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HBC is not sure how prevalent kilt suits were in England. Queen Victoria popularized Scottish styles during her reign, escpecially by dressing the princes in Scottish kilts. As far as we know, this was always proper Highland dress and not kilt suits. But we do see kilt suits beginn in the 1860s. This apparently was the creation of the fasgion indusdtry trying to capitalize on the popularity of Scottish stylesg. It was not one of the more popular boy's styles, but we do notice a number of boys wearing kilt suits. Not as many as in America, but it was not a rare style. English mothers would have had had some idea about how a kilt should be worn. Certainly not as much as Scottish mothers, but surely more than American mothers. A Scottish reader has provided an assesment of kilt suits in Scotland and England. His conclusion was that they were not worn in either England or Scotland. The kilt suit appears to have been a destinctly American garment. We have, however, noted images of English boys wearing kilt suits, especially in England. That meant kilt outfits with matching jackets and kilts/skirts, rather than tartan kilts like Highland outfits. Unlike American kilt suits, English boy not uncommonly wore Scottish items like sporans with their kilt suits. While not a especially popular style, it certainly was not rare. It would have been an upper and middle-class style. And of course the 19thb century photogrphic record was almost entirly studio photogrsphy dominated by the upper- and middle classes.
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[Scottish kilts]
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