Figure 1.-- This portrait was taken by the Burrows studio in Middletown, Connecticut. It is undated, but would have been taken in the 1860s. The boys wear identical cut-away jacket suits. The only difference is that the younger boy wears a blouse with a ruffled collar and his older brother wears a shirt with a plain collar.

Some suits were made with small cut-away jackets. Some showed the blouse or shirt the boy was wearing. Others were worn with vests. These jackets were worn in the late 1850s, but do not seem to have been very common. They were a major fashion departure for boys in the 1860s. We see large numbers of portraits in the photographic record beginning with the earliest CDVs of the early 1860s. These suits were very popular throuughout the 1860s and 70s. They were one of the most popular styles for younger boys. The jacket was commonly only buttoned near the collar. Many suits had tabs to hold the two sides together. There were ties and other means of holding the two sides together. The jacket was due in a range of styles. Some of the jackets wee barely cut away, others were severely cut away. They declined in popularity in the 1880s, althouh a specialized form, the Fauntleroy jacket became very popular. In this regard in foreshowed the Fauntleroy jacket of the 1880s. We are not entirely sure about the colors the suits were done in. We see a lot of light-colored suits. Most do not seem to have done in bright colors. Some specialized styles like Zouace suits might be an exception. Some of the jackets were very plain. Others were heavily decorated. Embroidered desisns were popular. We also note ribbon piping. This style was generally worn by a younger boy. We see boys from about 5-8 years old wearing them. These jackets were very popular in both America and Europe. Here we see an two Connecticut boys wearing very plain cut-away jackets (figure 1). A good example of a fancy jacket is a Scottish boy of a fancy jacket is James M. Barry, about 1866.