Figure 1.- These American boys are unidentified. The cabinet portrait was taken at the Yarrington studio in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It is not dated, but looks like the early- or mid-1880s. The younger boys wears a collar-buttoning double-breasted kilt suit. His older brother wears a lapel Norfolk suit. The boys look to be about 5-7 years old.

Collar buttoning jackets were another major style for the suit jackets worn with kilt suits. These jackets were commonly worn with knee pants byolderb boys. We are not sure if special styling for kilt suits ws very common. Most of the jackets, but not all seem to be the same as the ones worn with knee pants. Some may have been made specifically to be worn with as a kilt suit. There were many jacket styles. We have also noted jackets styled without lapels and buttoning at the neck. Large detachable or pin-on collars and especially floppy bows often make it difficult to see the collar button. These collar buttoning jackets were done both with and without collars. Here the use of large detachable collars often makes it difficult to tell. These jackets tended to be longer than the early small cut-away jackets, but comminly only extended a little below the waistline. There were substantial variarions in these collar-buttoning jackets. We note them done in a range of styles. Some were rather plain like cut-away jackets. We note both single- and double-breasted jackets. Thevboy herecwears a double-breasted jacket with his kilt suit. Some were a little more complicated. We note Norfolk-style that vertical stle elements were popular. The boy on the previous page is a good example. The bottom hem of the jackets is the modt vsried. Here we note rounded sides and what look like flap pockets. We are not entirely sure if they are pockets or just flaps as a design element. We think the jacket on the orevious page may have been specifically made to be worn with a kilt suit. These have the popular Norfolk styling, although belts were not very common. Another good example is an unidentified New York boy. Buttoning could be highly variable in these jackets.

Prevalence

Collar buttoning jackets were another major style for the suit jackets worn with kilt suits. These jackets were also worn with knee pants by older boys. We see quite a few of these collar-buttoning jackets. Lapel suits seem mor commion, but we note a substantial number of these collar buttoning jackets.

Chronology

Most of the collar buttoning kilt suit jackets seem to come from the 1870s and 80s, but we are still working on the chronological trends The youger boy hre is wring good example of these jackets (figure 1).

Styling

We are not sure if there was special styling for kilt suits. We see some special styles for lapel jackets, but kilt suits styles for these collar-buttoning jackets seem less commin. The collar-buttoning jackets we have found in the photographic record do not show alot of special styling. They seem to be the mostly the same style as the jackets worn by older boys with knee pants. Some may have been made specifically to be worn with as a kilt suit. We think the jacket on the revious page may have been specifically made to be worn with a kilt suit. There were many jacket styles. We have also noted jackets styled without lapels and buttoning at the neck. Large detachable or pin-on collars and especially floppy bows often make it difficult to see the collar button. These collar buttoning jackets were done both with and without collars. Here the use of large detachable collars often makes it difficult to tell. These jackets tended to be longer than the early small cut-away jackets making up the classic Fauntleroysuit. They commonly extended a below the waistline. There were substantial variarions in these collar-buttoning jackets. We note them done in a range of styles. Some were rather plain like cut-away jackets. We note both single- and double-breasted jackets. The boy here wears a double-breasted jacket with his kilt suit. Some were a little more complicated. We note Norfolk-style that vertical stle elements were popular. The boy on the previous page is a good example. The bottom hem of the jackets is a varied aspect. Here we note rounded sides and what look like flap pockets. We are not entirely sure if they are pockets or just flaps as a design element.These have the popular Norfolk styling, although belts were not very common. Another good example is an unidentified New York boy. Buttoning could be highly variable in these jackets.

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Created: 11:35 PM 8/21/2010
Last updated: 2:18 AM 12/19/2023