Figure 1.--Camp shorts appeared in the 1960s and continued to be a popular American style for several decaded. Dark blue and green were the most common colors. This ad appeared in a 1979 catalog. |
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American mail order catalogs offer a very useful time line on changing fashion trends. We believe the importnt mail order business began in the 1870s with Montgomery Ward. There may, however, beeb some small earlier companies. Several comapnies, inclusing Sears Roebuck entered the industry in the 1880s. Large numbers of Americans in the late 19th century still loved in rural areas and small towns without access to stores carry a large selection of merchandise. Thus the clothing and other products offered in these catalogs were in effect a window to the wider world.
Adverisements from the 1860s are very rare. The big mail order houses had not yet opened. There may be some store catalogs, but we have not yet found any. Lithougrphy was still fairly primitive. There may have been some newspaper ads, but again we have not found any. The primary source for 1860s clothing is fashion magazines. A reader has provided a 1860s illustration for children's drawers, but we do not yet know the source. These are often quite detailed images. These images would be to stell patterns or just the images from which skilled seanstresses could use to create garments. Unfortunately we have some images but are often not sure of the sources which of course are need to fully evaluate the images.
Our information on the 1870s is still quite limited, but there were major developments durung the decade. . We do begin to see more adverisements in the 1870s. One notable trend is that we see the tunic suits disppering as a mjor style. We also see more stores offering kneepants, especially for younger boys. Perhaps the major development in the decade was the appearnce of large mail order stores. Montgomery Ward launched America's most famous mail order business in 1872. There may be earlier companies, but Wards was by far the dominate company. These stores will provide us a major source of information about fashion trends over time. There were department store catalogs and fashion magazines. Advertisements in newspapers and magazines become more prevalent and advances are made in lithography so that they can be better illustrated. Photographs could not yet be reproduced. The note one retailer used photographic CDVs to ad avertize his Lorne suit in 1871. We note patterns be advetized in magazines.
B. Altman offered a wide selection of clothing. HBC has some early Altman pages. As we can not date them, we have at this time loaded them in the mail order catalog garment section. Sears Roebuck launched their mail order business in 1886 and became along with Wards the two principal American mail order companies. These catalohgs thus become an invaluable source of information. Other companies advertized in magazines. American boys in the 1880s begin to commonly wear kneepants, although older boys still mostly wear long pants. Boys commonly wore kneepants suits with long stockings. Only the very youngest boys wear short socks. Thus we begin to see garments to hold up the stockings. We notice an L. Stein ad for stocking supporters (1885). We also notice the Double Ve Waist (1886).
Mail order catalogs offered a variety of clothes for boys in the 1890s, including dresses, kilt suits, Fauntleroy suits and blouses, sailor suits, and kneepats and long pants suits as well as a wide range of accessories.
Mail order catalogs and clothing advertisements show major changes in American boys clothes during the 1900s. Several important fashion trends are notable. Tunic suits like Buster Brown suits were all the rage for little boys. Sailor suits were still popular. Kneepants were still dominate in the 1900s, but knickers began to be worn by older boys. Short pants were intoduced for the Boy Scouts, but the boys insisted on wearing knickers. Kneesocks were still little worn. Most boys wore long stockings, Usage baried, but many boys even in highschool wore kneepants. usually black ones. Children at the turn of the 20th century, both boys and girls, almost universally wore underwaists or stocking supporters to hold up outer clothing and long stockings.
Several important fashion trends are notable during the 1910s. We notice a basic trend toward simplier less formal clothing. This trend was especually pronounced in children's clothing. Another notable trend is the increasing gender specific styles for younger children. Earlier both girls and boys wore dresses and it was often difficult to identify gender. We still see boy dresses advertized in the 1910s, but such offerings became increasingly rare as the decade progressed. The Oliver Twist suit was much simplier than the fancy suits that younger children had previously worn. HBC notices another catalog, Stuarts in the 1910s. Boys continued to wear tunics. A new style called an Oliver Twist suit appeared for todlers in the 1910s. The straight-leg knee pants common in the 1900s were replaced by knickers in the 1910s. Long stockings were still the dominant hosiery, although young children often wore three-quarter socks during the summer.
Mail order catalogs show major changes in American boys clothes during the 1920s. Kneepants were still worn in the early 1920s, but were completely replaced by short pants and knickers by the mid 1920s. American boys fashions for the first time exhibted major differences from Europe. For the most part only younger boys wore short pants, although knickers were much more commonly worn than in Europe. Gradually styles changed from the above the knee to the below the knee stylw. Kneesocks increased in popularitym but many younger boys still wore long stockings.
There were no major fashion changes in the 1930s. American boys still mostly wore knickers, althou older boys increasingly wore long pants. Most knickers by the 30s were the beloe the knee style. They were worn with kneesocks, but ankle socks became increasingly popular. A few boys wore long stockings during the colder months.
Mail order catalogs show major changes in American boys clothes during the 1940s. Boys still commonly wore knickers in the late 1930s, but they rapidly disappeared during the early 1940s. Some boys wore short pants instead of knickers, but most wore long poants. Jeansm often called dungarees, increaed in popularity, especially during the late 1940s. Kneesocks declined in popularitym but some boys still wore them. A few boys even wore long stockings.
A few boys still wore knicker suits in the early 1950s, but they disappeared from clothing catalogs. Boys were wearing mostly slacks and jeans. Some boys wore short pants, but it was increasingly less commonn, except for younger boys. Jeans came long so the cuffs could be turned up. In the middle of the decade coon skin caps appeared thanks to Walt Disney and Davt Crocket.
Camp shorts appeared in the 1960s and short pants increasingly began to be seen as casual clothes. A HBC reader has provided us some information from a 1960s Spigel catalog.
American boys no longer wore short pants suits, although younger boys wore Eton suits. There was a major shidt in the 1970s. Many American boys never wore short pants except when they were very young. In the 1970s in became very common for boys to wear short pants during the 1970s, often with tube socks. Bellbottom trousrs became all the rage.
Casual styles were dominant in the 1980s. They were widely worn to school as well as for casual wear. Boys tended to see wearing a collared shirt as dressing up. Garments like "T"-shorts, sweatshirts, and jeans were very popular. Designer jeans were all the rage. "T"-shirts wih logos were in fashion. Denim was the dominant fabric. Short pants contunue popular in the 1980s. Short cut styles were fashionsable. Cord shorts were popular iun the early-80s. Tube stoicks were still popular in the early 80s. Boh boys and girls wanted to wear fashionable sneakers rather than leather shoes.
A HBC reader writes, "I picked up the Spring 2004 JCPenney catalog the other day, and was struck by a change from how boyswear was offered 20 years ago. In the 1984 catalog, there was a separate section for clothing for little boys sizes 4-7, with the main section of boyswear covering sizes 8-20, and another section for teens called "Prep Stop" with sizes 14 and up. The little boys' section was largely similar to the regular boys' section, but included more "cute" items such as overalls. The teens' section had things that were either a little more mature in style or more fashionable. In the 2004 catalog, there is no such age gradation. Just about everything is offered from size 4 to size 20. About the only concession made to little boys is the sentence "Preschool sizes have elastic backwaist" in the descriptions of many pants and shorts. There are no "cute" items offered for little boys. The largest overalls (offered on their website and not in the paper catalog) are sized for boys of 24 months."
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