American Mail Order Catalogs with Boys Clothings: 1900


Figure 1.--Thiw is the "Boys' Special Double Ve Waist". Ward's Spring catalog (1900), p. 977. This is an underwaist for boys aged 2 to 12 years of age with a system of tape reinforcement straps to which waist buttons are attached so that knee pants can be buttoned on (front, sides, and back). The llustration shows a boy of about 12 putting on his shoes (notice that they are ankle high boots).

Little boys still wore dresses in 1900. Two of the most popular styles for boys in 1900 were tunic suits and sailor suits. For dress occassions boys might still wear Fauntleroy suits. We note fancy long sleeved Futleroy blouses. We note a Butterick Pattern Company for a "Little Boys' blouse, with sailor or round collar, and with or without the box-plait." Written directions. Pattern dates circa 1900. It was a fancy blouse for a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit or to be worn by itself during the summer. Knee pants had become standard wear for boys in the 1890s and this continued in 1900. Boys commonly wore long stockings with knee panrs. Black long stockings were especially common for both boys and girls. Many support garments were developed to hold up long stockings. We notice an ad for the EZ Easy Waist for boys and girls. We also note posture correction devices.

Skirted Garments

Younger boys still worked skirted garments in 1900. Dresses for boys, however, were declining in populasrity. We do note some boys still wearing kilt suits, but this style was declining. Tunic suits, commonly called Russian blouses were becoming very popular.

Blouses

Little Lord Fauntleroy suits were still popular un 1900. Boys wore fancy blouses with It was a fancy blouse for a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit or to be worn by itself during the summer.

Butternick fancy blouse pattern

We note a Butterick Pattern Company for a "Little Boys' blouse, with sailor or round collar, and with or without the box-plait." Written directions. Pattern dates circa 1900. It was a fancy blouse for a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit or to be worn by itself during the summer.

Shirts


Juvenile Suits

We see younger boys wearing a wide range of of different suits. Younger bys might wear kiltsuits or Fauntly suits, styles very popular in the 1890s. We also see the new tunic suits (Russian blouse suits) becoming very popular. Sailor suits also continued in popularity for a wider age range. School age boys wore both collar buttoning as well as lapel suits. Most were made as knee pants suits.

Tunic Suits

Tunic suits in 1900 were commonly called Russian blouse suits.

Fauntleroy Suits

We still see Fauntleroy suits in 1900 but the style was beginning to declinee in popularity.

Sailor Suits

Stores in 1900 offered a wide range of sailor suits for boys. They were made in many styles and colors as well as a variety of materials. They were mostly kneepants suits. Short pants had not yet become an important style. They were still commonly worn with long stockings.

Reefer Suits


Suits


Coats


Pants

Most boys wore kneepants. Knee pants became the standard tyoe of pants for boys in the 1890s and this continued in 1900. Knickers were also worn, but were not nearly as common as kneepants. Boys of all age wore knee pants. Knee pants were not as popular in rural areas as the city, but were still commonly worn. Younger boys wore bloomer knickers with the popular tunic suits.

Costumes

We note a variety of play costumes. We are not sure when these play costumes became popular, but believe it was primarily a 1900s development. We do note play costumes in the retail catalogs as well as pattern publications. We also note many examples in the photographic record. Native American costumes seem particularly popular. One interesting 1900 development was military uniforms, of couse as a result of the Spanish-American War. A good Rough Rider pattern was offered in the Delineator.

Hosiery

Most Amerivan children wore long stockings in 1900. They were commonly worn by both boys and girls. Children in rural areas commonly went barefoot in the summer, but when wearing shoes wore long stockings with them. Both boys and girls commonly eore black long stockings. Younger boys might wear three-quarter white socks or white long stockings when dressing up. This was more common foir girls.

Support Garnments

Long stockings were very widely worn by children, both boys and girls, in the late 19th and early 20th century. As a result, quite a variety of support garments were developed to hold them up so that they looked smart. One of the most common devices was a waist. Children at the turn of the 20th century, both boys and girls, almost universally wore underwaists to hold up outer clothing and long stockings. We believe that only poor children might not wear them. Holding up stockings was not the only purpose of these waists, but it was one of the primary purposes. The range of variety of these waists is an indicator of how common they were. Waists also served as posture garments. Some garments wee made specifically for this purpose. Interestingly, while long stockings were also commonly worn in Europe, only in America do we see this diversity of stocking support garments. Many European mothers seem to have taken a more ad hoc approach.

Underwear








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Created: October 26, 2002
Last updated: 6:21 PM 10/26/2009