Boys' Pants and Trousers Chronology: 19th Century Trend--The 1870s


Figure 1.--This Springfield, Massachusetts boy wears a knee pants suit and straw hat. The portrait is undated, but we would say was taken in the 1870s. Here the small collar and portrait mount are factors. Click on the image for a discussion of this portrait.

We see more boys wearing kneepants in the 1870s, especially boys from styling city families. Long pants were still commonly worn by older boys. And we see younger boys wearing them as well. A good example is Elmer Dayton in 1870. But increasingly during the 1870s more an more younger boys were wearing knee pants. Knee pants in the 1870s became closer fitting, appearing almost like knee breaches. In about 1875 we see that in America the sailor suit with knee pants had begun to be worn. The example here shows the knee pants with the sailor striping around the leg near the hem. This seems to be a hold over from the fancy suits for boys worn in the 1850s and 60s. We do not normally see this by the 1880s. Kneepants also had the ornamental three buttons, a hold-over from the buttons on knee breeches but now non-functional. The knee pants are long enough to cover the boy's knee when the lad is standing but show the knee when he is sitting. Knee pants were almost always worn with standard black stockings, held up either with round garters or, with increasing frequency, with elastic supporters suspended from a waist. We also see boys wearing bloomer knickers. This seems more common in Europe than America. A goof example is a German boy.









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Created: 2:17 AM 5/20/2008
Last updated: 2:17 AM 5/20/2008