|
We know very little about First Communions garments during the 19th centuyry. A factor here is that America was a largely Protestant country in the 19th century. This beggan to change with the arrival of the Irish in the 1840s and even more so when large numbers of Italians and other immigrants from southern Europe began to arrive in the 1880s. Thus we have been able to find very few American First Communion portraits from the 19th century. We are not sure to what extent First Communions were celebrated. I'm not sure what Catholic boys wore in the early and mid-19th Century, but by the late-19th Century those families that could afford it dressed their sons in smart new suits. We know much more about the 20h century. We note many First Communion portraits in the early 20th century. First Communions apper to have become a major event. We suspect this reflects in part the increasing success of Ctholics in Ameica. We see many boys posing in new outfits purchased for the occassion. Looking at First Communion suits over time are a good indicator of popular boys' fashions during the 20th century. For the most part this meant suits, but this was not always the case. We see some boys in the early 20th centry wearing tunics, but it was not very common. There was another major shift in the mid 20th century as suits became less commonly worn.
We do not commonly see boys wearing tunic outfits for First Communion. We have, however, noted a few examples in the photographic record. They were usually white tunics with fancy trim.
Boys wore a variety of suits, mostly knee pants single and double breasted suits. Some boys wore sailor suits, but this was not as common as in Europe. Styles for younger boys such as Fauntleroy suits were not normally worn, even though some older boys did wear Fauntleroy suits. After World War I (1914-18) styles changed with boys wearing mostly knicker suits through the 1930s, but usually long pants suits since the 1940s. Some boys wore short pants suits, but they were less common. This continued through the 1950s, but the trend since has been more to a less formal outfit, a white shirt, tie, and slacks. American boys commonly wore single breasted suits
for First Communion. Some suits, however, were made in the double
breasted style. The predominately knicker pants styles for First Communion suits began to change in the 1940s. Long pants suits became the predominant style, but short pants suits were worn by some boys through the 1960s. Boys that did wear suits would often wear a special white suit.
The trend toward casual fashions also affected First Communion attire. Beginning in the 1960s it became less common to buy a suit for First Communion, at least for boys. Boys began wearing a simple white shirt, tie, and slacks. Many girls continue, however, to wear quite elaborate white First Communion dresses.
There was another major shift in the mid 20th century as suits became less commonly worn. We see boys doing their First Communion in more informal outfits like just shirts and ties rather than suits. This was quite common by the 1970s. In many cases the bys wear the iformal outfits while the girls continue to wear the fancy junior wedding dresses.
Navigate the Historic Boys' First Communion pages:
[Return to the Main U.S. First Communion page]
[Return to the Main First Communion page]
[Return to the Renewals]
[Argentina]
[Belgium]
[Canada]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Mexico]
[Spain]
[Switzerland]
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Essays]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Short pants suits]
[Blazers]
[Jackets]
[Kilts]
[Sailor suits]
[Sailor hats]
[Ring bearer/page costumes]
[Shortalls]
