Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows a boy wearing a dark play suit with wide white trim. The jacket has matching bloomer knickers cut quite long. There is a large book on the table next to him. Photo was taken right around 1866-67. Unless it was dated, we would hsve guessed it was taken in the 1870s. There is no No photographer or location. The boy looks about 6-7 years old.

American boys wore a variety of different pants in the 1860s. And as another result of advances in photographic technology, we can monitor the fashion shifts in great detail. Dags and Ambros greatly increased the number of images available, but the Albumen process provided a quantam leap in photography. They not only were less expensive than Dags and Ambros, but copies could be made in virtually infinite numbers. From now on because of the huge increases in numbers of images, any fashion change could be followed in great detail. And far beyond anything in Europe. The 1860s would be dominated by the CDV and the larger cabinet card also appeared. Most boys still wore long pants. By the 1860s, shortened-length pants following European fashion trends appeared in greater number and many youngrr boys wore them an in increasing numbers as the decade progressed. We see both bloomer knickers and straight-leg knee pants. We use the term knee pants, but in the 1860s, these pants mostly fell to calf level. We see this mostly in the fashionable big cities. Boys in the West (still largely east of the Mississippi) and smaller towns were slower to adopt the new fashions. The Limcoln boys for example wore long pants, despite their fashion-concious mother. We are unsure about the terms for these pants used at the time. Shortened-length pants were still mostly worn by younger boys, especially boys from fashionable city families. They were most common in major cities. Long pants were much more common in less fashionable towns and rural areas. We see younger boys wearing a variety of fancy suits in a wide variety of styles. The unidentified boy here is a good example (figure 1). The fancy suits almost always had bloomer knickers or knee pants. Boys also wore cut-away jacket suits, both with knee pants and long pants. We still see many boys wearing long pants suits. The Vermont boys on the previous page are a good example of cut-away jacket suits with knee pants. They also show case the increasing tendency of American boys to wear suits. rather than just blouses and pants. we see a lot of boys wearing just blouses and pants in the early photgraphic formats (1840s-50s). We also see suits, but they were by no means standard. This changes drmatically in the 60s. Of course here we are talking about studio portrait. So we can assume hat the boys not wearing suits, probably did not have suits to wear. Many more boys had suits by the 60s. This we believe exemplifies the increasing economic success of the United States and the prosperity of Ameica as the industrial Revolution began to take hold. And this despite the tragedy of the Civil War (1861-65).

Pants Types

American boys wore a variety of different pants in the 1860s. Most boys wore long pants. This can be assessed by looking at school clothes in the 1860s. We see boys mostly wearing long pants to school. This may reflect the fact that pre-school boys were wesaring them. Or perhaps boys from prosperous families had tutors rather than attending schools. By the 1860s, shortened-length pants appeared in greater number. We see both bloomer knickers and straight-leg knee pants. We are unsure about the terms used at the time. We use the term knee pants, but in the 1860s, these pants mostly fell to calf level. .

Photography

As another result of advances in photographic technology, we can monitor the fashion shifts in great detail. Dags and Ambros greatly increased the number of images available, but the Albumen process provided a quantam leap in photography. They not only were less expensive than Dags and Ambros, but copies could be made in virtually infinite numbers. From now on because of the huge increases in numbers of images, any fashion change could be followed in great detail. And far beyond anything in Europe. The 1860s would be dominated by the CDV and the larger cabinet card also appeared.

Age Conventions

Most boys wore long pants, even most younger boys. By the 1860s, shortened-length pants following European fashion trends appeared in greater number and many youngrr boys wore them an in increasing numbers as the decade progressed. Most boys went straight from dresses after breeching to long pants. The shortened-length pants were still worn by younger boys. Most portraits we have found do not specify the ages. We suspect based on estimating the ages that the children wore the shortened-lerngth pants to about age 8 years. The lack of older boys weating shortened-length pants can be seen in school portraits. This is a little difficult to assess in individual portraits. We certainly do not see boys over age 10 wearing them. Portraits of brothers and families also show only the younger boys wearing shortened-length pants.

Demographics

Shortened-length pants were especially common for city boys. We suspect that this was a matter of city families being more exposed to fashion trends and less conservative than rural families. Shortened length-pants were thus most common in major cities. Long pants were much more common in less fashionable towns and rural areas. Another facor is that the major mail order catalog companies had not yet been founded. Thus people in rural areaas had less familiar or exposure to fashion. We see this mostly in the fashionable big cities. Boys in the West (still largely east of the Mississippi) and smaller towns were slower to adopt the new fashions. The Limcoln boys for example wore long pants, despite their fashion-concious mother. We are unsure about the terms for these pants used at the time. Shortened-length pants were still mostly worn by younger boys, especially boys from fashionable city families. They were most common in major cities. Long pants were much more common in less fashionable towns and rural areas.

Social Class

This difficult to assess from photographs, but we suspect that the shoertened-length pantswere most worn by boys from middle-class or affluent families. Tey were the families that were best able to pursue fashion. Most boys wore long pants, but almost all working-class boys wote long pants after breeching, erven youner boys.

Suits

We see younger boys wearing a variety of fancy suits in a wide variety of styles. The unidentified boy here is a good example (figure 1). We see both suits with jackets and button-on suits with shirt-lke tops rather than jasckets. The fancy suits almost always had bloomer knickers or kneepants. Boys also wore cut-away jacket suits, both with knee pants and long pants. We still see many boys wearing long pants suits. The Vermont boys on the previous page are a good example of cut-away jacket suits with knee pants. We still see many boys wearing long pants suits. The Vermont boys on the previous page are a good example of cut-away jacket suits with knee pants. They also show case the increasing tendency of American boys to wear suits. rather than just blouses and pants. we see a lot of boys wearing just blouses and pants in the early photgraphic formats (1840s-50s). We also see suits, but they were by no means standard. This changes drmatically in the 60s. Of course here we are talking about studio portrait. So we can assume hat the boys not wearing suits, probably did not have suits to wear. Many more boys had suits by the 60s. This we believe exemplifies the increasing economic success of the United States and the prosperity of Ameica as the industrial Revolution began to take hold. And this despite the tragedy of the Civil War (1861-65).

Length

Early knee pants were quite long, well nelow the knee. They were commonly dome to calf-length. The bloomer knickers were worn at a similar llength.

Created: 1:55 AM 4/24/2007
Last updated: 3:24 AM 11/19/2023