Figure 1.-- Here is a portrait of an unidentified brother and sister taken in 1924. They are dressed up for the portrait, but not in particularly formal clothing. It is is an interesting companion photo as we have a portrit of this same boy in his First Communion outfit. The portait was taken somewhere in Italy, but we do not know just where.

Here is a portrait of an unidentified brother and sister taken in 1924. They are dressed up for the portrait, but not in particularly formal clothing. It is is an interesting companion photo as we have a portrit of this same boy in his First Communion outfit. The portait was taken somewhere in Italy, but we do not know just where. The boy seems to be about a year or two younger than the boy who was dressed for communion, but he wears similar clothing. Here he seems to be about 8 or 9 years old (not 10 as in the first communion portrait).

Family

The family here is unidentified. We suspect that the family was a middle class family in comfortable circumstances. This photo seems to be a professional photo taken in a studio. It seems to be quite posed. A reader writes, "One gathers that these children come from an affluent or aristocratic Italian family." We are not sure about this. The girl's dress does not seen especialy stylish. And the boys clothing seem an odd mixture, a not very casul top mixed with fprmal shorts, stockings and footwear. Wealty or aristocratic families I think would have had a bit more fashion sence. This seems to me more like outfits a middle-class family might have worn. Perhaps our Itlian readers will have a better feel for this.

The Children

The children surely are a brother and sister. The boy seems to be about a year or two younger than the boy who was dressed for communion, but he wears similar clothing. Here he seems to be about 8 or 9 years old (not 10 as in the first communion portrait).

Location

The portait was taken somewhere in Italy, but we do not know just where.

Chronology

The only thing we know for sure about this portrait is that it was taken in 1924.

Clothing

The children are dressed up for the portrait, but not in particularly formal clothing. Notice that he wears a light colored jacket which seems almost to serve as a shirt. It buttons down the front (like a blouse) and has a large attached collar. He wears rather short knee pants (probably black) with white ornamental pearl buttons just above the hem line. He wears the same kind of long white stockings as those shown in the first communion photograph. He also wears strap shoes but here black (rather than white). His older sister is also dressed in white. She wears a white, bur rather elegant dress for its simplicity. She probably also wears longs stockings (although her legs are shaded). One might think that they would be white long stockings, but they look rther dark. One point worth noting is the long length of the boys' stockings, which must be quite long to accommodate knee pants (really like short pants) that are so briefly cut. The stockings worn here are similar to those of an American boy of the same period from Brooklyn whose short pants are also quite short. In both cases the long stockings are not worn not for warmth but for dressiness and formality. Long stockings were less common in Italy than northern Europe, we believe orimarily for climatic reasons. A reader writes, "They seem to be dressed as though for a rather formal occasion." Our assessment is that some of the garments seem formal, but not all of them.

Hair Styles

First Communion

The portrait here is an interesting companion photo as we have another portrit of this same boy in his First Communion outfit. He wears a white suit which seems a bit large for him and comes down a bit low on his body. I at thought at first it seemed to be double breasted with a collar that obscures his shirt underneath. Note, however, that it is not double-breasted, but rther off center buttoning, rather like a tunic. The boy wears matching knee pants with long white stockings and white strap shoes.

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Created: 7:00 PM 7/16/2006
Last updated: 7:00 PM 7/16/2006