Figure 1.-- Here we see an unidentified Chicago brother and sister, we think in the late-1860s. The children look to be about 5-7 years old. The boy wears what looks to be a tunic tuncked into his trousers. Perhaps he has recently been breched. His little sister wears a an elaborate dress with the bodice done in a different material than the highly decorated, voluninous skirt. Whe also wears pantalettes and white stockings. Their shoes are quite different. Actually at this time yiu begin to see boys and girls wearing very similar footwear. The studio was Aldridge & Merriman in Chicago. They also offered painting.

The 1860s saw the most cataclysmic event in American history, the Civil War. Civil War battles were major bloodlettings with sometimes more fataloties in a sigle day of battle than whole World War II campaigns. In a country with a still fairly small population, few families were spared. HBC has noted that the impact of wars and social uphevals frequently are reflected in fashion. HBC, however has not yet fully determined the impact of the war on boys' fashions. Some fashions were inspired by the war. American boys' clothing styles, however, did not change radically in the 1860s. Little boys continued to wear dresses. The 1860s were, however, a dividing point between early and late 19th Century fashions. The styles such as skeleton suits had completely disappeared. Tunics were becoming less common. Victorian styles such as sailor suits and kilts grew in importance. Collars that had once been open were now universally worn tightly buttoned, except for small boys who still might wear dresses with low necklines. Some of the new styles such as kneepants began to appear. The Civil War in America engendered some popular fashion trends as well as initiating some changes in the image of childhhod. Pants styles were varied. We note girls wearing bonnets in the 1860s, but we are sure yet about headwear styles. Mothers wanted to show hair and thus headwear is absent in most photographic portraits. American girls in the 1860s wore a range of blouses, skirts and dresses. They did not wear pants which is helpful in assessing gender in unidentified portraits. Some fashions were foexible such as hair length, girls of all ages followed an inflexible rule--only wearing skirted garments. Younger boys might wear dresses, but girls did not wear pants. And the popularity of the CDV leaves us an enormous photographic record with details on girls' dresses.

Developments

The 1860s saw the most cataclysmic event in American history, the Civil War. Civil War battles were major bloodlettings with sometimes more fataloties in a sigle day of battle than whole World War II campaigns. In a country with a still fairly small population, few families were spared. HBC has noted that the impact of wars and social uphevals frequently are reflected in fashion. HBC, however has not yet fully determined the impact of the war on boys' fashions. Some fashions were inspired by the war.

Boys

American boys' clothing styles, however, did not change radically in the 1860s. Little boys continued to wear dresses. The 1860s were, however, a dividing point between early and late 19th Century fashions. The styles such as skeleton suits had completely disappeared. Tunics were becoming less common. Victorian styles such as sailor suits and kilts grew in importance. Collars that had once been open were now universally worn tightly buttoned, except for small boys who still might wear dresses with low necklines. Some of the new styles such as kneepants began to appear. The Civil War in America engendered some popular fashion trends as well as initiating some changes in the image of childhhod. Pants styles were varied. Most boys wore long pants after breeching--even quite young boys. Other mostly younger boys from affluent familiesd began wearing kneepants cut at various lengths. Knickers blouced at the hem were also worn. The most readily observable trend was before the War American boys generally wore long pants after breeching. After the War kneepants begin to become increasingly popular. This does not, however, seem to be an impact of the War as the same trend is observable in Europe. It may be that American fashion trends were not as affected by the War as they were still largely influenced by European fashions.

Girls

We note girls wearing bonnets in the 1860s, but we are sure yet about headwear styles. Mothers wanted to show hair and thus headwear is absent in most photographic portraits. American girls in the 1860s wore a range of blouses, skirts and dresses. They did not wear pants which is helpful in assessing gender in unidentified portraits. Some fashions were foexible such as hair length, girls of all ages followed an inflexible rule--only wearing skirted garments. Younger boys might wear dresses, but girls did not wear pants. And the popularity of the CDV leaves us an enormous photographic record with details on girls' dresses. We see a range of styles. Younger children might have low-necklines, but this was becoming less common as high necklines were becoming standard. Dresses were mostly done with defined waists. Boys might wear simple, often plain suits like cut-away jackets. Girls on the other hand commonly wore elaborate dresses using considerable amounts of fabric in addition to ertra petticoats. And we notice elablorte decoration. The dresses were commonly worn with voluminous petticots and/or hoop skirts, at least for the older girls. Skirt were also worn. We are not entiely sure just how common skirts were. The photogrphic records stringly suggests that dresses were much important than blouses and skirts. A factor, however, may be that children were commonly dressed up in their best outfits. We also see pantalettes as children wore dresses with skirts above the ankles. White long stockings were standard. Stockings and footwear were similar for both boys and girls.

Created: 3:06 AM 2/9/2015
Last updated: 3:06 AM 2/9/2015