United States Boys' Clothes Chronology: Late-19th Century--Garment

American boys wore quite a wide range of clothes during the late-19th century. Some of the styles were destinctive to both the period and America. Other garments were a reflection of Europen styles. Younger boys commonly wore a range of skirted garmenr. Dresses and kilt suits were standard. Headwear was very common. We note both caps and hats, but hats were much more common than wpuld be tghe case in the 20th century. Mass production was beginning to sandardize boys' styles, but the diversity of styles could be starling to the modern reader. A 6-year old boy, for example, might wear a dress, kilt suit, a Fauntleroy suit, a sailor suit, or a knee pants or long pants suit. Here the dcession might vary widely from family to family. In most cases the decesion was up to the mother. Kilt suits nd Fauntleroy suits were virtually sinature styles for this period. Straight-leg knee pants at first worn only by younger boys gradually became standard for boys, although long pants persisted longer in rural areas. Long stockings were standard for both boys and girls. Children also wore mostly high-top shoes. After the turn of the century, a boy's fashion options would be much more limited.

Headwear

American boys wore a wide variety of caps and hats in the late-19th century. Hats wre till very common for boys. It was the rounded crown hat with with medium brims that continued to dominate thr era, but was declining in popularity. Wide-brimmed sailor hats worn by tounger boys are often depicted as the nost common headwear during the era, but they were not. Ot was the ronded crown hat that dominated the wardrobe of boys. The wide-brimmed hat for younger were worn both with sailor suits as well as many other outfits such as kilt suits, Fauntleroy suits, and tunic suits. Scoitting styled caps were popukar. Kepis were popular ftr the Civil War, bit not asvmuch as one might think. Other types of head gear, especially sailor caps became increasingly common in the 1890s.


Figure 2.--This boy weras an early kilt suit in a photograph taken about 1870. Note that the jacket is made to be worn open and there is no large floppy bow.

Skirted Garments

The century-old convention of younger boys wearing skirted garments continued in the late-19th century. Boys continued to wear dresses in the later part of the Century. Many continued wearing the same styles as their sisters, but other boys wore the dresses that were now especially styled for boys. Their dresses were little different than those worn by their sisters. The age at which boys wore dresses was extremely varied. Mothers had very different attitudes about when their sons should be breeched and their curls cut. Breeching generally occurred at about age 5 or 6, but it could be sooner or later. The mother had considerable discression on the matter. Harper's had some suggestions about boy dresses in 1877: "Small boy's clothes". The Higland kilt and other Scottish regalia was never very popular in America, although they werre worn--especially in wealthy families. Much more popular was the kilt suit which was a matching jacket and skirt, but not normally in bright Scottish plaid material. The styling of these outfits varied somewhat in the late 1860s and early 1870s, but had become fairly standard by the late 1870s. They were a very popular style for boys in the late 19th century, but declined in popularity after the turn of the century. The kilt suit was an intermediate step for boys which became popular in the 1870s. Tunics declined in popularity in the 1860s. They reappeared in the late 1890s in a variety of styles, Russian blouse, sailor, and Buster Brown suits. While the various styles differed greatly, almost all had belts and were worn with knicker bloomers that showed below the hem of the tunic. Girls also wore these tunics, but often the knickers did not show like the boys' tunics. Much older girls wore these tunics than boys.



Figure 3.--Lace collars were commonly worn with fancy party suits in the late 19th Century. This boy, however, wears a plain white collar which appeared in the 1890s. Note the back flap and blouse which is not tucked in.

Suits and Jackets

The rather non-discript, plain suits with short jackets worn with long pants changed in the late-19th century to better tailored jackets that look increasingly like modern jackets. Despite the extremely fancy styles which developed during this period, many suits had very simple styling. The Norfolk jacket which appeared in the late 19th Century was one of the more elaborate. Some had double breasted styling. Most were much simpler. Sometimes stylistic elements were added from other styles like sailor suits. The pants worn with suits as well as for everyday varied during this period. Kneepants in the 1870s were mostly for younger boys, but by the 1890s, quite old boys were wearing kneepants suits. Suits were made with both long pants and and kneepants. Boys wore both, but kneepants were verybwidely worn. Unlike earlier years, suits were now always made with matching material. The most recognizable style of the late 19th century is of course the Little Lord Fauntleroy suit made famous by Francis Hobson Burnett's classic novel, Little Lord Fauntleroy which was published in 1885. After the publication of her book, the Fauntleroy craze was on. The velvet suit, lace collar, and of course ringlet curls became the bane of American boyhood. The style persisted for more than a generation. The style was not created in a vaccume. Mothers had begun to dress little boys in fancy velvet suits before the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book, but the publication of the book created a Fauntleroy craze and soon increasingly fancy outfits for small boys. Some mothers even dressed older boys in the elaborate outfits, usually with some resistance on the boy's part--even in those more complant days. The sailor suit emerged in the 1870s as an increasingly important style for boys. There were a wide variety of styles worn. The classic styits followed the styling of actual national sailor uniforms. Mother being mothers, many selected more fanciful styling which could include lace and rufles for the younger boys. The popularity grew steadily until the 1890s when it was the single most popular style for boys.


Figure 4.--This Massachussets boy photographed in 1884 wears a simply styled suir, Eton collar, floppy bow, and kneepants. If he had been a year or two younger, he might have worn a Fauntleroy suit as the craze following the book's publication began in 1885.

Neckwear

Shirts and blouses by the 1880s were worn with large bows of many different colors and patterns and tied in different bows. Some boys wore ther large lace and other collars without bows, but it was much more popular to wear them with bows. Even Eton collars were worn with bows, at least by the younger boys.

Shirts and blouses

The small collars wore at mid-century grew steadily until collars that seemed to dwarf small boys became fashionable in the 1880s, fueled in part by the Fauntlery craze. Lace collars are the most easily recognizable from this period. Older boys might wear Eton collars. Wide white collars for younger boys, unadorned by lace, appeared in the 1890s. The classic Eton collar was increasingly seen in he 1880s. A variety of boys' collars, influenced by the Eton collar, were noted in earlier periods. The classic Eton collar, however, was not much worn in America until the 1870s and was not commonly worn until the 1880s. It was quite common to wear them in the 1880s with large floppy bows. This was not common in England, but was a very popular style in America, especially for the younger boys wearing Eton collars.


Figure 5.--The tunic fashion made a come back in the late 1890s. Various styles were worn, including sailor, Russian, and Buster Brown styles. They were worn with bloomer knickers. Click on the image for a full view.

Pants

Boys in the 1870s were increasingly wearing kneepants, although long pants were still common. Boys by the 1890s, however, more commonly wore keepants, including many older boys.

Pantalettes

Pantalettes were occasionaly worn by boys still wearing dresses or even a few boys in Fauntleroy suits. The fashion, however, was rapidly disappearing and except for very young boys, was little seen by the 1890s.

Hosiery

Many children, especially rural children went barefoot in the summer. Very young children might wear socks, but most children wore variously colored long stockings with footwear. Harper's had some suggestions about children's hosiery in 1877: "Small boy's clothes". We note striped long stockings in the 70s, but gradually flat dark long sockings becamne standard.

Footwear












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Created: 4:13 PM 3/8/2013
Last updated: 4:14 PM 3/8/2013