Figure 1.--These unidentified children, presumably siblings, wwere photographed in Aberdeen, the major North Sea port in northern Scotland. They look to be about 5-7 years old. The girl wears a simple white dresss with shoulder bows, a fashion artifact related tonleading strings. Also notice the hair bow, necklace and plain pantelettes. The boy wears a vested, velvet cut-away jacket with piping. Note the Eton collar and small bow. The dealer dates the CDV portrait to the 1890s. We are not sure about that, but are not really sure how to date it, but might guess the 880s. The studio is C.W. Wilson, a studio established in 1852. They had a royal warrant and you can tell by the pose that they were a highly skilled studio..

Fabric is a more difficult subject to assess from the photographic record than style. Most suits were done in a variety of wool fabrics, but just what the fabric was require a close up of the garments which is lacking in most portraits. We can oftent detect flat weaves which often flannel, but there are other flat weave fabric. And other fabrics are very difficult to detect. Flannel was a very common suiting fabric. But other wool fabrics are difficult to detect. American fabric information is often included is mail order catalogs, but we have very limited Scottish catalog information. While wool was commonly used for suiting fabric, there were other fabrics. Velvet was a popular fabric for younger boys. True velvet made with was very expensive, but velvet look alikes made with cotton blends were more moderarely priced. Corduroy was the primary cotton suiting material and as a result the least expensive. It can often be detected in portraits.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Kilt pages:
[Return to the Main Scottish boys suit page]
[Return to the Main Scottish boys clothing page]
[Return to the Main country sailor suit page]
[Kilt suits] [Scottish kilts] [Scottish school uniform] [Highland dance] [Pipeband]
[Irish kilts] [Irish boys clothing] [Irish step dancing] [Greek kilts]

Created: 8:52 AM 2/25/2018
Last updated: 8:52 AM 2/25/2018