Figure 1.--This boy wears a kilt suit done in an unusual material with a sheen. Also notice the pantalettes covering his legs. That was rare in the photographic record. The CDV portrait is undated, but looks like the early-1870s to us. That was not very common with kilt suits. We think the boy's name was Mark O. Harris, although that could be the photographer.

Kilts were mostly worn in the late 19th Century. By this time pantalettes were becoming less common for children, especially for boys. While they were still worn as late as the 1890s, they do not commonly show in portraits of boys wearing kilt suits. There are of course exceptions. We see a few images of boys wearing pantalettes that cover the boy's legs, but they are very rarte. This can be misleading. The style for pantalettes by the 1880s was for them not to show in the same way we note in the mid-19th century. Thus boys may well be wearing pantalettes even thus they can not be seen below the hem line of the kilts skirts. Some images show pantalettes or petticoats (it is oftemn difficult to tell the difference) that just peak out at the hem. Notably kilt suits were often cut rarher long. It was quite common for boys to wear kilt skirts that fell to calf level, much longer than common for actual Highland kilts. Pantalettles were normally, but not always white. We also note boys wearing pants that were done in the same material as the kilt suit. A good example is Willie Beacon, we think about 1890. We are not sure if to consider these garments pantalettes or knee pants. Another examole is Roy Lafolette about the same time. He wears checked and decorated pantalettes that match his light-weight summer kilt suit. We also see boys wearing kilt suits with pantalettes, although it is often difficult to tell as we usually only see a little material at the hem which also could be petticoats. Less commonly do the pantalettes/drawers cover the legs in the late-19th century . There are, however exceptions like Mark O. Harris here wearing a kilt suit in the early-1870s.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing kilt pages:
[Return to the Main American pantalette accompanying garment page]
[Return to the Main American kilt suit accompanying garments page]
[Return to the Main American kilt suit page]
[Return to the Main kilt page]
[Scottish kilts] [Scottish boys clothing] [Scottish school uniform] [Highland dance]
[Irish kilts] [Irish boys clothing] [Irish step dancing]
[Greek kilts]

Navigate the Related HBC pages:
[Lace collar] [Rounded-crown hat] [Floppy bows] [Cut-away jackets] [Kilt suits] [Velvet] [Long stockings] [Shoes]

Created: 4:06 PM 1/27/2008
Last updated: 8:14 PM 2/21/2017