Robert Hode (America, 1890s- )

lace collar sailor tunic suit
Figure 1.--This American boy, Robert Hode, wears such a large lace collar that it is difficult to see what kid of jacket he wears with his hisabove-the-knee knicker suit. Note the elegant white bow. Click on the image for an enlargement of the lace collar.

HBC has no information about this American boy, Robert Hode. Some information, however, can be deduced about the boy and his outfit from the photograph. All that we know for sure about Robert is that he is American. He looks to be about 10 years old. Robert is rather elegantly dressed in what looks like a sailor tunic suit with a very large lace collar. Given his hair style, it would seem likely that he was being tutored at home and probably came from an affluent family.

Robert

All that we know for sure about Robert is that he is an American. He looks to be about 10 years old. He was probably born in the 1890s, although the portrait looks tyo have been taken after the turn of the century. Robert is rather elegantly dressed. Given his hair style, it would seem likely that he was being tutored at home and probably came from an affluent family.

Chronology

While the portrait is undated, HBC would date it to the turn of the 20th century. The boy's suit looks to a 1900s, style. The lace collar looks rather to fancy for the 1910s. The shoe style look to modern for the 1890s. Riglets for boys declined in opoularity after the turn of te century and were increasingly less common in the 1910s. The relatively short ringlets also suggests that this portrait is a turn of the century portrai

Hair Style

Robert wears carefully curled ringlets, but not the shoulder length ringlets that were more common during the 1880s and 90s. Robert also has a hairbow. This bow looks rather larger than the ones commonly worn by boys, although girls wore much larger ones. HBC is unsure as to justvwhen Rober wore his hair bow. Did he wear it all the time or just for special occasions. While the hair bow could be taken off, the long hair and curls could not. This strongly suggests that Robert was part of an affluent family that could aford to tutor him at home.

Clothing

HBC notes several factors about Robert's outfit.

Lace Collar

Robert wears an especially large lace collar. It covers much of his jacket. Actual lace was very expensive. The fact that it is a lace rather than a less expensive ruffled collar suggests that Robert came from an affluent family. The collar appears to be pinned on the jacket. It could thus be addedd or removed for specific occasions. It could also be removed as the boy got older.

Bow

Robert wears a white bow to match his white suit and lace collar. Often boys would wear colored bows for contrast, but white bows were also worn as does Robert. Note that Robert's collar bow is very similar to his hair bow. Usually the collar bow was much larger than the hair bows that boys occasionally wore.

Suit Styles

Robert wears a rather plain white knicker suit. The elaborate lace collar covers up much of the suit. One of the few stylistic details that can be made out is the loops for a belt. While the suit is very plain, the additiion of the large lace collar and bow hives it a very fancy look. This was a common practice in the 1900s. A boy might wear a plain suit with a fancy bow and collar. The same suit was suitable for wear later as an older boy by simpliy relacing the lace collar with a more mature shirt. The white suit suggests that this was a summer suit.

Belt

Note the prominent leather belt worn in a contrasting color. The suit is designed to be worn with such a belt because it neatly fits into belt loops. Note, however, that it has no function. It looks more like a belt that younger boys miht wear with their tunic suits.

Hoisery

Robert wears long black stockings with his knicker suit. These long stockings were commonly worn by boys. They contrast with his white suit. The stockings suggest that the portrait was taken fairly early in the 1900s, otherwise he might be more likely to have worn white stockings.

Shoes

One reader thinks that the shoes appear to be patent leather with spats.

Lace Collar Outfit

Many other types of suits were worn with lace trim added. Often lace night be added to a boys first adult looking suit and he might wear it with a floppy bow for a year or two. Other boys might wear a Russian blouse type suit with lace trim. Many other suit types were worn with lace collars. Often these were collars that were just pinned on to the suit. Boys of a wide variety of ages might wear these suits with lace collars. Usually they were boys up to 10 or 11, but some older boys might also wear them. Hair styles also varied. Boys were most likely to wear long ringlet curls with Fauntleroy suits when wearing lace collars. Some boys wearing other suits, however, wwere still swearing ringlets. The lace collars worn with suits varied widely. Some were small modest lace collars. Others were very large, covering much of the boys suit jacket.






HBC





Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main ordinary biography page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Satellite sites] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Created: May 12, 2000
Last updated: 4:38 PM 8/23/2006