Figure 1.--This CDV was probably taken in the 1860s, but there was no studio logo on the card. The unidentified boy looks to be about 5-6 years old. He wears a very plain cut-away jacket. The jacket is piped around the edges and there appears to be some decoration at the side of the sleeve cuff. There are matching button-on long pants. Notice the bowtie-likeneckwear.

We notice a variety of detailing used in the cut-away jacket suits for younger boys in the 19th century. This was the principal jacket style for younger bhoys by mid-century. Suits with cut-away jackets appeared in the mid-19th century in a range of different styles. Many of these jackets were very plain while others were heavily decorated. This varried chronologically. We see a lot of plain suits in the 1860s abnd some heavily decorated suits in the 1870s. The portrait here is an example of a very plain suit (figure 1). Often the detasiling was restrained. A tin-type of of two unidentified brothers wearing identical cut-away jacket suits is a good example of restrained detailing. Other suits had elaborate detailing, often with military styling. The military styling is not always obvious. Look carefully here t the boys lower sleeve and the length of dark accent cloth around the buttons. Detailing included piping, stripes, and embroidery were commonly employed in the detailing. Color was also used, but tis is more difficult to determine from the black-and-white photography. A good example is the trim used on Water Pond's suit. The detailing could occur all over the jacket. The edges of the jacket, pockets, and sleeves were places wearing detailing occurred. It was more common on the front than the back. The most striking such suits were the Zouave suits. Of course the best known suit style in the late-19th century was the Fauntleroy suit, one without military styling. The Fauntleroy jackets, however, came at a time when the cut-away jackets had for the most part gone out of style.

Created: 8:24 PM 1/17/2008
Last updated: 9:35 AM 10/19/2022