Figure 1.-- This American boy is unidentified. He was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is wearing a kneepants suit with Norfolk styling. With his suit he has an Eton collar and floppy bow. Notice the cap. The portrait is undated, but we would guess the 1890s.

Knee breeches were still commonly worn by men in the early 19th century. Here social class trends were involved with the wealthy and artistocratic class clinging to knee breeches more than the working class. Increasingly, trousers (i.e., long trousers) were being introduced, and gradually trousers replaced knee breeches. The influence of the French Revolution was felt--a democratizing influence in which knee breeches were identified with the aristocratic class and a group of French revolutionaries began to be known as the "sans coulottes" (without breeches). Boys were commonly wearing long pants as skeleton suits. Gradually long pants became standard for boys even after the skeleton suit disappeared. We note an illustration showing the teenage Duke of Brabant (the eldest son of Leopold I, King of Belgium) in 1851. Leopold belonged to the Saxe-Coburg family and was acutally the uncle of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The young duke is wearing a military uniform with long trousers, which had now become standard for men and boys except for very formal occasions when court dress was required ("court dress", at least in England, continued to mean knee breeches worn with silk stockings, and it is still worn on ceremonial occasions even in the 21st century). The standard of long pants for boys began to change in the mid-19th century when boys began wearing various types of shortened trousers. Boys by the 1850s and even more so the 1860s were increasingly wearing bloomer-styled knickers, although long trousers were still common--especially for working-class boys. These bloomer knickers, called knickers, were a practical alternative to long trousers for active boys. The bloomer knickers were loose pants gathered at the knee. Styles varied from country to country. In America, a more slim fitting straight leg version became the standard. These knepants were open rather than gathered at or below the the knee and usually had three ornamental butons, harkening back to the button closures on knee breeches. They were commonly worn at calf length. These kneepants were very widely worn by the 1870s and by the 1890s even quite old teenage boys were wearing them. In Europe the bloomer knickers as well as knickers with button closures were more popular.

Decade Trends

Boys in the early 19th century mostly wore long pants. Knee-length pants become common in England during the late 1850s and early 1860s. Knee-length pants become common in England during the late 1850s and early 1860s. Knee pants by the late 1860s had spread to America, especially among affluent families in the major cities. A good example here is an English family with the boys wearing suits wth cut-away jackets and bloomer knickers. The knee pants became closer fitting, appearing almost like knee breches. A Lord & Taylor' catalog for 1881 showed various juvenile styles for boys up to 11, but jackets and suits with pants cut off at the knees for boys from 5-12. Longpants suit were available for boys beginning at 10. Often the legs were slped for a close fit below the knee, Knee pants still commonly appeared as trousers cut off at the knees, according to Woman's World in 1888. As the decade progressed, knee pants were increasinly worn by older boys. The fashion magazine The Delineator describes knee pants suits for boys up to 16 years.

Types of Pants

We note boys in the 19th century wearing several different styles of pants or trousers. Knee breeches were still commonly worn by men in the early 19th century. Here social class trends were involved with the wealthy and artistocratic class clinging to knee breeches more than the working class. Increasingly, trousers (i.e., long trousers) were being introduced, and gradually trousers replaced knee breeches. The influence of the French Revolution was felt--a democratizing influence in which knee breeches were identified with the aristocratic class and a group of French revolutionaries began to be known as the "sans coulottes" (without breeches). Boys were commonly wearing long pants as skeleton suits. Gradually long pants became standard for boys even after the skeleton suit disappeared. We note an illustration showing the teenage Duke of Brabant (the eldest son of Leopold I, King of Belgium) in 1851. Leopold belonged to the Saxe-Coburg family and was acutally the uncle of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The young duke is wearing a military uniform with long trousers, which had now become standard for men and boys except for very formal occasions when court dress was required ("court dress", at least in England, continued to mean knee breeches worn with silk stockings, and it is still worn on ceremonial occasions even in the 21st century). The standard of long pants for boys began to change in the mid-19th century when boys began wearing various types of shortened trousers. Boys by the 1850s and even more so the 1860s were increasingly wearing bloomer-styled knickers, although long trousers were still common--especially for working-class boys. These bloomer knickers, called knickers, were a practical alternative to long trousers for active boys. The bloomer knickers were loose pants gathered at the knee. Styles varied from country to country. In America, a more slim fitting straight leg version became the standard. These knepants were open rather than gathered at or below the the knee and usually had three ornamental butons, harkening back to the button closures on knee breeches. They were commonly worn at calf length. These kneepants were very widely worn by the 1870s and by the 1890s even quite old teenage boys were wearing them. In Europe the bloomer knickers as well as knickers with button closures were more popular. We also notice button-on pants. A good example is an unidentified American boy at mid-century.

Country Trends

We do not yet have detailed information on the chronological trends associated with trousers in individual countries. As far as we can tell, trends in the 19th century were similar throughout Europe and North America. While the basic trends were similar, there were destinctive features and styles in some countries over times, the basic chronological trends, however, seem very similar. North American styles for most of the decade were largely based on European styles. The shortened-leg styles seem to have at first been more popular in Europe than in North America, but by the 1890s, older boys in American were wearing knee pants than in Europe. We note even older teenagers wearing kneepants in America, but that seems rather rare in Europe. We need to archive more images, before we can develop any detailed country trends.

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