Figure 1.-- These brothers wear identical double breasted, knee pants suits. Only their headwear and neckwear is different. The younger boy has a Civil War kepi and a floppy bow. His older brother has a boater and necktie with a wing collar. Both boys have blacl long stockings. The photographer was Louis Blaul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The cabinet card is not dated, but looks like the 1890s to us.

A standard or sack suits came in two basic types: single- and double-breased jackets. There was a wide range of stylistic variations affecting the lapels, pockets, and other features of the jackets. But after the turn-of-the 20th century, single- and double-breasted jackets were the two basic choices for school age boys. Both styles appeared in the 19th century and were widely worn for many years. The two different options varied in popularity during this period. Double-breasted jackets came to be seen as more formal. You do not see sport jackets commonly being mde as dounle-breasted jackets. After the 1950s we mostly see boys wearing single-breasted suit jackets. As a youth in the 1950s, I saw double-breasted jackets as rather old fashioned. The War may have been a factor when styles usung less fabric were favored. There were some notable variations. The jackets were made in different styles. One especially popular style for many years was the Norfolk jacket with destinctive pleats and belts. Many other jacket styles and blazers were made in both single- and double breasted versions. Blazers were, however, primarily done as single-breasted garments.

Single-Breasted Jackets

We notice single-breasted blazers as early as the 1840s. We believe they were a style first appearing in Europe. probably, England and then quickly being adopted in America. They may have evolved from skeleton suit jackets. We are just beginning to assess the chronology of these jackets. Many jacket styles were made in both single- and double-breasted versions. We see them in the earliest photographic images (1840s-50s). We are not yet sure about the precise chronology. The early single-breasted jackets tended to have small, higher set lapels. Double-breasted jackets appeared at about the same time. A good example is Carl Schrader about 1885. There were in the 19th century many other popilar suit jacket styles. Two of the most important were cut-away and collar-buttoning jackets. Over time single- and double-breasted jackets became the dominant suit types for both men and boys. This process was well under way by the turn-of-the 20th century. After Workd War I in the 1920s these were almost exclusivly the styles worn by boys. And gradually the single breasted jacket became the dominant suit jacket for boys. We rarely see double-breasted jackets by the 1940s. I remember thining as a boy in the 1950s that double-breasted suits were a style for older men. Occasionallydouble-breated jackets made a stylistic appearance, but basically single-breasted jackets became standard. The nasic shift in the late-20th century is that as part of a genral trend toward informality is that suits were becoming less and less common for boys.

Double-breasted Jacket

We note double-breased jackets in the late-19th century. W are not yet sure about the chronology. We are unsure about the 1860s, but do see them in the 1870s. They were widely worn for many years. Double-breasted like single-breased jackets varied in popularity over time. Double-breasted jackets came to be seen as more formal. You do not see sport jackets commonly being mde as dounle-breasted jackets. After the 1950s we mostly see boys wearing single-breasted suit jackets. As a youth in the 1950s, I sa double-breasted jackets as rather old fashioned. The War may have been a factor when styles usung less fabric were favored. There were some notable variations. Double-breasted jackets, like single-breasted jackets were made in different styles, including blazers. Double-breasted jackets, however, were less like to be done in the various destinctive jacket styles. Rather most double-breasted jackets over time seem to have been done in a basically similar style. While the basic style remained unchanged, the varuous elenents of the suit such as the placemenr and width of the lapels did vary chromologically as fashions changed.

Created: 1:05 AM 11/30/2009
Last updated: 1:05 AM 11/30/2009