Figure 1.--This cabinet portrait shows a boy about 13 years old wearing a Norfolk knee pants suit. The jacket only has the vertical vents and on this case not very prominabt. We do not yet see the Norfol belting. Notice the bowler hat. The knee pants were cut well below the knee, but above calf level. The portrait was taken at the Roshon Galleries in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Norfolk styled suits continued to be widely worn by American boys in the 1890s. They were worn throughout the decade. Often they were not readily apparent as Noefolk jackers. We still primarily notice the vertical vents. The horizontal belts were much less common. The vertical vents were done in a number of differnt ways. The suits were done in both the collar buttoning types and the lapel types. Younger boys wore them with bows. We also notice Eton collars and other large white collars. Very small lapels were stylish in the early-1890s. Most Norfolk suits in the 1890s were done as knee pants suits and almost always worn with long stockings. We atlso see Eton collars wirn with these Norfolk suits. We note an Lancaster, Pennsylvania boy wearing a Norfolk suit in the 1890s. Another example of a Norfolk suit worn with an Eton collar is Floyd Stubbs photographed about 1895.

Created: 3:58 AM 12/23/2014
Last updated: 3:59 AM 12/23/2014