English boys also wore skeleton suits in the early 19th century. It was the principal style for boys, at least boys from affluent families. Information is limited because photography had not yet been invented. We know much more about the suits boys wore in the mid-19th century because of ahe appearance of photography. Younger boys wore suits with cut-away jackets in the mid-19th century. A good example is an unuidentifird English boy, probably in the 1860s. Some of these cut-away jacket suits were plain, others had elaborate styling and detailing. We note some olderboys wearing suits with long jackets. A good example is an English boy, Edward Larrer in 1861. The Eton suit became very popular after mid-century. It originated of course at Eton College and was adopted at other public schools, but was worn as a basic suit style outside of school as well. Younger boys might wear Fauntleroy suits which appeared in the 1880s, but they were not as popular as in America. The standard sack suit became common in the late 19th century. Many came with vests. Lapels were often set higher on the coat than was common in the 20th century. The single-breasted jacket was the most common. Other styles like Norfolk jackets appeared at this time. So did blazers.
English boys also wore skeleton suits in the early 19th century. It was the principal style for boys, at least boys from affluent families. Information is limited because photography had not yet been invented. We know much more about the suits boys wore in the mid-19th century because of ahe appearance of photography.
We notice a portrait of famed biologist Charles Darwin wearing a long pants skeleton suit in 1816. He wears anopen neck lacey collar with white stickings abd strp shoes.
We note paintings providing good examples of boys suits. A portrait of the Bond family shows the older boys wearing short black jackets and light-colored long pants. A younger boys wears a velvet tunic suit with plain pantalettes. Most paintings show the families of the privlidged elite. Photography brought portraits with in the price range of the middle class. French experiment Louis Daguerre perfected a commercial photographic process (1839). We see large numbers of Daguerreotypes in America which provide a great deal of fashion information during the 1840s. Unfortunately we do not see the same in England where copywrite laws were stronger. We know dags were taken in England, but the numbers were much smaller than in America. And we have been able to find very few availablle Dags. Dags are difficult to date. Some were taken in the 40s, but there were also Dags taken in the 1850s and we are usually unable to descrimate among the 1840s and 50s.
We have much less information on English 1850s suits than American , primarily because the number of phpyographic images is so limited. We have found very few Dags. We have found a few Ambros, but again far fewer than in merica. Thus out arcjive is delatively small. And Ambros are more easily dated than Dags. Most were taken in the 1850s or very early-60s. Thus although most are undated, we can say that they for the most part date to the 50s. Among the Ambros we have found We see suits with lapel jackets, cut a little longer than modern sack suits. Many had vests, although they were mlore varied tham later in the centuury. We notice vests in both matching and contrasting colors. Vests in the 50s often had lzpels. we aldo notice suits with collar buttoning jackets. Some are done rather look like tunics. Stocks were still worn as collar adornment with suits. But we see them begining to give way to more elaborate neckwear that will evolve into neckties. We note that many of the photographic portraits we have fojund shows boys wearing suits that do not sem to fit very well. Thtg is something we never see in painted portraits. We notice this in American images as ell during this period. We are mot sure just why this is
We do not begin to see large numbers of English photographs until the development of the CDV. Thus we begin to see large numbers of portraits in the 1860s with detailed fashion information. Cabinet cards also appeared about 1866, but CDVs were nmuch more common. Younger boys wore suits with cut-away jackets in the mid-19th century. A good example is an unuidentified English boy, probably in the 1860s. Some of these cut-away jacket suits were plain, others had elaborate styling and detailing. We also see collar-buttoning jckets, bjut cut-away jackets seem to be the most poplar style for the younger boys. We note some older boys wearing suits with cut-away jackets, although with long jackets. A good example is an English boy, Edward Larrer in 1861. The Eton suit became very popular after mid-century. It originated of course at Eton College and was adopted at other public schools, but was worn as a basic suit style outside of school as well. Boys wore bloomer knickers, knee pants and long pants. Bloomer knickers seem very common for the younger boys. Knee pants were often cut with very full legs. Here age was afactor. Most boys wore long pants, especially boys over about 10-years of age. There were also social class factors.
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We see all kinds of different suits and various suit garments in the 1870s. Headwear was commonly worn in the 1870s, but we do not see headwear matching the suits during the decade. There was a range of jacket type and styles. We see fewer cut-away jackets in the 1870s and more sack suits with lapels. Some of the lapels were very large and set very high. The suits for younger boys might have extensive embroidery and other decoration such as aplique on both the jacket and pants. We note single-breasted styling. There were a range of different styles. Clothing was more varied in the years before ready-made clothing became standard. The lapels and buttoning arrangements could be quite varied. Vests were very common. Most boys wore long pants with suits. Younger boys might wear suits with knee pants or knickers. Some of the knickers had full (baggy) cuts. The pants were often decorated with stripes and other detailing, matching the decoration on the jackets. While the higly decorated outfits were most common for the younger boys, we stripes were very common even for older teenagers. Younger boys might have horizontal band on the shortened-length pants and/or elabort embroidery. Some younger boys had velvet suits. This was an expensive fabric for the well-to-do. Flannel was a popular fabric. We note the boys earing long stockings. White stockings were popular in the 1860s and we still see them in the early-70s.
We begin to see more standaization in suits types during the 1880s as ready made garments became increasingly common. Younger boys might wear Fauntleroy suits which appeared in the late-80s, although fancy suits for younger boys were known becfore the Fauntleroy Craze. This was a fashionable style that first appeared in Americ an was even more popular ther
The standard single-breasted sack suit became common in the late-19th century. It was adopted as a school uniform at many public (elite private boarding) schools, often with full-cut knicker pants. They were commonly worn with Eton collars. Boys at state primary schools did not wear uniforms, but many boys wore suits with Eton collars. These were not really Eton suits, or the suits worn by boys at Eton College. This was a short black jacket worn with striped pants. The suits worn at most other schools were more commonly sack suit jackets, but worn with the stiff white coolars tht the Eton boys made famous. Britain was significamtly expanding its state school sysyem in the late-19th century. And it was very common for boys in these schools to wear suits with Eton collars. We as a result note a lot of boys wearing Eton collars with suits. Many came with vests. Lapels were often set higher on the coat than was common in the 20th century. The single-breasted jacket was the most common. Other styles like Norfolk jackets appeared at this time. So did blazers. We note a variety of trousers, including long pabts and knickers. There were also knee pants, but we are unsure just how common they were.
There continued to be major differences in the suits English boys wore in the 1890s. But by the 1890s we see fewer younger boys wearing dresses, but we do still mostly pre-school boys wearing kilt suits, an imprtant style since the 1860s. Other Scottish styles introduced by Queen Victoria were also worn. We continue to see younger boys wering Fauntleroy suits in the 1890s, but these outfits were not nearly as popular as in America. We see quite a number of younger boys wearing sailor suits, including some younger school-age boys. We see older boys wearing sailor suits on the Continent. We note a range of regular suits along with collar-buttoning and a range of sack suits worn by school-age boys. Norfolk suits were especially popular, but we see other styles like single- and doubkle-breasted jackets. Many boys wore their suits with Eton collars. Boys of all classes wore suits. Photographer Francis Meadow Sutcliffe left us a wonderful record from the Yorkshire port town of Whitby which includes images of how ordinary working class children dressed. Working-class boys did not have substatual wadrobes. Their suits were the primary outfit they wore. The boys are almost always seen wearing suits. We continue to see alot of suits with vests. We suspect this reflected both the climate abd lackn of cebtral heafring at home. We see knee pants, knickers, and long pants being worn with suits. Except for the youngest boys, they were mostly worn with long stockings.
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