Figure 1.--This unidentified boy was photographed by the Douglas studio in Evansville, Indiana. He looks to be about 11 years old. The mount was very plain without the studio logo. He wears a cut-away jacket suit with piping and striped long stockings. Note how the sut-away are of the jacket is very small. The porrrait is undated, but looks like the 1870s to us. The stock-like neckwear, cut-away jacket (especially the limited cut-away area), the striped stockings, wooden trike , and plain front cabinet card all point to the 1870s.

We are also collecting information with the accompanying clothing worn with cut-away jacket suits in addition to the jacket, vest, and pants that comprised the suit. The various items differed somewhat depending on the boy's age and the decade. We have only limited information on headwear. We mostly see the boys wearing hats rather than caps. We see very few caps. We do not see many caps. Boater hats were popular headwear as were various types of rounded-crown hats. We do not yet know much about the shirts and blouses. Button-on blouses were common. We often do not see much of the shirts and blouses. The collars are normally small and often covered by vests in the 1860s,but begin to get a little larger in the 1870s. We note boys both wearing and not wearing neckwear. American boys almost always wore stockings rather than socks. We notice white stockings in the 1860s. Striped stockings became popular in the 1870s and continue to be seen in the 1880s. We also notice solid-colored stockings. We mostly notice boys wearing high-top shoes with these suits.

Headwear

We have only limited information on headwear, but have begin to archive a number of images showing the headwear the boys were wearing with these jackerts. We do not notice matching headwear. We mostly see the boys wearing hats rather than caps. We see some caps, but they are much less common that the hats. We do not see many caps. Boater hats were popular headwear as can be seen here (figure 1). We also note various types of rounded-crown hats. We have noted both the formed and soft hats. The stiffened hats seem more common, in part because the soft hats appeared after the cut-away jackets had begun to decline in popularity.

Neckwear

We note boys both wearing and not wearing neckwear. Neckwear was worn throughout the 19th century, but was optional. We see these jackets worn bith with and without neckwear. The neckwear thst was worn tended to be relatively small when these ksaclets wee most popular during the 1860s and 70s. The Fauntleroy variant is of course an exception.

Collars and Shirt-like Garments

We do not yet know much about the shirts and blouses worn with cut-away jackets. This is in part because many early-cut way jackets were worn with vests. Thus all you can see was the collar. When the cut-away jacket first appeared (1850s), collars could be very small and got even smaller (1860s) before growing unto enormous sizes (1890s). These small collars we believe were attached and as they were often detachable collars, that tells you nothing about the blouse or shirt. In fact they were often worn with shirt waists. This we are not entirely sure about. We often do not see much of the shirts and blouses. When the jackets were not sharply cut away and buttoned and a vest was worn, we just do not get to see much of the shirt-like garment. The Indiana boy here is a good example, we can't even tell much about the collar other than it was small (figure 1). But as the cut-away area got wider and vests become less commomn, we begin to learn more. Actually we are not entirely sure about the seasonality of vests. Button-on blouses were very common. Some blouses and shirts had button front closures. In many we can not see the bittons. These jackets began to decline in popularity during the 1880s. We are still working on the shirt-like garments during the early-80s. An exception of course was the explosion of popularity with the Fauntleroy craze. The cut-away feature was perfect for showing off the fancy Fauntleroy blouse to best affect.

Pants

Most boys wore knee pants sa 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. We see that here (figure 1). 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. here we can't see the waist area, but notice the use of buttons on the side of the boy's pants legs (figure 1). 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. 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 Fanyleroy blouses tended to have drawstring waist closures and did not button on to the pants.

Hosiery

American boys almost always wore stockings rather than socks. We notice white stockings in the 1860s. Striped stockings became popular in the 1870s and continue to be seen to some extent in the 1880s, mostly the early-80s. The boy here is a good example (figure 1). We also notice solid-colored stockings. Dark, solid-colored stockings, often black became popular in the 1890s.

Footwear

We mostly notice American boys wearing high-top shoes with these suits. Except dor going barefoot, high-top sgoes were almost universal. Usually when going to the photographic studio, children put on shoes in the 19th century. The boy here is a good example of the high-top shoes worn (figure 1). He looks to be about 11 years old. We see both younger and older boys wearing high-tops. We also see girlswearung them, along with adults, both men and women.

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Created: 8:09 PM 8/28/2010
Last updated: 9:34 PM 11/8/2018