Figure 1.--Here we see a very young American boy wearing a tunic with pantalettes. The image is undated, but we believe it was taken in the late 1850s or early 60s.

Almost all of the portraits we have found show boys of all ages wearing long pants after breeching. Shortened-length pants were worn, but the photographic record suggests that they were not very common. They seem to have been restricted to fashionably families in the big northeastern cities most influenced by European families.Younger boys from affluent families might wear tunics, at first with pantalettes and then with kneepants. Slightly older boys wore Knee-length pants in America and Europe during the late 1850s and early 1860s. This was most common with affluent, urban families with fashion concious mothers. Long pants suits were much more common. Most boys wore long pants suits. We have archived many examples of this. Long pants were even common for younger boys. We see boys of all ages wearing long pants, including boys that have just been breeched. A good example is an unidentified American boy. There are many other examples of boys wearing long pants during the 1850s. We note E.V. Grisen, an American boy. We notice many boys wearing jackets and pants in contrasting colors, often with brightly colored vests (waistcoats ). A good example is an English boy in 1851. We also notice P.H. Keely, an American boy. We note an unidentified American boy wearing button-on long pants about 1850. All older boys wore long pants. We note two London teenagers wearing Eton suits with long pants.