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United States American kilt suits garments jackets styles Fauntleroy jackets kilt slirts
Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait shows an unidentified boy wearing a Fauntleroy kilt suit about 1890. The suit has a Fauntleroy cut away jacket and matching pleated kilt-skirt without kilt features other than pleating. Because it is not black we can make out the cut of both the jacket and kilt. He also has a Fauntleroy blouse with a large ruffled collar and cuffs, but a small bow. His hair is done in ringlets with all the ringlets in the back. He looks to be about 5 years old and has a rather assured manner with the photgrapher for such a young boy. He is possibly from an acting family. The portrait was found in collection of cabinet crds containing many portraits of actors and actresses. The studio is: Stauffer in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Click on the image for a fuller discussuin.
American Fauntleroy Kilt Suits: Kilt-Skirts
We often can not tell much about the cut of the kilt skirts worn as part of Fauntleroy kilt suits because so many were dark colors. Many, but not all were pleated, but other kilt features are difficult to see. Faultleroy kilt suits were worn with two possible choices as to the kilt-skirt chosen to be worn with Fauuntleroy cut-away jackets. The most common choice for kilt-skirt were done in the same material as the jacket. Some were done in velvet, but most were done in other fabrics--mostly wool fabrics. Material is something that is often difficult to determine from the photographic record. The Brooklyn boy on the previous page looks to be wearing a velvet Fauntleroy jacket and matching kilt-skirt, but there is no way to be sure. The other choice for the Fauntleroy kilt suit was a plaid kilt-skirt done in bright colors. This was not nearly as common as the matching kilt-skirt, but we have found some examples--not many, but a few. Many kilt suits were done in muted plaids, but these worn with Fauntleroy jackets were done in very bright plaids. Unlike the dark material used with many Fauntleroy kilt suits, we can usually see details in the cut of the plaid kilt suits.
The Fauntleroy styling for kilt suits was all in the jacket and associated styling worn with the jacket. The classic Fauntleroy jacket was a cut-away jacket, often done in velvet. These were the samme jackets and blouses worn with reguar Fauntleroy suits made with knee pants. Black velvet was common, but we also note a ranhe of colors. Unfortunately, they do not show up in the black and white phootigraphy of the day. They were commonly worn with Fauntleroy blouses. The New Jersey boy here is a good example (figure 1). The other option was a regular jacket, either a lapel or collar-buttoning jacket. Some of these jackets were tailor made for kilt suits. Others look more like regular suit backets. Either wat, they were given a Fauntleroy look with Fauntleroy styling touches added like large lace/ruffled collars and cuffs and optional floppy bows.
Material is something that is very difficult to determine from the photographic record. The Brooklyn boy on the previous page looks to be wearing a velvet Fauntleroy jacket and matching kilt-skirt. Velvet is one of the easiest fabrics to isentify froma photograph, but there is no way to be sure. Kllt duits ere also done in wool suiting materials, meaning fabrics used to maker suits, including kilt suits. The boy here is wearing a classic dark Fauntleroy kilt suit that clearly is not velvet, but we can't tell just what fabric it is. It looks like a lighter-weight, probably a cotton fabric. Here the differences involved both cost and seasonality. Velvet was an expensive material. Of course suits for younger boys did not require material. Velvet sas also a materioal suitable for cold weather, a relatively heavy material. It should be srressed at a time when Fauntleroy suits were popular, a larger portion of the Anerican population lived in orther states with its colder climate than is the case today. Velvet could be done in lighter weights, but the heavier weights seem more common. Of course an optioin for summer eer is to just wear the fancy blouse and kilt-skirt without the jacket.
Pattens
Another choice for the Fauntleroy kilt suit was a velvet dark jacket and plaid kilt-skirt done in bright colors. We have only found this to ant extent in America. Many were muted plaids, often used for both the jacket and kilt/skirt. And in some cases the vest. The material includes both flat (solid-colored) material and patterned material--usually a kind of plaid. For American kilt suits they were muted plaids compared to Highland plaids.
Vests were sometimes worn with kilt suits They were less common than with non-Fauntleroy suits. This is because they covered up the boy's front which the classic Fauntlroy suit left uncovered to expose the elaborate Fauntleroy blouses. Mothers wanted these blouces to be seen. That was their whole purose. It was why bthey were made tonbe a famboyant style. And mothers did not want them covered up. Of course not every mother used the Fauntleroy blouse to achieve the Fauntleroy look. As a result, the boys wearing vests were not wearing the Fauntleroys blouses with all the ruffles and flounces. Rather thet would have pin on lace and ruffled collas and cuffs to achieve the Fauntleroy look. This was the same for regular Fauntleroy suits done with knee pants.
Suits
We see both suits with the jacket and kilt/skirt matching as is the case here Faultleroy kilt suits were worn with two possible choices as to the kilt-skirt chosen to be worn with Fauuntleroy cut-away jackets. The most common choice for kilt-skirt were done in the same material as the jacket. Some were done in velvet, but most were done in other fabrics--mostly wool fabrics. We often can not tell much about the cut of the kilt skirts worn as part of Fauntleroy kilt suits because so many were dark colors. Many, but no all were pleated, but other kilt features are difficulkt to see. This was not nearly as common as the matching kilt-skirt, but we have found some examples--not many, but a few. Many kilt suits were done in muted plaids, but these worn with Fauntleroy jackets were done in very bright plaids like a Highland kilt. Unlike the dark material used with many Fauntleroy kilt suits, we can usually see details in the cut of the plaid kilt suits.
Kilts and Skirts
We see these suits being done with both skirts and kilts, or at least skirts which have some effort to create a kilt impression. Some skirts had no kilt features at all. Many American mothers imply thought a kilt was a skirt or were unconcerned with the need to bother with creatung a kilt impresion. Pleating was one feature many mothers did want. Thevready made kilt suit manufacturens seem to have reflected ambivilance among consumers. Given the age of the children, mothers basically had free vrange bhere. Most but not all were at leasred pleated like the we see in the boy's outfit here (figure 1). Other kilt featurs varied. The most common such feature was a pannel in the front, often done with ornamental buttons.
