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We notice younger boys wearing dresses in the 1880s. Most boys seem to have been breeched by age 5, many a year or 2 earlier. Some boys wore dresses longer, but this was much less common. Some still kept their long hair after breeching, but this varied from family to family. Many boys wore quite long dresses. Hem lengths varied from below the knee to the ankles. I am not sure if this was considerd stylish or just to provide room for growth. The boy dresses seem plainer than the girl dresses, but this was largely at the discressioin of the mother. Lace collars might be added to the basically plain dresses. Colored bands on the skirt seems to have been a popular decoration. We note both white and colored dresses. Unfortunately because of the black and white photography, we have no idea about the colors. American boys commonly wore dresses with long stockings. This differed from Europe where socks were also commonly worn.
We notice younger boys wearing dresses in the 1880s. Most 2-year olds wore dresses. A good example is Burgess Stranley, a Massahusetts boy.
We notice Ralph Cope who looks to be about 3 years old in 1888. We see fewer 3 year olds wearing dresses in the 1880s, we believe first by the growing popularity of kilt suits and then by mid-decade because of the Fauntleroy Craze. Most boys seem to have been breeched by age 5, many a year or two earlier. Some boys wore dresses longer, but this was much less common given the kilt suit and the Fsunrleroy suit. We suspect that the Kilt suit was a little more acceptable to fathers and the Fauntleroy suits had particular aappeal to mothers. Younger boys wearing dresses was a fashion convention that ha been prevalent for centuries. We are not sure why it began to weaken in ghe late-19th century, bu suspect that Muscular Christianity was a factor. In the 1880s the primary impact was age, with only very young boys wearing dresses. By the 1890s, hiwever, we begin to see the very idea of boys wearing skirted garments going out of fashion.
Some still kept their long hair after breeching, but this varied from family to family. Generally speaking boys after mid-century began earing short hair cuts. This was the predominant style by the 1870s. The exception here was younger boys. This of course was the same age group that was not yet breeched and still wore dresses. Parents at the time, however, varied as to whether boys should have their curls cut first or be breeched first. Some parents did both at the same time, but most took these steps in two different stages. Thus you see boys wearng dresses with both short hair and long hair. The ringlet curl style for boys became very poular n the 880s, in part because of the Fauntleroy craze which began in 1885. Ringlet curls for younger boys were not unknown in the 1870s, but in the 80s we see many more boys and older boys wearing them.
We don't have enough dated images yet to properly assess 1880s dress styles. We notice both very simple dresses and much fancier ones. Collars varried. Lace collars seem to have been popular. Lace collars might be added to the basically plain dresses.
We note modstly long sleeves. Hem lengths varied from below the knee to the ankles. I am not sure if this was considerd stylish or just to provide room for growth. The boy dresses seem plainer than the girl dresses, but this was largely at the discressioin of the mother. Colored bands on the skirt seems to have been a popular decoration. Many boys wore quite long dresses.
We note boys wearing both white and colored dresses. White seems to have been a particuolsrly popular color, especilly for younger boys. Unfortunately because of the black and white photography, we have no idea about the actual colors. I don't think, however, bright colors wee very common boys, we suspected they mostly wore muted colors.
We notice siblings both wearing identically and differently styled dresses. Some of the identical dresses might not be perfectly identical, somewhat coordinated. There could be only minor differencs in style. Or the dresses could be done in matching colors, but with different styling. We have found some examples, but not very many yet that we can date definitively to the 1880s. One example are unidentified twins from Springfield Missouri dated 1889. They both wear white dresses, but there are differences in the styling of their dresses. The girls dress is fancier than that of her brother's dress. Unfirtunstely as the dresses are white, it is difficult to makr out styling details. With our limited archive, we can not yet make any definative assessment about 1890s matching trends, but we hope to pursue this as we archive more images.
American boys commonly wore dresses with long stockings. This differed from Europe where socks were also commonly worn.
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