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We are just beginning to assess skirted garments in Wales and out archive is still very limited. We do not notice references to skirted garments in the literature as we see in the rest of the Celtic Fringe, especilly Ireland and Scotland. Perhaps our British readers will know more. Wales was conquered by the English and closer to England than the other Celtic regions. Thus it was more thorouglky Anglicized than the other areas. Amd except for the folk outfits welsh women wore, only if an image is identified, such as stufio logos, can we tell if an imge is Wels. We notice not destinctive Welsh skirted garments, other than folk outfits. And we do not see boys wearing those oufits. We see Welsh boys wearing a range of skirted garments. The styles nd material eem identical to the very trends in England rather than some kind of Celtic Fringe tradition. We have no information to suggest that kilts may have been somewhat more common in the 19th and early-20th century than in Englnd. We do not yet have enough informatgion to make any valid assessment. his is just our prelininary assessment with still limited photographic evidence.
Dresses of course are rhe primary skirted garments. We believe that younger Welsh boys in the 19th century wore dresses just as English boys did. This was the general pattern throughout Europe, including Britain. We nelieve that the styles and conventions were comparable to England. Social class factors could have affeted Welsh trends, it was a rather poor area of Britain. We suspect, however, that trends were very similar among people of similar class and station. Our Welsh archive, however, is very limited and thus we have far fewer image of Wales than England. We have acquired a few images. And we see no dresses with specifically Welsh styles or differences in conventions. This would follow the same pattern we have seen with other gament. There were Welsh folk styles, but standard styles were the same as in England.
Welsh boys like English boys wore tunics suits in the 19th and early-20 century. As far as the know, the trends in Wales were essentilly the same as in England, althoujgh we do not have a large enough Welsh asrchive to substantiate this. A factor here is that the tunic was primasrily worn by boys from affluent or at leasr commfortable middle-class families. Wales was not as prosperous as England and thus tunics may not have been as common as in England. Here we see a Welsh boy from Cardif (figure 1). The portrait was undated, but we would guess was taken about 1905-10. He wears a tunic suit which was popular at the time (figure 1). I'm not sure how it was referred to in Britain.) Notice the pin on lace collar mother has added. This was a dark-colored tunic worn with knee pants. It is a little different than the tunic suits we note in America, but is a style we have noted in England. Other examples look more like American tunic suits.
Wales unlike other parts of the United Kingdom has not national dress. The destinctive red cloaks and tall hats for women were 19th century creations based on styles worn by village women at the time. There is no compaable outfit for men. We have no historical information about Welsh kilts. Many believe a Welsh kilt has never existed. We do not know if the Welsh/Kelts wore kilts in ancient or medieval times. Wales is part of the Celtic fronge of Europe. It was the area to which the invading Anglo-Saxon tribes drove the Roman-Celts after the departure of the Roman Legions. But until this Scotland was not unhabited by the Celts, but rarher ikd tribes of Picts and others. As far as we can tell, kilts were not commonly worn in Wales. As far as we know, kilts were not commonly worn by the Welsh in modern times. We note unidentified children wearing kilts. We thought it was Scottish, but it could be Welsh. The bonnets the girls are wearing look a little Welsh to us, but our British readers will know more about this. We're not sure to what extent Welsh boys wore kilts. We do note a Welsh boy working in a weaving facility during the 1950s. The kilt is often seen as a kind of Celtic garment rather than just Scottish. And for that reason as the Welsh in recent vyears have become more interested in reconnecting with their Celtic roots nationalism is becoming more pronounced. And some see the kilt as a way of expressing their Celtic heritage. We note Welsh sources someyoes using the term 'cilt'. There seems to be little or no difference with Scottih and Lirish kilts. One Welsh source tells us, "Well apart from the tartan, the only other difference is that the fabric can sometimes be woven in such a way as to not have a selvage (the uncut edge of the fabric as it comes out of the loom) and in such a case the kilt then has to be hemmed. I am reliably informed that hemming the kilt does not in any way spoil how the garment hangs, or how it looks so this need not be a deterrent if you are contemplating buying one. Also these tartans tend to be woven a litter looser, and therefor can have a softer feel than the Scottish or Irish tartans."
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1890s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
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[Lace collar types]
[Knicker suits]
[Kneepants]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Tunic]
[School sandals]
[Flat caps]
[Sailor suits]
[Pinafores]
[Three-quarter socks]
[Strap shoes]
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