Figure 1.--This American boy wears a collar buttoning knee pants suit. Faint writing on the back of the cabinent card says, "October 13th, 1884, 9 years and six months." The portrait was taken in Poughkeepsie, New York, but the boy is not identified.

Knee pants appeared in the mid-19th centyy. They were at first worn by younger boys in fashionable city families. They become somewhay more popular in the 1870s, but still by mostly younger boys. We see a lot more boys wearing knee pants in the 1880s as they were becoming standard boys wear. And we see older boys wearing them up to about 10-years of age. The 9-year old boy here is a good example (figure 1). Boys pehaps a little older were wearing knee pants by the end of the decade. School portaits provide a good indicator as taking class portaits began to become popular. And they begin to become shorter. Knee pants at calf-lengths became rare, but hey were till cut below the knee durung the 80s. American boys wore knee pants with a range of different suit styles. The Fauntleroy suit appeared during the 1880s. Fauntleroy suits in America were almost always worn with knee pants. Fauntleroy suits were never made with long pants. In Europe they ere often worn with bloomer knickers, but not in America. Sailor suits began to be more popular in the 1880s. Sailor suits were worn with both knee pants and long pants. We note boys wearing both collar buttoning and sack suits in the 1880s. The collar-buttoning suits were for younger boys and thus more commonly worn with knee pants. We see more boys wearing sack suits with knee pants as well in the 1880s, but as sack suits were worn by older boys, they were commonly worn with long pants during the 1880s. Boys up to about age 10 commonly wore knee pants suits, especially in cities where mothers tended to be more fanshion concious. Gradually during the 80s we see more boys wearing knee pants and to an older age. They also became more common in rural areas, at least in the cities located in rural areas. By the end of the century we begin to see some boys up to 12-13 years wearing knee pants suits.

Prevalence

We begin to see knee panrs in the mid-19th century. They were not at first very common. We mostly see American boys wearing long pants after breeching in the 1870s. The boys we do see wearing knee oants are younger boys or a few boys in fashiinabl city families. Gradually during the 1880s we see more boys wearing knee pants and to an older age. They were also became more common in rural areas, esoecially by the end of the decade. Thus the 1880s become the pivit point for the shift in poularity of the style and the age of the boys waring them. We have no idea just why this occured. Perhaps some readers will have a better understanding.

Age

Knee pants appeared in the mid-19th centyy. They were at first worn by younger boys in fashionable city families. They become somewhay more popular in the 1870s, but still by mostly younger boys. We see a lot more boys wearing knee pants in the 1880s as they were becoming standard boys wear. We are just beginning to assess age trends at this time. There are a lot of 1880s images archived on HBC and we need to assess those pages to gain a full understanding of age trends. Our ininital assessment is that boys began wearing them up to about 10-years of age. The 9-year old boy here is a good example (figure 1). We also see a number of 10-year olds wearing knee pants suits. And boys pehaps a little older were wearing knee pants by the end of the decade. Knee pants were at first worn by boys from fashion concious city families, but by the end of the decade they were becoming increashing standard wear even in rural areas. There must have been instance in which a boy who had neen wearing long aonts suddenly began wearing knee pants to keep up with fashions. We are not enirely sur what he must have thoughtabout this. By the end of the century we begin to see even teenagers wearing knee pants suits as well.

School Portraits

School portaits provide a good indicator as taking class portaits began to become popular. This gives us the ability to assess knee pants suits as well as other fashion trends during the decade. We begin to see many more school portraits in the 1880s but the number sees still relatiely limited. We are not entirely sure why this did not occur earlier. We suspet that the tehhnology of operating outside studios was still fairly compliated This made the portraits still fairly expensive. Portraits seem more common at private schools than public schools. This presumably reflects the fact that the school portrait was still a fairly new feature and boys at private schools were more avle to pay for it. We see boys wearing a range of outfits, but mostly suits. Knee pants were becoming more common, but not yet commonly worn by older boys. Girls all wore dresses, often wih a pinafrore. There was considerable variatiin in the 80s, both demofrapgically and from family to family. They show many mixed groups, some boys wearing long pants and some knee pants as the style becomes increasingly popular, at least with parents.

Length

The original knee oants were fairly long, often cut at calf level. And they begin to become shorter in the 1880s. Knee pants at calf-lengths become rare in the 80s, but they were still cut below the knee during the 80s.

Suit Styles

American boys wore knee pants with a range of different suit styles. The Fauntleroy suit appeared during the 1880s. Fauntleroy suits in America were almost always worn with knee pants. Fauntleroy suits were never made with long pants. In Europe they ere often worn with bloomer knickers, but not in America. Sailor suits began to be more popular in the 1880s. Sailor suits were worn with both knee pants and long pants. We note boys wearing both collar buttoning and sack suits in the 1880s. The collar-buttoning suits were for younger boys and thus more commonly worn with knee pants. We see more boys wearing sack suits with knee pants as well in the 1880s, but as sack suits were worn by older boys, they were commonly worn with long pants during the 1880s.

Hosiery

Unless going barefoot, boys wore knee pants with long stockings. We see a lot of white stickings in the 1860s and striped stockings in the 70s. By the 1880s, dark long stockings become increasingly popular.

Created: 3:39 AM 1/26/2009
Last updated: 9:05 PM 12/5/2013