Figure 1.-- This portrait, probably taken around 1890, shows a man holding a boy on a bicycle. The man was Charlie Weeks. The boy was his nephew, but we do not know his name. They were from Whitewater, Wisconsin. The boy wears a tam with a Fauntleroy kilt suit. A reader asks how old the boy is. We would guess 3-4 years old.

There was no one single outfit with which tams were associated. We see boys wearing tams with a variety of different outfits. The tams that boys wore were generally with kilt suits or Fauntleroy suits. We see more boys wearing tams with these outfits than any other outfit. Boys dressed in kilt suits wore a range of different headwear, but tams were an important one of them. A good example is the boy wearing a Fauntleroy suit here (figure 1). Another example is a San Jose boy about 1905. Tams were not the principal headwear for either outfit, but they were worn. We note Percy Brown who has just been breeched wearing a tam with his new sailor suit in 1891. Another example is an unidentified boy wearing a Fauntleroy suit about 1890. Tams were not commonly worn with sailor suits, but this boy just got his sailor suit. The sailor suit was so commonly worn that we see boys wearing a range of caps with it besides just sailor caps. We also note a few portraits taken in the early 20th century. The unidentified boy in the portrait on the prevuious page is an example.

Kilt Suits

Tams or Tam O'Shanters were another popular choice to be worn with kilt suits. Tams were one of many varied types of headwear worn by boys with lilt suits. In fact many of the boys we see wearing tams are dressed in kilt suits. This includes both regular kilt suits and Fauntleroy kilt suits. The connection between kilt suits and tams prpbably occurred because the tam was a headwear seen as suitable for younger boys and these were the boys wearing kilt suits. And of course the Scottish association was part of the reason tams were chosen. We see some boys wearing tams with kilt suits. Some of these caps were quite large. We note good-sized tams with poms on the top. Thankfully some momms included the headwear in the studio portraits. The tams we have noted have mostly been dark colors, but we do not know just what specific colors. Presumably a color was chosen to match the kilt suit. Tams were a headware type worn by both boys and girls. We note boys wearing tams with kilts suits during the 1870s-80s. We are not yet sure about the 1890s.

Fauntleroy Suit

We see some portraits of boys wearing tams with Fauntkeroy suits. The tams varied in color. Commoinly they were chosen to match the color of the suit. We notice varuoys sizes, some quite large. They came with and without tassles. Most seem to have been worn in the 1880s and 90s. Generally they were worn with younger children. This was not one of the most common headwear styles, but we do not several boys wearing tams. I believe it was a headwear style also worn by girls, but the tassle was usually worn just by boys. We note a San Jose boy wearing a small tam with a Fauntleroy suit about 1905.

Sailor Suit

We note Percy Brown who has just been breeched wearing a tam with his new sailor suit in 1891. Tams were not commonly worn with sailor suits, but this boy just got his sailor suit. The sailor suit was so commonly worn that we see boys wearing a range of caps with it besides just sailor caps. We also note a few portraits taken in the early 20th century. The unidentified boy in the portrait on the previous page is an example. Another example is the Rolf brothers in the 1900s decade. They are outfitted in a sailor suit and Fauntleroy suit. They look to be wearing tams, but are probaly wearing sailor headwear.

Created: 1:50 AM 5/17/2008
Last updated: 10:18 PM 3/13/2010