Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows an unidentified boy wearing a cut-away jacket kilt suit. He looks to be about 5-years old. Notice the elegant plain styling and pleared kilt-skirt. Botice that the jacket has pointed ratrher than rounded sides at the bottom. The boy has a large Peter Pan collar and small floppy bow. Notice the cap at the right. The portrait is undated, but the the mount style and out fir suggests it was taken about 1880. The studio was Osborn, but the city was not indicated.

The cut-away jackets was one of the many jacket types worn with kilt suits. We first see kilt-away jackets in the late-1850s and in large numbers during the 1860s. We do not see all that many kilt suits in the 1860s when the cut-away jacket was most popular. We note different styles as wll as plain jackers and heavily enroidered cut-away jackets. We see fewer cut-away jackets represented in the photigraophic record during the 1870s as the kilt suit becomes a major style, but they were one of the jacket types we note in the photographic record. The style never completely disappeared, we even see them in the 1880s. The photographic record suggests, however, that the cut-away jacket was not as important as several other jacket styles. An exception here was the Fauntleroy kilt suit. They appeared after the publication of Mrs. Burnett's story. The classic Fauntleroy suit was worn with a cut-away jacker and so we also note these jackets worn with Faunleroy kilt suits.

Basic Cut-away Jacket

The basic cut-away jackets was one of the many jacket types worn with kilt suits. There were many variants, but was basically a small, short jacket worn open at the front. With women's fashions it was often called a bolero jacket. We first see cut-away jackets in the late-1850s and in large numbers during the 1860s. We do not see all that many kilt suits in the 1860s when the cut-away jacket was most popular. We note different styles as well as plain jackets and heavily enroidered cut-away jackets. We see fewer cut-away jackets represented in the photograophic record during the 1870s as the kilt suit becomes a major style, but they were one of the jacket types we note. The style never completely disappeared, we even see them in the 1880s. The photographic record suggests, however, that the cut-away jacket was not as important as several other jacket styles.

Fancy Cut-away Jackets

While the basic cut-away jacket was a small, plain jacket. We note some much fancier jackets. They were often dine with fancy decorations and embeklishments. And while still open at the front were done to much greater lengths, well below the waist. At this time we believe these fabcy cut-away jackets were primarily made to be weirn with kilt suits, but we are still assessuing this. A good example is an unidentified Minnesota boy in 1879.

Fauntleroy Cut-away Jackets

Some kilt suit jackets were made as Fauntleroy kukt outfits. These suits came with short cut-away jackets. These small jackets were also called bolero or cut-away jackets. Many for Fauntleroy outfits were done in velvet. We think black was common, but other mostly dark colors were used. Cut-away jackets were used to best how off the blouses worn with these kilt suits. These jackets often did not match the kilt-skirt which were commonly done in plaid patterns. There weew, however, also matching kilt skirts. When the boy was breeched, he could wear these same jackets with knee pants. It is often not possible to make out the stylistic details of the jackets because so much is covered by by the fancy Fauntleroy blouses. We have noted various styles of these jackets.

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Created: 5:40 AM 7/24/2011
Last updated: 5:40 AM 7/24/2011