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One curious aspect of the kilts used in kilt suits is the hem length. American boys tended to wear the kilt suit kilts at rather long lengths. They were often longer than knee pants length and much longer than actual Highland kilts were worn. We see lengths from knee to ankle. To simplify our discussion we will discuss three lengths: 1) knee, 2) calf, and 3) ankle. Of course the various actual lengths varied widely, but can be generally placed in these three categories. The knee category means largely just below the knee. We do not see kilt suit with kilts cut above the knee. The same was true of knee pants. Most of the knee pants we see until the 1890s were commonly worn well bellow the knee at calf levels. And a substantial portion of the kilt suits we note had kilts/skirts worn at calf level or down to just above the ankles. Many if not most of the portraits we have found of boys wearing kilt suits show these rather long hem lines. And this includes very young boys. Possibly mother was buying a large size for children to grow into. This could be partially true, but then there should be portraits of the older boys with shorter kilts that they had grown into, and we do not see this in the photographic record, although we are still assessing this as well. This is something that can be assessed in detail because of the huge American photographic record
The knee category means largely just below or at the knee. We do not see kilt suit with kilts cut above the knee. The same was true of knee pants. So shorter lengths were just no seen in he19th century for clothing, even for children. This is especially notable for the Scottish kilt was a garment worn by men and boys at or about knee length for centuries. We suspect that American mothers just did not know what a kilt should look like. Remember, this was the 19th century and still he era before people had much exposure imagery. There was no TV, internet, movies, or even published photographs. There were illustrations in magazines, but his meant engravings had to be made of photographs which was expensive. So it is understandable American mothers would not have a clue about foreign fashion. Dresses were not commonly worn at knee length so it bis not surprising that we do not see short cut kilt skirts for these suits.
Most of the knee pants we see until the 1890s were commonly worn well below the knee. Calf level skirt kilt for kilt suits were very common. This seems to have been the most common length for kilt-suits in America. A substantial portion of the kilt suits we note had kilts/skirts worn at calf level or down to just above the ankles. Many if not most of the portraits we have found of boys wearing kilt suits show these rather long hem lines. And this includes very young boys. We suspect what we see here is the hem lengths for the dresses children were wearing. This would what mothers would be well versed on rather than kilts which they had never seen before. It probably looks strange to those knowledgeable kilts and children's fashions.
Women wore dresses at or below the anklels depending on the decade. Children might wear lower cut dresses, depending on their ages, but almost never cut below the ankles. We think in many cases what is at play here is mothers buying a large size for children to grow into. This was surely the case for boys' knee pant and for the skirts on girls' dresses. This could be partially true, but then there should be portraits of the older boys with shorter kilts that they had grown into, and we do not see this in the photographic record, although we are still assessing this as well. We are looking into whether these long kilts changed over time this would suggest actual fashion impacts as opposed to mothers buying large sizes as opposed to adopting fashionable styles.
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