Individual Fauntleroy Suits: 1920s


Figure 1.--These children wear coordinated black velvet outfits. Notice the different types of strap shoes. While they wear different shoe styles, notice the identical socks.

This boy in the 1920s wears a velvet Fautleroy suit. The small jacket is worn open altough he wears a very plain blouse and rather small floppy bow. He wears matching velvet short pants with three-quarter socks and strap shoes. He has a regular short hair cut. HBC believes this is an American image talen in the 1920s. His little sister wears a frock in the same balck velvet, but styled differently. They wear the same white socks, but different kinds of strap shoes. HBC unfortunatly has no information as to the provinance of this photograph. However we have attempted to analize it based on our understanding of the fashions involved.

Chronology

HBC believes this boy and girl were probably taken in the 1920s. While the image is undated the styles involved strong suggest the 1920s. Boys in the 1910s would have worn knee-length lneepants with the decorative buttons at the hem. A fancier collar would have been more likely. It is probably not a 1930s suit as the style of strap shors that the boy wears was rarely seen in the 30s.

Age

The little girl looks to be about 4 years old and the boy about 7 or 8 years old.

Nationality

The children look very American to HBC. They could be European, but Ameriucan seems more likely.

Garments

The boy wears a small velvet jacket that is worn open like a Faintleroy jacket. The classic suits were cut this way to showoff the fancy blouses. This boy wears a very plain blise, but his jacket is still cut away. The jacket is blacvk velvet with a single narrow embridered band on the sleeve. The blouse is plain almost like a shirt and is not tightly button. Note that the sleeves do not show at the wrist even though the jacket sleeves are not real long. He wears a small floppy bow, tied rather like an artists' smock bow. It is a different color than the jacket. There is no way of knowing, but it looks like it may have been red. The pants are clearly shorts and not the knnepants commonly worn through the 1910s. He wears white socks with may have some light colores bands. He has strap shoes with the back rather than instep strap.

Coordinated Outfits

His little sister wears a frock in the same balck velvet, but styled differently. They wear the same white socks, but different kinds of strap shoes. The children both wear black velvet outfitsm but styled differently. They do wear the same white socks. While both wear strap shoes, they wear different styles. It is not clear if this was because that one style was seen as more appropriate for boys or girls.







Christopher Wagner





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Created: September 12, 2001
Last updated: September 12, 2001