Figure 1.--While the "Weldon's Boys' Wear" issue N°324 is undated, we know it was printed after World War I (1914-18). We believe the above the knee knickers shown here worn with kneesocks are a strong indication of the early 1920s. We believe that 1922 is the likely date. |
Here two coats are puctured. One is for a raglan coat for boys 6-16 years. The other is just called a coat for a boy 4-10 years. It is worn with gaiters or leg protectors. Both coats have matching headwear which match the coat and the respective patterns are included. The headwear matches the coat and not the garment worn under the coat. The illustrations for other coats show caps, but patterns are not included. There is also a tunic suit here for a boy 1-6 years old. Weldon's often grouped different kinds of garments together, some what complicating our analysis.
Weldon's appears to have been a major supplier of pattrns to British mothers. We do not know when the company bergan operating. We have an issue of Weldon's Home Dressmaker
devoted entirely to boys' clothing. It is undated, but is ussue N°248 (figure 1). It looks to us like about 1922. These pattern bookles were published by Weldon's Ladies Journal
in Britain and Canada and provided advice, fiction, household hints, and fashion news to women. One of the services the magazine provided to its subscribers was the inclusion of a
fashion portfolio that illustrated all of the new pattern releases--and a set of free sewing patterns. One reviewer maintains that "The Weldon's patterns are some of the most
stylish of their era." A British homemaker in the 1920s, however, recalls, "We always used Weldon's paper patterns for cutting out, and we had one for almost anything. They
were very fragile and had to be used carefully, using pin holes that had been used before. When Woolworth's opened in Leigh, we were able to buy Butterick patterns which were
more up to date. We are unsure just when Weldon's was first published, but we have noted issues in the 1890s-30s.
Here two coats are puctured. One is for a raglan coat for boys 6-16 years. The other is just called a coat for a boy 4-10 years. It is worn with gaiters or leg protectors. Both coats have matching headwear which match the coat and the respective patterns are included. The headwear matches the coat and not the garment worn under the coat. The illustrations for other coats show caps, but patterns are not included. There is also a tunic suit gere for a boy 1-6 years old. Weldon's often grouped different kinds of garments together.
On left is a boy's tunic suit pattern number 63232. The pattern is for a boy from 1-6 years of age. The tunic suit is a very plain colored long sleeve tunic with a square neck opening. He is not wearingh a shirt underneath. There are buttons on the shoulder and a matching narrow belt. There is a small breast pocket. It is called a tunic suit because it is worn with matching short pants. The illustration shows the boy wearing it with white socks and white strap shoes. The Weldon's illustratins seem to show boys wearing these tunic suits with short pants. American boys were more likely to wear them with above the knee bloomer knickers.
In the middle is pattern number 65884, a coat with gaithers for a boy 4-10 years. It has double-breasted tyled buttons and two side pockets. The styl seems similar to dress coats for younger boys and girls that were worn through must of the rest of the century in England as well as America and France and many other countries. It is worn with gaiters or as more commonly called in America, leggings. The pattern includes a pattern for the gaiters. Presumably be were for the younger boys wearing this garment and not for boys by the time that they were 10 years old. We assume that these were most common with pre-school children. The matrial for the gaithers is shown as different from that of the coat itself. Notice how the gaiters button up the side, covering the leg and much of the shoe as well. There is also a pattern included for the matching hat, I am not sure what to call the style. The hat matches the coat and not what the boy is wearing under the coat. This style coat and the gaiters could be worn by both boys and girls. I'm less sure about the hat.
The raglan coat is pattern 66034 at right for boys 6-16 years. Raglan refers to how the sleeves were constructed. A Raglan is a loose overcoat in which the sleeves are cut so as to continue up to the collar. The garment is named for English Field Marshal Lord Raglan (1788-1855). The cpat ios single breasted woth two very large side patch pockets. There is a pattern included for the matching cap. I am not sure what to call the cap style, perhaps a golf cap. Interestingly, the style is not unlike that worn by Chinese boys during the Cultural Revolution. The cap matches the coat and not what the boy is wearing under the coat. Notice that the boy is shown a wearing above the knee knickers (knickerbockers) with kbneesocks. I have seen American boys dressing this way, but have not previously noted ir in Britain.
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