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Kilts suits were a very popuar style for a younger boy. A boy during the summer might wear the kilt/skirt without a suit jacket. Some times a boy only had the skirt and not the suit jacket which would have been hard to sew at home. We note a magazine ad for a boy's bodice skirt and blouse from a 1890s fashion magazine. Unfortuntely we do not have the exact date or name of the magazine. We would gues it was from the Delineator. It was for a boy 2-7 years. Interestingly the mgazine does not bother to call it a kilt and uses the term skirt.
The pattern was for a, "LITTLE BOYS'BLOUSE COSTUME". The text read, "FIGURE No. 397 A. This illustrates a Little Boys' costume. The pattern, which is No. 4715 and costs 18 or 25 cents, is in six sizes for little boys from two to seven years of age, and is shown in four views on page 257 of this magazine.
The costume is here represented developed in blue and white serge. The skirt is arranged in a broad box-plait at the center of the front, and at the back and sides in well pressed kilt-plaits that turn toward the front. The lower edge of the skirt is finished with a hem, and the top is joined to a sleeveless body, which is shaped by shoulder and under-arm seams and closed at the back with button-holes and buttons.
The usual shaping seams enter into the adjustment of the blouse; it is closed at the center of the front with button-holes and buttons through a box-plait made in the left front. The lower edge is hemmed for a casing, in which an elastic is run; and the garment droops with the customary fulness over the skirt. The fronts are cut away to disclose a facing of white cloth applied to the front of the sleeveless body, and short, V-shaped facings are arranged upon the backs of the body. The sailor collar falls deep and square at the back, its long, tapering ends are joined to the cut-away edges of the fronts, and upon tne facing revealed between is an embroidered star. The collar is trimmed with fancy braid, and the cuffs which finish the full shirt-sleeves are decorated to correspond. A patch pocket having a pointed lap is applied to the left side of the blouse; it is trimmed with two tows of fancy braid and holds a whistle, which is attached to a lanyard worn about the neck.
Blue-and-white striped flannel, serge and cloth are fashionable For costumes of this kind, and there are numerous cotton fabrics that may be satisfactorily used, such as seersucker, percale, and gingham. Braid embroidered nautical emblems or machine stitching will contribute tasteful garniture, although a plain completion will be in perfect taste.
The hat is a blue sailor banded with white ribbon. "
Catalog and pattern items like this provide a great deal of useful informztion. The terminology is useful. Also the sizing here provides some information about the age of breeching.
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