Figure 1.--The three children are seen here. Leopold and Charles wear indentical colored blouses with large white collars.
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Figure 1.--The three children are seen here. Leopold and Charles wear indentical colored blouses with large white collars. |
Elizabeth believed in dressing her children very fashionably. The boys were often outfitted in Fautleroy suits and lacey blouses with frilly collars for dress occasions. Their mother liked to dress the boys in matching or identical outfits. Presumably she was influenced in her fashion tastes by her chilhood in the Bavarian court. The boys when they were young were outfitted in dresses, as
was still the fashion in the years before World War I. HBRC
only has a few images of the boys in dresses. HBRC has no information on the breeching of the princes. Based on available photographs it looks like the boys were breeched about age 4 or 5 years. Elizabeth appears to have liked velvet Fauntleroy suits with ruffled collars. The boys appear to have worn them at least through about 10 years of age. They could have worn them longer. While not quite Fauntleroy suits, the boys when they were younger wore light colored suits (I'm not sure about the color) trimmed in lace and ruffles. They appear to have been comfortable outfits with open collars. Photographs show the boys wearing frilly, open collar blouses to a fairly advanced age. All of theblouses while often elaborately eddged in lace ruffles are always open necked without large floppy bows. The lacey blouses worn by the princers appear to be summer wear. The boys wore them with matching kneepants, both with short white socks and with rather sheer white stockings that look like they are wearing no stockings at all. The boys also wore sailor suits. I'm not sure at just what age they began wearing sailior suits. One photograph shows both boys wearing sailor suits while Prince Charles was still in curls.
Less information is available on the hats and caps worn by the children. Most available images with headgear show them wearing sailor hats. Most of the available photographs, however, show the boys inside wear they are not wearing headgear. Most of the photographs appear to be formal indoors portraits. HBC has noted few outdoor snapshots. One very young portrait of Prince Charles shows him wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat. Presumably Leopold also wore a similar hat as they were so often dressed alike. A much oolder photograph of Leopold shows him wearing a wide-brimmed hat rather juantely with his sailor suit. White most photographs show the boys wearing broad-brimmed sailor hats, a few photographs also show them in sailor caps. One reason the boys are so rarely pictured with headwear is that the Queen probably wanted their hair, sometimes longish styles, to better show and not be covered with a hat or cap. Photographs show that the boys as late as 13 years were still wearing sailor suits and hats or caps.
The boys when they were young were outfitted in dresses, as was still the fashion in the years before World War I. HBRC only has a few images of the boys in dresses. They appear to have been fancy white dresse4s with lace and ribbon, at least for formal protraits. One dress that Charles wore was made to march a fancy kneepants outfit that his older brother wore. HBRC has no written information on this, but available photographs suggest that Elizabeth appears to have breeched the boys by the time they were about 5 years of age.
HBRC has no information on the breeching of the princes. Based on available photographs it looks like the boys were breeched about age 4 or 5 years. This is based on a 1907 portait showing Prince Charles (3-4 years old) still in dresses and Prince Leopold (5-6 years old) wearing a long pants sailor suit. HBRC does not know if the family had any special ceremony that acompanied breeching or just what the boys thought of it.
Figure 2.--This also looks like Leopold. Notice the large collar, while plain, it still looks rather juvenile on such an old boy. |
Most of the photographs we have of the princes show them in dressy clothes for formal portraits. We have no idea what the boys wore from day to day. One assumes that they mat have worn smocks, perhapd the same styles for the boys and younger sister. This may have been the case both before and after breeching. Hopefully further reserch will provide more information on what the boys ordinarily wore.
Elizabeth appears to have liked velvet Fauntleroy suits with ruffled
collars. The boys appear to have worn them at least through about 10 years of age. They could have worn them longer. Photographs show them still outfitted in frilly blouses at about 12 or 13 years of age. I'm not sure if they were still wearing Fauntleroy suits at that age. Their Fauuntleroy suits were worn with ruffled rather than lace collars and without bows.
While not quite Fauntleroy suits, the boys when they were younger wore light colored suits (I'm not sure about the color) trimmed in lace and ruffles. They appear to have been comfortable outfits with open collars. There were two versions of these suits. One with a skirt bottom and another as they got older with kneepants. I think these might be satin suits, but am not yet positive.
Photographs show the boys wearing fancy, open collar blouses to a fairly advanced age. All of theblouses while often elaborately eddged in lace ruffles are always open necked without large floppy bows. Some of the photographs suggest that they were still wearing these blouses at 12-13 years of age. How much longer they wore them I am not quite sure. The boys seem to have worn these blouses from the time they were breeched until the age of 12-13 years. This may have been because the Queen like to dress the boys identically. Once Leopold stopped wearing thesecfancy blouses, I'm not sure if Charles did also or continued wearing them for a few more years by himself.
Figure 3.--The whole family is pictures here. The two princes wear their summer lacy blouses with kneepants and stockings. |
The lacey blouses worn by the princers appear to be summer wear. The boys wore them with matching kneepants, both with short white socks and with rather sheer white stockings that look like they are wearing no stockings at all. I'm not sure if they always wore kneepants with these blouses, but they do on the limited number of images that I have. I am not sure how long the boys wore kneepants and when they got their first long trousers.
The boys also wore sailor suits. I'm not sure at just what age they began wearing sailior suits. One photograph shows both boys wearing sailor suits while Prince Charles was still in curls. I'm not sure, however, if this was the first time he wore a sailor suit or at what age his older brother first wore them. So often the two were dressed identically. The sailor suits may have been reserved for when they were older boys. Sone of their sailor suits were worn with wide-brimmed sailor hats. I'm not sure what the princes wore with their sailor suits. It may well be that the boys wore their first long pants with their sailor suits. One available photograph shows the princes wearing blue long pants sailor suits. I'm not sure if they also has short pants or kneepants sailor suits.
We have very limited information on the coats that the boys wore. The princes wore long double breasted coats with sailors suits and caps. These coats appear tyo have been worn with sailor suits. I'm not sure about other coats they may have worn.
I do not know when the princes began wearing regular suits and if they were still dressed identically. We do know that age 13, Prince Leopold was still wearing sailor suits. I do not know if the Queen allowed Prince Leopold to wear regular suits before Prince Chrkes or if the boys switched at the same time.
The noys when they were younger wore three-quarter socks with both dresses and kneepants outdits. We have only noted white socks. As older boys they more commonly wore long stockings, both dark and light-colored stockings with kneepants outfits. They wore light-colored long stockings with light-colored suits and dark-colored long stockings with dark suits. The choice of socks or long stockings appears to be more a function of age rather than a seasonal matter. The boys do not appear to have worn long stockings for cold weather war.
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