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United States boys clothes : specific skirted garments identification posing
United States Boys' Clothes: Skirted Garment Identification--Posing
Figure 1.--Here we see Graham and Annie we think in the early-1880s, but the late-70s is possible. They lok to be bout 4-7 years old. We are not sure what Graham is wraring. It looks looks a kilt suit outfit with a collar-buttoning blouse rather than a jacket, but it could be a dress. He also has a large lace collar. Notice Graham's hair. We thought at first it was just messy, nut uponcloser inspecton it appears to be unusual front ringlets. Interestingly, his big sister has her hairall covered up,with a winter bonnet. The studio was Giles Bishop in New London, Connecticut.
Another issue is that the way the subjects were posed. In most group portraits, it is not possible to determine what everyone is wearing. We will post some of the images here that we are having trouble idenifying. This is often the the case when we only have photographs to work with and not the actual garments. Most photographs clearly show the garment, but this is not always the case. This is most commonly the case when the subject or subjects are sitting down. When there are multitiple subjects, inevitably some will obscure the clothing of others. The subjects in front cover up some of the subjects in back. Only if they are just lined up side by side and this is usually not the case except for groups of two. Just lining subjects up is not very artistic or pleasing to even the untrained eye. Thoughful posing helps to reveal social interactions and relationships, such as the parents situated at the center with the children around them. This is generally what the clients wanted, but of course affects the display of fashion. Notice that naive artists often lined subjects up, but rarely trained artists. Reader comments here of course are welcomed.
