Figure 1.--This 1/6 plate Daguerreotype portrait shows an unidentified teenage boy wearing a suit jacket with a coloful vest. The dealer dates it to the 1850s, but we would say the 40s is more likely, perhaps the early-50s. He looks like a young teen ager, but we notice tenage boys in th 19th century who look toungr than they are. Thus we would guess he is about 16 years old. Notice how dischelved his suit jacket looks.

Vests had the same V-cut as suit jacketts. There ws no readt-made manyfacture in the 1840s. Thus the exact cut varied. Some look more like a U-cut, but tghe basic V-cut was standard. Very commonly suits vests did not match suit jackets. Not only did the vests not match, but were often done in bold patterns and bright colors. We do ot know about the 1830s, but the vests that did not match the suit jacket were common. This is not to say that all the vests did not mrch. Some did, but the historical record clearly shows that mny did. Not only did they not match, but the vests were often a blaze of bright colors and bold ptterns. This was not a boy's style. Adults also wore these brihghtly color vests, at least young men. We see an unidentified young teenager wearing a bold plaid vest in the 1840s. An exception was the frock coat suit which was not a boys' style. We also see teenagers wearing somber frock coats with black vests matcing their coats. A good example is Clarence E. Summer, we believe in the 1840s, perhaps the early-30s close to the 30s. We also see boys wearing vests without jackets. We think by the mid-1850s, the bright, coloful vests were no longer common.

Created: 12:38 AM 3/4/2014
Last updated: 2:59 PM 10/5/2017