Figure 1.--This French image shows a boy in a velvet Fauntleroy suit with an unusual box shaped lace collar and matching wrist ruffles. |
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Fauntleroy suits were popular in France, although I have not commonly seen the term used to discuss fancy suits made out of velvet and other luxurious materials. Fancy French suits for boys were in fact the inspiration for the famous garment for the litterary hero, Little Lord Fauntleroy. The authoress, Frances Hodgson Burnett, lived in France for a short period with her two young sons before writing the book. The large bows that American boys wore with their suits, however, were not nearly as popular in France. Also it was much less common for French boys to wear their long hair in ringlet curls.
Fancy velvet suits for boys were popular in France in the 1870s. I'm not sure when the style first appeared. Fancy French suits for boys were in fact the inspiration for the famous garment for the litterary hero, Little Lord Fauntleroy. The authoress, Frances Hodgson Burnett, lived in France for a short period with her two young sons before writing the book. The large bows that American boys wore with their suits, however, were not nearly as popular in France. HBC at this time has only limited chronological data on the development of the Fauntleroy suit in France. We do have, however, information on the French Fauntleroy suit in the early 20th century. At the time they were being worn by boys about 3-6 years of age, earlier a somewhat older boy might have worn them as younger boys mostly wore dresses.
I have few details a this time on Little Lord Fauntleroy velvet suits in France. Actually I am not sure that they were even called Fauntleroy suits, alothough the book and play was popular in France. I know from available images and fashion magazines that fancy suits made of velvet and other luxurious fabrics for boys was a popular style. I can not yet detail any specific stylistic differences between French Fauntleroy suits and those worn in other countries. There were in fact many similarities, in part because the fancy suits worn by French boys helped inspore Mrs. Burnett both tp sew outfits for her sons and to write her famous book. HBC is assembling images of French Fauntleroy suits to try to determine any specific stylistic characterictics. One of the oproblems here is that we do often do not know the names for the various styles. Even the fashion magazins of tyhe day are often not helpful, often describing an suit as something like "a outfit for a little boy" ("costume pour petit garçon") without any destinctibe style name.
The two main garments composing a Fauntlerou suit are the jacket and pants. Jackets varied although the classic Fauntleroy suit was worn with a small velvet jacket so as to best display the fancy blouse worn with it. The pants could be either kneepants or above the knee bloomer knickers--a style particularly popular in France. Almost as important for a clssic Fauntleroy suit is a lace and ruffle trimed blouse, although in many cases the lacecand ruffled are pinned on to the jacket rather than wearing an actual Fauntleroy blouse. Besides these basic garments are a variety of optional accesories such as a sash, stockings, and formal footwear such as a strap shoes. The Fauntleroy suit was more of an indoor party garment, but was often worn with a wide-brimmed sailor hat although other hat styles were also worn with it.
The primary color for French Fauntleroy suits seems to be black. That was the way Gaughuin painted the portrait of a Breton friend's son Louis about 1890.
We do see other colors as well, such as dark blue.
One significant difference between French and American boys outfitted in Fauntleroy and other outfits is that French mothers never appreciated the ringlet curls like American mothers. French mothers did like long hair, but they did not generally curl it into ringlets like American mothers.
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