Figure 1.-- Stern Brothers offered a wide range of boys clothing in its 1890 catalog. Stein's was an important men and boys outfitter in New York City. Here we see kilt suits for younger boys and kneepants for older boys. There are a variety of suits offered for boys, showing how common suits were. Younger boys still wore dresses in the 1890s, but Stern's did not offer any--only kilt suits. Perhaps boy drresses were purchased in mother's milliary shops. HBC is not sure about this. Appropriate headwear is picture with many of the outfits.

Clothing catalogs and advertisemenrs provide many useful insights into contemporary dress. We begin to see more ads in addition to mail order catalogs in the 1890s. The number is, howevr, still limited compated to the 20th century. We note a Stern Brothers boys and memswear store in New York. Stern Brothers offered a wide range of boys clothing in its 1890 catalog. Stein's was an important men and boys outfitter in New York City. Here we see kilt suits for younger boys and kneepants for older boys (figure 1). There are a variety of suits offered for boys, showing how common suits were. Younger boys still wore dresses in the 1890s, but Stern's did not offer any--only kilt suits. Perhaps boy drresses were purchased in mother's milliary shops. HBC is not sure about this. Appropriate headwear is picture with many of the outfits. We also see a variety of winter coats.

Headwear

Note the variety of headwear shown here from Stern brothers. We do not know if the company was selling the headwear or if they were just provided for illustrative purposes to see how the suits looked with appropriate headwear. Here we were a little suprised. We note a soft dailor cap and a military style cap, but what we do not note is wide brimmed hats. These were hats that we have noted in the photographic record, so we were surprised not to find them offered by Sterns. Rather we see the boys, both the younger boys in kiltsuits and the older boys in kneepants wearing a range of brimless caps. they look rather like pill-box caps, but are a little different. We also note narrow-brim caps and tam o'shanters. The tam was shown with the kilt suit outfit that was styled most like a Highland kilt (no. 106). We are not sure what Stern's called them as we do not have the ad copy. Another interesting aspect here is that older boys wore bowler hats with knicker suits.

Dresses

Younger boys still wore dresses in the 1890s, but Stern's did not offer any--only kilt suits. Perhaps boy drresses were purchased in mother's milliary shops. HBC is not sure about this.

Kilt Suits

Stern's offered quite a range of kilt suits for younger boys. We do not know just what sizes the kilt and kneepants suits were made in, but the ilustrations suggest that kilt suits were to be worn by younger boys and kneepants suits by older boys.

Stern Brother's kilt suits

We notice quite a variety of Stern's brother's kilt suits in the 1890 catalog. There are no dresses, only kiltsuits. Presenring them for discussion is a little complicated as they are mixed in with kneepants suits and scattered around the page. Unfirtunately we do not have the ad copy so we can tell just how Stern Brothers describes them and what size they and age for which the suits were made. We are guessing they would be for boys about 3 to 5 years of age. We do not think they were made in size 6 years as this was when boys began schools, but without the ad copy we cannot be sure,

Blouses

Stern's appears to be offering primrily suits and not blouses. It is notable that there are no Fauntleroy blouses or Fauntleroy suits offered here. This is sonewhat suprising as 1890 was at the peak of the Fauntleroy craze. Note that there are no blouses shown with large lace or ruffled collars.

Shirts

Suits

We notice a range of suits offered for boys, including Fauntleroy suits, sailor suits, abd a range of double and single breasted suits. We also note a military-style suit which might be a school uniform. The problem at this time is that we do not have contemporary descriptions of these suits.

Stern Brother's military-styled suit

We notice the Stern Brothers offering a military styled suit. We are not sure what this suit was for. We speculate that it might a uniform for a military school. Here we are just not sure. This is the only type of school that we know of at this time that had uniforms.

Stern Brother's sailor suits

We Note the Stern Brothers offering two styles of dark sailor suits. As this was the Winter catalog there were no light-weight whire suits. The sailor suits here look to be heavy-weight suits, probably in a fabric like serge. Both suits are kneepants suits. We also notice what looks like a reefer jacket.

Stern Brother's suits

Coats

Pants

Stern Brothers in 1890 offered boys suits almost entirely in keepants. Younger boys wore kiltsuits. Only the very oldest boys were offered long pants suits. Note that there were no knickers suit at all. As we do not have the ad copy, it is difficult to assess the ages for the boys wearing kneepants. The fact that almost all the suits are made for kneepants suggests that most boys were expected to wear kneepants. The length of the kneepants shown here is quite consistent. They are all cut a knee level.

Hosiery

Note that all of the outfits here including the kiltsuit outfits for younger boys are shown being worn with long stockings. This is in part because this appears to be a Fall-Winter outfit, but it also reflects the fact that long stockings were very commobly worn in America.

Underwear

Ferris Good Sense Corset Waist

This advertisement for the Ferris Good Sense Corset Waistt seems to have been widely printed in newspapers and magazines of the 1890s and was manufactured by Ferris Brothers, 341 Broadway in New York City. It was also sold by Marshall Field in Chicago as well as in other stores. The garment shown here is clearly designed for girls (notice the frilly collar), but Ferris also made a waist for boys that performed more or less the same function. The Good Sense corset waists began as a rebellion against the custom of tight lacing that characterized women's corsets at the end of the 19th century and that actually deformed women's bodies and especially the growing bodies of girls whose clothes imitated those of their mothers.

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Created: 9:23 PM 10/3/2004
Last updated: 9:21 PM 3/21/2007