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United States boys clothes: suits chrnology 19th century
United States Boys' Suits: Chronology--The 19th Century
The first suits specifically made for boys in America as in Europe were skeleton suits. Early skeleton suits were made with knee breeches, but the skeleton suit was mostly worn with long pants. In fact for many years boys in skeleton suits wore long pants while their fathers wore knee breeches. We notice suits with short jackets and often contrasting pants in the 1840s. At this time younger boys began wearing fancy suits, often heavily embroidered jackets. We notice both cut-away jackets and collar buttonong styles. We also notice, bloomer knickers, long knee pants, and long pants. Long pnts suits were the most common, but bloomer knixjers were worn by youngr boys from fashionable families. Modern looking sack suits began to be worn in the 1860s. Younger boys in fashionable families might wear kneepants suits, especially in cities. Less affluent boys and boys in rural areas wore long trousers more commonly, especially older boys until the 1890s. Gradually more boys began wearing kneepants. By the 1890s even older teenagers begin wearing long trousers as well. Younger boys by the 1870s commonly wore kiltsuits by the 1870s and Fauntleroy suits by the 1880s. Sailor suits were another popular choice. Older boys wore more modern suis. Many destinctive styles appeared such as Norfolk suits. There were also single and double breasted suits.
The 1800s
Younger boys wore dresses. The ritual of younger boys advncung from dresses to some form of trousers, continued to be called 'breeching', although boys begn eearing long pants. Afult men were still wearing knee breeches. The age pf breecjo=ing was largely a matter of parent disgression, at this stage mostly mother's disgressions and a boy's maturity. this could mean both his height and emotionsl maturity. This occured at about age 3-4 years at which time boys began wearing skeleton suits. The first suits specifically made for boys in America as in Europe were skeleton suits. This was outfitted designed for bots. They first appeared in yhe late-18th century (about 1780). They were called skeleton suits because they fit so closely to the body. The suit conisted of a short jackets which button onto knee breeches. By the turn-of-the 19th century the knee breeches gave way to long, ankle-length trousers. Sjeletoin suits were worn with blouses thast had wide collar, opften edged in ruffles. It is these blouses that varied by decade more than the suits. This continued to be the style for boys up to about 10 years of age. For many years boys in skeleton suits wore long pants while their fathers wore knee breeches through the 1800s. We also see tunic suits ewhich was kind of skirted garment worn with long pants, but the skeleton suits were more common.
The 1810s
Younger boys continued to wear dress. And skekleton suits coninued to be popular. Boys switched to sketeton suits at about 3-4 years. The skeleton suits were very silimr to those worn in the 1800s. A boy might also wear his first skeleton suit with pantalettes showing at the ankles of his long pants. The most imporant difference were the blouses. We also see tunics with pantalettes, but older boys wore long pants with their tunics. Pantalettes were less commonly worn in America than Britain and Europe. It should be stressed that these were fashions in the cities, but the great bulk of american fmilies still lived on farms in rural areas.
Figure 4.--The 1830s was the last decade for which photographic evidence is not available. Our visual information is still limited, having to rely on paintings and drawings. This stunning family portait is unattributed and the family unidentified. It is also undated, but we believe it dates to 1839 because of a note in the book.
The 1820s
Younger boys continued wearing dresses. There were similarities with fashionable male and female fashion trends. The waistline of suits and dresses were nipped and the sleeves began to puff at the shoulder, especually after about 1825.
The tunic suits were becoming increasingly popular and started replacing skeleton suits in the late 1820s. Tunics were becoming more common in the 1820s. And boys were not considered to be truly breeched until they wore trousers without the tunic top. This did not begin to occur until bout 6-7 years of age. Tunic suits were worn with pantalettes or long pants. These tunic suits remained in fashion until the early 1860s, but never totally went out of fashion for the rest of the 19th century.
Once breeched boys began wearing suits. Some skeleton suits were still worn, but we increasingly see see cropped, waist-length jackets which boys wore until their early teens. And we begin seeing suits in which the pants did not button on to the jacket--the main feature of the skeleton suit suit. And we see fewer boys wering white trousers. We continue to see suits with short jackets, but they did not button together.The boy wearing the collar buttoning blue jacket here is a gooid example (figure 4). We see both pants did and did not match the jacket. We see more color than was common in the 1800s and 10s.
Boys passing the early teens began wearing cutaway frock coats with knee-length tails, similar to what their fathers were wearing.
Skeleton suits were declining in popularity.
Most American families lived in rural areas and did not dress fashionably. And boys even less so. Few American boys had actual suits of any kind. Many simply wore shirts and trousers.
The 1830s was the last decade for which photographic evidence is not available, but America was growing and we have mnore imafges than ever before. Our visual information, however, is still limited, having to rely on paintings (often naive works) and drawings. While not masterworks, these naive works commonly have detailed, accurate depictions of clothing. Thedre are also some surviving vintage garments. As a result we have little information on the suits boys wore during the decade. We believe that the sleleton suits popular in the early-19th century were going out of style. The button on jackets were declining in popularity. We see entirely sepatate short jackets (figure 4). We also notice frock suits and long jackets which would have been worn by older teenagers and adults, but probably not very commonly for boys. They were most likely to wear the short jackets. We are not entire sure about the collars and lapels as we have so few images. And in some cases the top of the jacket is covered with large lace or ruffled collars. A destinctive popular style was a shirt jacket with long tails. Some of the tails expanded on to the front. For adults they closed becoming frock coats. For boys they were most liklely to be kept open. Almost closed they had a skirt like appearance. Generally the coat and pants did not match. This is difficult to follow, however, without the availability of photographic images we have so few images to work with. We thus have few details at this time. An important factor here is that America was still an agricultural country with just the beginning of economic development. This affected income and prosperity. We believe lot of boys with not have suits with expensive jackets. Boys from well-to-do families might wear tunics. America was still a largely rural country with few big cities. The population was thus largely self-sufficent, but noit very fashionable farm families. Most boys at the time probably wore simple blouses and other shirt-like garments. Relatively few boys had proper suits. (You see this in 1840s Dags--we still see realtivelky few boys wearing suits. And this was a decaded in which we do have large nunbers of images thanks to the rapidly expanding photograpphic industry.)
Figure 5.--Suits were not as common in the 1840s as they were by the 1860s Civil War period. We think economic was a factor here. And we notice quite a range of different jackets. This boy wears a very short jecket that looks like the skelton suit jackets worn through the 1830s.
The Daguererrotyoe was invented in France (1839). It was an immediare censation in Aamerica. By 1840-41 we begin to see the first photographic studios opening in the larger cities. There are relatively few early Dags as the industry was just getting started, but the number of stuidios and portraits taken very quickly increased. The industry quickly soread in America because peoople opening studios simplyb ignored international patent laws. Our confirmed images from the 1840s are very limited, but we are gradually expanding our archive. Photography had been invented, but portraits were expensive and the number of children's portraits are relatively small. Still Daguerreotypes gained great popularity and there were many more portraits taken than had been painted earlier. Our major problem is that while Daguerreotypes appeared in the 1940s we can not reliably differentiate between thise taken in the 1840s and 50s. Almost all photographic portraits taken in the 40s were Dags. By the mid-50s, however, we begin to see Ambros and tin-plates. Only Dags were taken in the 40s so if the portrait is a an Anbro or tin-tyoe, it had to be taken in the 1850s or later.
Suits were not as common in the 1840s as they were by the 1860s Civil War period. We think economic was a factor here. And we notice quite a range of different jackets. The boy on the previous page wears a very short jacket that looks like the skelton suit jackets still worn through the 1830s. We also note very long jackets and lengths in between. This mid- to late- 1840s sixth plate Daguerreotype potrait shows a boy wearing a very short dark jacket and light-colored pants. Our images from the 1840s are very limited. Photography had been invented, but portraits were expensive and the number of children's portraits are relatively small. Still Daguerreotypes gained great popularity and there were more portraits taken than had been painted earlier. Of course we still have traditional sources of information, especially paintings and fashion magazines. We notice suits with short jackets and often contrasting pants in the 1840s. At this time younger boys began wearing fancy suits, often heavily embroidered jackets. The standard for men was the somber frock coat. Not many boys wire frock cots, but we do see teenagers wearing them. A good example is Clarence E. Summer, we think in the 1840s. A major problem here is that we are not yet able to descriminate between Daguerreotypes taken in the 1840s and 50s. This makes it very difficult to assess the styles of the suits worn in the two decades. The sewing machine invented (1846). It was not widely used, however, until the late-1860s. This men that suits in the 1840s continued to be hand made. We see boys wearing shirt-like garments and tunics. Suits were still relatively expensive and thus not as widely worn as later in the century. We notice boys wearing short jackets with military styling, although we are not sure precisely when this became stylish. Boys at At about 12 years of age began wearing vests (waistcoats) with stiff collars and cravats like adult men.
Figure 6.--This Daguerreotype like most is undated. It looks to have been taken in the late 1840s or early 50s. The boy wears a short black jacket an large white collar, presumably enspired by the English Eton suit.
We have a much better idea about boys suits in the 1850s because photography wich appeared in the 1840s has becoming much more common. Many boys do not wear suits. In fact more boys seem to wear blouses and tunic-like tops rather than suit jackets. Economics was probably a factor. The industrial revolution was jist beginning to tke hold in the northern sttes. The wealth that would come with industrilizatiin hd not yet transformed America. Thus many american families did not yet buty suits for their younger boys. The tops were commonly done in bold plaids and other otterns. Boys also wore jackets. We notice boys wearing a variety of collar buttoning jackets, both collar buttoning and with lapels. There were many styles of collar buttoning jackets. Blue jackes with brass buttons in a military style were popular for younger school-age boys. There were also non-military styles. Collars varied. We see substantial collars in the early 1850s, but by the end of the decade very small collars were more common. We see some Eton-styled outfits, presumably a British influnce. Suiyts by the late-50s were conmmoly worn with small down-turn collars or just a hint of a collar. Most clothes were still hand made and thus styles were still quite varied. Many jackets were decorated eith embroidery and piping. It was till common for men and boys to wear jackets and pants that did not match as well as contrating vests. Younger boys might wear suits with bloomer knickers or long knee pants, although they were not yet very common outside of fashionable larger cities. Most boys wore long pants. Long pants suits were by far the most common, but bloomer knickers were worn by youngr boys from fashionable families.
Figure 7.--This boy from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has a CDV portrait taken about 1865 wears a cut-away jacket suit without a vest and with long pants. Notice how suits in the 1860s commonly had matching jackets and pants.
The appearance of CDVs and cabinent cards provides us a wealth of photographic evidence for the 1860s. Thanks to the CDV we sudennly have millions of images to illustrate period dress. The CDV rapidly replaces Daguerrotypes and Ambrotypes. Not only are there many more photographs, but the quality of the images gives us much more detailed information. We see several different styles of suits in the 1860s. The most common suit was the military-styled collar buttoning jacket with numerous buttons. This style seems to have fitst appared in the 1850s. The military styles, despite the outbreak of the Civil War, seem to becoming less popular. These collar buttoning jackets were a style for younger boys.They were often worn with white shirt collars. More of the jackets gad smnall collars. Here we see a good example (figure 1). The Lincoln boys wore these suits. We think they were generally navy blue. There were various styles, including Norfolk suits. This of course was during the Civil War (1861-65). We are not sure about boys in the souhthern states. They were lmost always worn with long pants.
Older boys by the late-60s began wearing more modern looking sack suits began to be worn in the late-1860s. Often they do not seem to fit real well.
The other major style was the cut-away jacket. Most of these jackets dud not have collars.
And most younger boys commonly wore suits with cut-away jackers. These cut-away jackets were very popular during the 60s. Younger boys often wore them with long-cut knee pants but we also see long pants. We see somewhat older boys wearing them with mostly long pants. These cut-ways jackets were worn with both long pants and shortened-length pants. There were fancy desisgns like Zouave uniform suits. The Zouave suits were usually worn with cut-away jackrts.
There were also button-on outfits. Suits generally are associated with jackets. Actually suits are marchung tops nd bottoms. And a popular style was styles in the 1860s was a button on suit with a matching top and bottom. These were two-pices suits with shirt-like tops that buttoned onto the pants. The top was not done done in shirting material, but in the heavier same material as the pants. A waist band usually hid the buttons connecting the top and bottom. A waistline device often hid the buttons. Here a good example is C. Stewart in 1865. Younger boys in fashionable families might wear knee pants suits, especially in cities. Less affluent boys and boys in rural areas wore long trousers more commonly, especially older boys until the 1890s. A good example is Stephen Uchlein about 1869.
The two basic elements of a suit are the jacket/suit and pants/trousers were a optional element. The jacket is the most important element of a suit. It generally gives the name to the suit type. There were several different jacket types. Pants commonly called trousers in Britain are the second principal element of the suit. We see more diverse pants types in the 1860s which were primarily age based.
We note a range of garments being worn with suits during the 1860s. This was affected by the type of suit wjich in part was a function of age. We notice a variety of headweae. The most common type of weadwear was the rounded crown hat. We are not sure how common these hats were, but we see them throughout the late-19th century. We note both plain shierts and shirts with patterns. They were all long sleeves. Most seem to have small vollars or no collars at all. Our information om shirts is limited because so many were covered by suit jackets.
Figure 8.-- This boy was from Fairmont, Nebraska. The cabinet card portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the 1870s.Younger boys in the 1870s often wore knee pants suit, but older boys wore long pants suits.
We have considerable information on the 1870s thanks to the huge record left by the growing photographic industry, although it was still confined largely to the photographic studio. The industrialization of the United States was in full gear by the 1870s. And the impact on personal income can be seen not only in the larger Amerucan than European photographic inustry but also in how Americans and their children dressed. Americans were the best dressed people in the world. Fashion still eminated from Europe, but moreamericans could afford stylish clothing than Europeans because of the prevailing higher wages in America. We see a relatively new garment in the 1870s -- the kilt suit. We see some in the 1860s, but by he 1870s the kilt suit had beecome standars. Kilts suits originating in Briain were done in a wide range of styles. They became a very important garment for younger boys. In earlier years these boys would have still worn dresses. They were only worn by boys, especially boys from comfortable, established middle-class and upper-class families. The jackets of kilt suits were similar to some suits older boys wore with pants. Fancy suits like Fauntleroy suits were not yet very common. The cut-away jacket suits so popular in the 1860s continued to be worn in the early-70s, but were decling in popularity by the end of the decade. We do not yet note sailor suits as a major style, but we see some younger boys wearing them. We see a variety of both lapel and collar-buttoning suit jackets. The collar-buttoning suits were for younger boys. Older boys wore lapel jackets. The lapel suits were mostly single-breasted styls. Many were three-piece suis with vests. Vested suits were very common. Some of the jackets were heavily styilized. We begin to see more younger boys waring knee pants suits. We do not yet see knickers to any extent. The knee pants were commonly cut at calf level. The term knee pants is more derived from the actual shorter-cut pants of the 1890s. Most boys wore long pants suits. This included many younger boys and almost all older boys. Knee pants suits were still a largely urban fashion. Almost all boys in rural areas wore long pants. Teenagers even younger teens rarely wore knee pants even in fashionable cities.
Figure 9.--Another popular choice for youunger boys once breeched was the Fauntleroy suit. They became very popular in the 1880s after the publication of Mrs. Burnett;s name-sake book. We notice fancy velvet suits for boys in the 1870s, but they were no particularly common. It was in the 1880s that the Fauntleroy became emenmsely popular for boys. The classic Fauntleroy jackets were cut-away so they displayed the fancy blouses the boys wore.
Kilt suits for younger boys wee stillpopular in the 1880s. Many mothers did not want to brrch their boys, but dresses wwere becoming less popular. We are not sure if this was with mothers or the fathers were intervening. Kilt suits continued to be a major style for younger boys throughout the decade although with the appearance of the Fauntleroy craze, some mothers opted for Little Lord Fauntleroy suits. Another popular choice for youunger boys once breeched was the Fauntleroy suit. They became very popular in the mid-1880s after the publication of Mrs. Burnett;s name-sake book. We notice fancy velvet suits for boys in the 1870s, but they were not particularly common. It was in the mid-80s that the Fauntleroy became emensely popular for boys. The classic Fauntleroy jackets were cut-away so they displayed the fancy blouses the boys wore. Some kilt suits were done with Fauntleroy styling. We see a range of suit styles. We note both collar buttoning and lapel jackets. The collar-buttoning jackets were for the younger boys. The lapels tended to be small and set high upon the jacket. There were both single- and double-breasted jackets. Boys wore both knee pants and long pants. Knickers were not very common, however, in contrast tp Europe where many boys wore them with suits. Vests were popular. Many boys wore them with lapel jackets. Most boys still wore long pants, but knee pants were becoming increasingly popular, especially by the late-1880s. The suits were very plain in the early-80s, but with the advent of the Fauntkeroy Craze, we see mothers adding large collars and boes to the standar suits for older boys. Knee pants were still mostly for younger boys, especially early in the decade. They were also less common in rural areas. The knee pants tended to be cut long. commonly well below the knee. They were virtually alkways worn with long stockings. Dark long stockings were standard and also worn by girls.
Figure 10.--This cabinet portrait of a boy and his grandfather was taken in Syracuse, New York. It came from an album with photographs dated 1891-1893. The boy has a suit with very hifg-set lapels and knee pants. He looks to be about 10 years old.
Boys commonly wore suits in the 1890s. During hot summer weather they may not, unlike their fathers, wear suit jackets, but the suit was the standard garment throughout the decade. They were many different kind of suit. We still note kilt suits and Fauntleroy suits for younger boys. The Fauntleroy suit cotinued to be a popular style. We note boys from a wider social cross section wearing Fauntleroy suits in the 1890s. They were comminly, but not always done in black velvet. The Fauntleroy suit cotinued to be a popular style. We note boys from a wider social cross section wearing Fauntleroy suits in the 1890s. This was the height of the Fauntleroy craze. Some kilt suits were done with Fauntleroy styling. Sailor suits were a very popular choice in the 1890s and worn by somewhat older boys. We note sailor suits earlier, It was not until the 1890s, however, that the sailor suit became a standard style for boys and traditional styling becomes increasingly standard. Older boys wore more modern-looking sack suits. Suits were a very important garment at the time. Most boys wore suits to school. We see quite a range of suit styles. A good example of the different types are the suits woen by boys at a Lexington school in 1892. Many destinctive styles appeared such as Norfolk suits. There were single and double breasted suits. Lapels could be quite high, but this varied chronologically. Patterns were very common, some times loud patterns. Gradually more boys began wearing knee pants. By the 1890s even older teenagers begin wearing knee pants, especially in the cities. Knee pants were very common, but not universal.
