Figure 1.--The children here are from Montpellierb, Vermont. The portrait is undated, but was probably taken in the 1890s. Both boys wear fezes, a headwear style that was not very common in America. |
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The fez was a kind of truncated conical brimless headwear. It was widely worn in the Middle East and to a lesser extent the Balkans. It was apopular Ottoman style, but worn in the early 20th century after the demose of the Ottoman Empire. It was not commonly worn in America. We do note bots in the late 19th century wear a wide range of headwear. We suspect this was a reflection of many mothers who benefitted from the tremendous growth of the economy in the late 19th century. Thus they had the money to dress stylishly and experimented with different styles, including foreign-looking garments. While rare, we notice a few boys wearing fezes. The fez was commonly red. We assume that the fezes worn by American boys were red, but cannot yet confirm that. We note an unidentified American boy wearing a fez with a Fauntleroy suit.
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