Figure 1.--This tintype portrait probably taken in the 1870s shows two unidentified siblings. They look to be about 5-8 years old. The boy has a small white collar as was common at the time. The girl in cibtrast has a wide white collar with her palid dress. Note her huge waist band which probably ends with a massive bow in the back. The boy wears a very plain blouse that apparently buttoned in the back. These blouses had burrons at waist level that buttoned on to the waust band of the pants. That was how younger boys kept their pants up. Notice the waist piece with dark piping that covers the buttons on his waist band which has a triangular front. Alsso notice how long the knee pants are. Both children have striped stockings and high-top shoes.

Most boys wore knee pants as part of cut-away jacket suits. Knee pants were generally longish, cut below the knee through the 1870s when cut-way jackets were especially popular. The unidentified boy here is a good example (figire 1). We see that on the previous page. The suit pants worn with regular cut-away jackets were often button-on trousers. Buttons on blouses fitted into button holes in the trouser waist. For some reason, suits had waist bands to cover ovrr these buttons. This was popular when cut-away jackets were most common (1860s-70s). We are not sure why mothers wanted the buttons covered. Often buttons were a popular decotative decvice. We can't see the waist area in the image on the previous page, but notice the use of buttons on the side of the boy's pants legs. Some times the cover looked like a waistband. Other times it was a more decorated item bringing attention to the fact that the buttons were being covered. It often had a kind of triangular look in front. Again, the boy here is agood example. We continue to see cut-away jackets in the 1880s and 90s, but these were almost entitely Fauntleroy suits, not regular suits. Unlike the regular suits, the Fauntleroy suits pants did not have these buton covering waistlines. This was because Fauntleroy blouses tended to have drawstring waist closures and did not button on to the pants.

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Created: 2:11 PM 6/28/2019
Last updated: 2:12 PM 6/28/2019