Figure 1.--The boy here in a cabinent card wears a solid colored dress with front smocking. The collar device is rather unusual. The portrait was taken in the studio of H.R.Sherborn, High Street, Newmarket in Cambridgeshire. Newmarket is an important town for horse racing and Sherborn photographed many of the jockeys. I'd estimate the date of this photo to be late 1880s. If you look closely at the boys eyebrows on the scan, you can see where the photographer has emphasised them with his pen. This was a common practice and done so well that it is difficult to spot with the unaided eye on the original photos. Image courtesy of the MD collection.

Boys wore dresses with a wide range of fabric colors and patterns. Many boys had solid colored dresses. White was popular during certain period, but we notice many colored dresses as well. Unfortunately the black and white photography of the day tells us very little about actual colors. And we have a very small archive of vintage clothing which would provide more color information. There were also a wide variety of patterns. Here the photographic record tells us much more. We note printsds such as polkadots, plaids, and others. Plaid was especially popular for boy dresses. We are not sure about the colors, but believe red plaids dominsated. Plaid appears to have been a particularly popular pattern for boys' dresses by the 1870s, in part because it related to a boy's skirted garment--the kilt. We believe that solid colored dresses by the late 19th century became common for boys by the late 19th century, but can not yet substantiate that.

Colors

We see boys with a wide range of solid colored dresses. White was popular during certain period, but we notice many colored dresses as well. You can usually tell if the dress is white or a light color, but just what the precisde color was is impossible to tell. Unfortunately the black and white photography of the day tells us very little about actual colors. And we have a very small archive of vintage clothing which would provide more color information. There were also a wide variety of patterns. Here the photographic record tells us much more color information.

Patterns

We note printsds such as polkadots, plaids, and others. We do not yet a large enough archive to compile a complere list of the various patterns. Plaid was especially popular for boy dresses. We are not sure about the colors, but believe red plaids dominsated. Plaid appears to have been a particularly popular pattern for boys' dresses by the 1870s, in part because it related to a boy's skirted garment--the kilt. We believe that solid colored dresses by the late 19th century became common for boys by the late 19th century, but can not yet substantiate that.

Created: July 10, 2003
Last updated: 4:34 AM 2/26/2010