Figure 1.--This New Jersey boy looks to be about 5 years old. He is is wearing a long (to his calves) dark dress with many buttons. The dress has a white collar with a floppy bow. The dress is styled rather like a kilt suir. He is also wearing dark stockings and dark high shoes. His hat and walking stick are posed with him. I can't tell just what is hat was. He is very formally posed on s stuio log and leaning against a studio rustic fence that has greenery on it. This cabinet photograph was taken by Service, No. 4 E. Commerce Street, Bridgeton, New Jersey. The portrait is undated, but we suspect was taken during the 1880s.

Boys are becoming much more aware at age 5. They see and note how their mothers and fathers dress. Many would have begun to want clothes like their older brothers and fathers. But mothers still ruled the roost in the 19th century and children did not have alot to say about how they dressed. And 5 year olds still mostly associated with their immediate family. And there was no television and movies to give 5 year olds visual images of how other children dressed. Age 5 is the last year that we see really large numbers of American boys wearing dresses. Age 5 was still a pre-school year. Kindergarten were not well established, even in the late-1890s. Many boys had been breeched by age 5. Social class differences were a factor, but considerable diffrences existed among families--even upper-class families. It is impossible to be precise, but clearly most boys had been breeched by age 5. It was an age, however, that it was still fairly common to see boys wearing dresses and other skirted garments. Kilt suits were especially popular. We even see dresses styled somewhat like kilt suits. We have found a substantial number of portraits showing that quite a number of boys had not yet been breeched. Thus there are many examples archived on HBC. A good example is a Pennsylvania boy, probably about 1890. A Connecticut boy and his older sister wore identical dresses. We note an Indiana boy who wears a dress with ringlet curls, probably in the 1880s. We note many different dress styles, including fany ones. A good example of a fancy dress is a Pennsylvania boy in the 1880s who also has ringlet curls. The dress and curls suggest to us that the boy came from an affluent family. We also see a lot of 5 year olds wearing kilt suits and tunics. The Fauntlroy suit beginning in the 1880s was also very popular for 5 year olds. This was a factor leading to an earlier breaching.

Boys at 5

Boys are becoming much more aware at age 5. They see and note how their mothers and fathers dress. Many would have begun to want clothes like their older brothers and fathers.

Mothers

Mothers still ruled the roost in the 19th century and children did not have alot to say about how they dressed. And 5 year olds still mostly associated with their immediate family. And there was no television and movies to give 5 year olds visual images of how other children dressed. Of course this varied over time, but throught the 19th century when younger boys boys commonly wore dressess, mothers were geberally in full control. After the turn-of-the-20th century when we no longer see 5-year olds wearing dresses, we are not sure just what forces were important in changing the attitides of mothers. We suspect that the growing mass media was a factor here.

Chronology

We see some 5-year old boys wearing dresses throughout the 19th century. Our infotmation is primarily derived from the photographic record which first becomes available in the 1840s. It is clear that not all 5-year olds wore dresses. The prevalence seems to have varied over time, but we would say yhat only a minority of 5-year olds wore dresses and this seems to have varied over time. The photographic record clearly shows a minority of boys were involved at this age. We are not yet in a position to assess the prevalence by decade. A factor here is that the boys in most surviving period costumes are not identified. Thus we have to estimate ages. While there is no way of being precise, such estimates can not be very far off. A factor affecting the prevalence by decade is that there were other skirted garments worn by boys during the 19th century, complicating the assessment, but we have begun to collect images to help with the assessment.

School

Age 5 is the last year that we see really large numbers of American boys wearing dresses. Age 5 was still a pre-school year. Kindergarten were not well established, even in the late-1890s. Many boys had been breeched by age 5.

Social Classes

Social class differences were a factor, but considerable diffrences existed among families--even upper-class families. Weare not entirely sure just how important social class was. The phitigraphic record suggests to us that boys wearing dresses, especially at age 5, was most prevalent among middle and upper-class families, bur our information is still limited and there clearly were other factors involved.

Prevalence

It is impossible to be precise, but clearly most boys had been breeched by age 5. It was an age, however, that it was still fairly common to see boys wearing dresses and other skirted garments. We have found a substantial number of portraits showing that quite a number of boys had not yet been breeched. Thus there are many examples archived on HBC. A good example is a Pennsylvania boy, probably about 1890. A Connecticut boy and his older sister wore identical dresses. We note an Indiana boy who wears a dress with ringlet curls, probably in the 1880s. We note many different dress styles, including fany ones. A good example of a fancy dress is a Pennsylvania boy in the 1880s who also has ringlet curls. The dress and curls suggest to us that the boy came from an affluent family.

Garments

Kilt suits were especially popular. We even see dresses styled somewhat like kilt suits. We also see a lot of 5 year olds wearing kilt suits and tunics. The Fauntlroy suit beginning in the 1880s was also very popular for 5 year olds. We believe that the popularity of the Fauntleroy suit in the 1880s-90s was a factor leading to an earlier breaching age for boys.

Created: 5:52 PM 3/9/2008
Last updated: 8:55 PM 5/18/2010