Figure 1.--This German boy had his photograph taken in Dresden, probably in the late 1890s. He is wearing a sailor kilt and looks to be about 3 years old. Note how he is holding his doll. I'm not sure what the watering can is all about. The skirt here does not seem to have any kilt features.

We have not noted German boys wearing Highland kilt outfits. We have noted boys wearing kilt suit outfits in various styles. Many of the images are undated. The images that we have found seem to date about 1870s-1900s. This is about the same cronological range as we have noted in the United States and Britain. The fashion inspiration must have been Britain. I'm not sure if the royal family had an important role here. (Kaiser Wilhem's mother was English, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.) Based on the photographic record, the style was much less common than in America and Britain. The sailor kilts appeared to be especially popular. I think this may have been because it was not preceived as so obviously British as the standard kilt suit. We are unsure what age boys wore these kilt suits in Germany. The boy pictured here is quite young, about 3 years old. We are unsure to what age these outfits worn. Boys in American and Britain commonly wore them to about 6 years of age.

Terminology

We are not sure what these garments were called in German. We are not sure if these garments were called kilts or skirts. The Germans use the term der Kilt. They also say der Schottenrock which can also be translated as Scottish or tartan skirt. The term for skirt is der Rock. Just how these terms were used we are not entirely sure. We suspect that Kilt and Schottenrock were used primarily for tartan kilts/skirts. We are less sured about what the klt suit outfits were called which were not tartan. We do see kilt suit outfits, but they were not as common as in America and Britain. And we just do not know just how the terns were used by German mothers.

Styles

We have not noted German boys wearing Highland kilt outfits. We have noted boys wearing kilt suit outfits in various styles. Here our assessment is limited because whae found so few German portraits of boys wearing kilts. We have not yet foundd German boys wearing stabdard (sacl=k suit) jackets with kilt skirts, a style very common in America. Nor have we found German boys wearing Fauntleroy kilts, but the Fauntleroy style was also less common than in America. We note a few kilt suits with various styles of jackets. We also notice sailor styles. The kilt skits xwe have noted in the photographic record seem more like standard skirts without any klit features.

Chronology

We have not yet been able to build a chronology of kilts and kilt suits worn by German boys, but we have begun to work on it. This is primarily because we have found relatively few examples in the photographic record. This presumable reflects the prevalence. Another problem is that most of the German images are undated. The images that we have found seem to date about 1870s-1900s based on our estimates. Kilt and kilt suit images outside this time span are very rare. While not precise, our estimates are generally accurate at least to the decade involved. Here we have to estimate as the photographs are not dated. This is about the same chronological range as we have noted in the United States and Britain where the fashion wa much more prevalent. We note some kilt outfits with Fauntleroy styling in the 1890s. A good example is a fashionable Frankfurt family. Fauntleroy styling like kilt outfits was not nearly as common in Germany as in Anerica and Britain.

Origins

The fashion inspiration must have been Britain. We are not sure if the royal family had an important role here. (Kaiser Wilhem's mother was English, the Criwn Oruncess Vuictoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.) Thus there was an English influence. And Vuctiria's brihers

Popularity

Based on the photographic record, the style was much less common than in America and Britain. We don't see Highlamd kilts, but we do see a few kilt suits. It was not a major style like we see in America and Britain, but we do see a few. The sailor kilts appeared to be especially popular. We think this may have been because it was not preceived as so obviously British as the standard kilt suit. But skirted garments in generral were less common in Germany as in severl other countries, including America, Britain, and France.

Ages

We are unsure what age boys wore these kilt suits in Germany. We have realtively few German images of Grman boys wearing kilt suits. The assess the age cvonmventions, a substantial nimber of images are meeded. We do not yet have enough images to do that. The boy pictured here is quite young, probably about 3 years old. We are unsure to what age these outfits worn. Boys in American and Britain commonly wore them to about 6 years of age. with a few examples of slghtly older boys. Most of the images we have found so far look to be boys uo to about 5 years of age. We do not have store catalogs which would be hlpful in establishing age conventions.

Created: January 24, 2003
Last updated: 9:50 PM 1/21/2022