Fancy suits looking like Fauntleroy appeared in the 1870s, but were not very common. They were basically following European fashions at the time. The Fauntleroy craze began when Mrs. Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy (1885). This inspired the Fauntelroy craze of the 1880s and 90s which became a very much American phenomenon. Many boys were dressed in the fancy velvet suits and much larger numbers in less expensive imitations or suits with some Fauntleroy styling. We see quite a range of styles during this period. Boys not only wore velvet suits, but destinctive Fauntleroy blouses with large lace and ruffled collars. Many boys had regular suits rather than velvet suits, but mothers had added Fauntleroy trim. There are many portraits of American boys archived on HBC. Unfortunately many are not dated, complicating any chronology. We will eventually link the dated ones here. We still see Fauntleroy suits after the turn of the 20th century in the 1900s, but by the 1910s they are rapidly going out of style.
The cut-away jacket was a standard style for younger boys in the 1860s and 70s, The suits, however, are often quite plain. Collars and bows tend to be small, especially in the 1860s. . Fancy suits looking like Fauntleroy appeared in the 1870s, but were not very common. They were basically following European fashions at the time. Mrs. Burnett who lived for a time in France was influenced by these styles. Some boys may have worn fancy outfits, but they were not very common. They of course would have not been called a Fauntleroy suit because Mrs. Burnett had not yet written her book which would generate the Fauntleroy craze in the 1880s.
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We note boys wearing fancier outfits in the early 1880s. Larger collars and floppy bows were becomming more popular. The actual Fauntleroy craze began,however, when Mrs. Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy (1885). This inspired the Fauntelroy craze of the 1880s and 90s which became a very much American phenomenon. American at the time was rapidly industrializing. Great fortunes were being made. Families from modest origins were obtaining great affluence. Many were anxious to shoff off this affluence. This kind of sartorial overkill was designed to do just this. In addition, most affluent molthers at the time did not work and had help to take care of the house and children. This meant they had the time and energy to devote to such fashions. And they were fascinated by Mrs. Burnett's book and the fashions involved. The book was widely published and there were many theatrical productions. Many boys as a result were dressed in the fancy velvet suits. The classic American suit was a two-piece velvet cut-away jacket and knee pants. Many European boys wore bloomer knickers, but American Fauntleroy suits were mostly knee pants suits worn with dark long stockings. And much larger numbers in less expensive imitations or suits with some Fauntleroy styling. We see quite a range of styles during this period. Boys not only wore velvet suits, but destinctive Fauntleroy blouses with large lace and ruffled collars. Lace collars were especially common in the 1880s. Some mothers added ringlet curls. This was especially the case in America. Ringlets were much less common in Europe. A minority of the boys wearing Fauntleroy suits wore ringlets, but the two styles became fused in the popular mind.
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Fauntleroy suits continued to grow in popularity during the 1890s. We note large numbers of boys wearing Fauntleroy suits. One aspect of the Fauntleroy suit was that velvet and lace were expensive and thus the classic suit was expensive. The same was the case of ringlet curls. Doing a boy's hair in ringlets was a time consuming undertaking. Not every mother had the time and energy for this Modest income mothers, like their more affluent contemporaries, wanted to dress theur boys stylishly. Thus we not only see classic velvet Fauntlerouy suits, but suits done in less expensive material. This reflected the desire for mothers of modest means to dress their sons in the popular Fauntleroy suits. We also see boys wearing regular suits to which mothers had added Fauntleroy trim. This had the affect of raising the age at which boys wore Fauntleroy-styled outfits. We note large ruffled collars becoming increasingly popular
in the 1890s. Ruffled collars could be made in much larger sizes than lace collars as the material was not nearly as expensive as lace. The collars on Fauntleroy blouses became enormous. Some of these collars alsomost seem to envelop the boys wearing them. A good example of a boy wearing a Fauntleroy suit during the 1890s is Charles H. Pool, Jr. photographed in 1896. We see many younger boys at schools in the 1890s wearing Fauntleroy suits. A good example is Griff Prather Knapp in 1891. Another example is an unidentified Catholic school.
We still see Fauntleroy suits after the turn-of-the- 20th century in the 1900s. In the eary part of the decade we see classic Fauntleroy suits with the small velvet cut-away jackets and fancy Fauntleroy blouses. We do not see lace collars as commonly, but large ruffled collars were often worn. They were almost always worn with knee pants and long stockings. Such outfits, however, are much less common by the end of the decade. At least the classic versions of the Fauntleroy suit are less common. School portraits in particular show that Fauntleroy suits and blouses were still being widely worn. We often see them in the school portraits taken suring the early 1900s. It is quite common to see some of the younger boys wearing Fauntleroy suits. And many of the older boys wearing Fauntleroy-influence fashions. We gradually begin seeing them being worn by younger boys as the decade progressed. The photographic record shows a substantial decline in the popularity of the style. We no longer at the end of the decade see Fauntleroy suits very commonly in school portraits.
Fauntleroy suits by the 1910s had for the most part gone out of style. We see far fewer boys wearing Fauntleroy suits in the 1910s and the number steadily declined as the decade progressed.. We no longer see many younger boys wearing the classic cut-away jacket suits in the 1910s. They did not totally disappear. We see these suits being offered in mail order catalogs for boys up to 8 years of age. Clearly from the photographic record we know that very few boys were wearing them. We believe that most of the limted sales were for younger boys and suspect that they wre mostly for special occassions like wedding. We have a very extensive photographic archive and we would find example if they were very widely worn. There were other related trends. Floppy bows continued to decline in popularity and the ones we do see were much smaller than the ones worn during the Fauntleroy Craze. In additin, the blouses worn with the suits are plainer than worn earlier. We no longer see hug ruffled collars, but rather moderatedly sized collar with only limited ruffles. And we see boys wearing these suits with white rather than dark long stockings. We do not see boys wearing white stockings with Fauntleroy suits duing the Fauntleroy Caze (1980s-90s). While the cut-away jackets for youngr boys did not disappear, we no longr see mothers adding Fauntleroy suits to the standard suits worn by older boys. Fauntleroy trim added to standard suits was common in the 1880s and 90s. There is no longer any sign of this.
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We note only a few boys wearing Fauntleroy suits in the 1920s. The Fauntleroy has not yet disappeared, but it is no longer a major fashion. Some Fauntleroy features like large collars and bows are fairly common, but classic velvet Faunrlroy suits were quite rare. And they seem to be worn by boys from affluent families. You no longer see boys at school wearing them or the average child. As far as we can tell, the Fauntleroy suit basically disappeared as a major style during the 1920s. And the suits we see seem to be outfits made in boitiques and not the mass produced suits of the 1880s and 90s made in large numbers. We also note the suits being worn with short pants rather than knee pants, usually worn with white socks or stockings. This became fairly standard in the 1920s. We still see Fauntleroy suits being offered in mail order catalogs. We notice a 1927 suit offered by Lane Bryant in 1927. Lane Bryant was a retailer for full-figured women, but apparently offered maternity clothes and outfits for younger children as well. Actual suits in the photographic record were even rarer than in the 1910s.
We have not yet found dated images of American boys wearing Fauntleroy suits in the 1930s. But given the fact that we have found quite a few images as well as mail order catalog images from the 1920s, including the late-1920s, it is likely that there continued to be some Fauntleroy suits into the 1930s, especially the early-30s.
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