Figure 1.--Another ad from Best & Co.--this one for Boys' One-Piece Kilt Dresses, from The Youth's Companion (May 30, 1901, p. 289). Note that this is an advertisements for specifically designed boys' dresses. Interestingly, the age range is age 2, 2 1/2, and 3 years. |
Little boys still wore dresses in 1900. Younger boys comminly wore kilt suits when dressing up. The tunic was another popular style for younger boys. For dress occassions boys might still wear Fauntleroy suits. The sailor style was very popular. Many boys wore sailor suits and middy blouses. We note a striped middy blouse offered by Best & Co. Formal dress was still quite important in the 1900s. We notice ads for formal dress outfits. One such outfit was offered by Sykes & Kirschbaum, a fashionable New York clothiers. They do not use the term tuxedo, but it was kneepants tuxedo. Suspenders were a popular form of trouser suspension. We notice an ad for Presidential suspenders. We note fancy long sleeved Futleroy blouses. Boys commonly wore long stockings, primarily black long stockings.
Little boys still wore dresses in 1900. Some dresses were secifically styled for boys. We note, for example kilt dresses.
Another ad from Best & Co.--this one for Boys' One-Piece Kilt
Dresses, from The Youth's Companion (May 30, 1901, p. 289). Note that this is an advertisements for specifically designed boys' dresses. Interestingly, the age range is age 2, 2 1/2, and 3 years. Apparently most boys graduated from dresses to trousers (breeching) at about age 3 1/2 or 4. HBC has other advertisements from Best & Co (e.g., the Rugby Waist) sold by a division of the shop referred
to as the "Lilputian Bazaar." The ad copy read, "Best & Co. Liliputian Bazaar. Boys' One-Piece Kilt Dress. Made of fine white
pique: the yoke front is neatly trimmed with insertion and band embroidery; back has four narrow box plaits from collar to bottom of skirt. Ages 2, 2 1/2, and 3 years. $3.25. By mail, postage paid, 15 cents extra. Our catalogue, in new form, listing nearly 2,000 Articles for Children, more than half of them illustrated, sent on receipt of this advertisement and 4 cents postage. Address Dept. 15. 60-62 W. 23d St., New York."
Younger boys comminly wore kilt suits when dressing up.
We note fancy long sleeved Futleroy blouses. Little Lord Fauntleroy suits were still popular un 1900. Boys wore fancy blouses with It was a fancy blouse for a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit or to be worn by itself during the summer. The sailor style was also popular. Many boys wore sailor blouses.
We note a striped middy blouse, referred to as a sailor blouse,
offered by Best & Co. The ad appeared in The Youth's Companion (September 5, 1901, p. 435). Note the striping
of everything--the blouse, the collar, the middy, and even the scarf. This was rather unusual.
The tunic was another popular style for younger boys.
For dress occassions boys might still wear Fauntleroy suits.
Stores in 1901 offered a wide range of sailor suits for boys. They were made in many styles and colors as well as a variety of materials. They were mostly kneepants suits. Short pants had not yet become an important style. They were still commonly worn with long stockings.
Formal dress was still quite important in the 1900s. We notice ads for formal dress outfits.
Formal dress was still quite important in the 1900s. We notice ads for formal dress outfits. One such outfit was offered by Sykes & Kirschbaum, a fashionable New York clothiers. They do not use the term tuxedo, but it was kneepants tuxedo.
Most boys wore kneepants. Knickers were also worn, but were not as common as kneepants.
Boys commonly wore long stockings, primarily black long stockings. Younger boys might wear white long stockings when dressing up.
We thought that when we found a Wards advertisement for button-on long stockings in 1939 that it was a totally new (and largely unsuccessful) invention. Sears also had a similar product, but the fad was very short-lived because they disappeared quickly from the catalogues of successive years. But we were wrong about the novelty. As this image shows, button-on stockings were being sold as early as 1901 by the Fay Stocking company of Elyria, Ohio (south of Lake Erie in Loraine county). These stockings are made for both adults and children, for
ladies as well as for boys and girls.
We note an ad for boys' "President" suspenders. "President" was a brand of suspenders made for both men and boys. There were numerous ads for "President Suspenders" in 1901 issues of "The Youth's Companion". Boys of course wore suspenders mostly with knee pants although they could of course also be worn with more grown-up long pants. Notice the boy doing a hand stand in the illustration to show that these suspenders have the maximum amount of give and won't restrict a boy's movements in any way.
This ad is revealing because it shows a very early example of the
suspender waist. It is interesting because it provides more information about how this particular suspender waist was constructed. Notice that the appeal is to mothers who want to free
their sons from more primitive waists that "bind the arms, waist or any part of the body." The sizes involved are for boys from 2 to 14 years of age. This waist is somewhat more complex in construction than the Kazoo suspender waist which appears to have sold more widely at a slightly later date. Note that it has attachments for holding up knee trousers, underdrawers, and supporters for long stockings. The ad copy describes the features offered.
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