger collars. A good example is two unidentified German brothers in 1864. We are also unsure about hosiery, especially when the boys are wearing long-length pants. We note several boys wearing white or light-colored long stockings.

Age

I'm also not entirely sure about the age range for these suits. We do not yet have any German catalogs which would provide sizing information. The lack of catalogs makes it a little difficult to assess age trends. In addition these jackets were popular in a period before ready-made clothes meaning that there was considerable diversity. Thus there probably were differences from family to family. Based on the photographic record, we would estimate that they were very common for boys from about 3 years old (or wnen the boy was breeched) to about 8 years of age--but this is just an estimate at this time. It is likely that they were worn by boys up to about 10 years.







HBC






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Created: 10:34 PM 9/21/2005
Last updated: 2:09 AM 12/14/2017