Figure 1.--This CDV was taken by Gurney & So in New York City. It is not dated, but looks like the late-1860s to us. The child is ununidentifoed, but looks like a boy wearing a white dress. The cap and coat look like a costume, but we think this was probably just a fancy outfit. The leggings, however, look fairly standard. The CDV was slightly colorized.

We see quite a number of children, both boys and girls, wearing leggings in both the 19th and 20th centuries. Our chronolohogical information, however, on the 19th century is very limited. We have no information on leggings in the early- and mid-19th century. The earliest images we have at this time are from the 1870s, but we suspect that leggings were worn eaelier. As we have Dags and Amvros from the 1840s and 50s, we suspect that leggings are a garment children began to wear in the 1860s, but we can not yet confirm that. Leggings seems to have been a style for children from well-to-do families. The photographic record supports this conclusion. Most of the portraits we have found appear to be children from affluent families. The 19th century leggings are often leather. After the turn-of-the 20th century by the 1910s we normally see cloth leggings, but leather versions did not disapper. They also seem common in the 1930s and 40s. An American reader writes, "Both my sister and I wore leggings in the 1940's in New Jersey as part of "snow suits". I know they closed with zippers, but I don't remember if they were attached to anything at the top or were "free standing".

The 19th Century

We see quite a number of children, both boys and girls, wearing leggings in both the 19th and 20th centuries. Our chronolohogical information, however, on the 19th century is very limited. We have no information on leggings in the early- and mid-19th century. The earliest images we have at this time are from the 1870s, but we suspect that leggings were worn eaelier. As we have Dags and Amvros from the 1840s and 50s, we suspect that leggings are a garment children began to wear in the 1860s, but we can not yet confirm that. Leggings seems to have been a style for children from well-to-do families. The photographic record supports this conclusion. Most of the portraits we have found appear to be children from affluent families. The 19th century leggings are often leather.

The 20th Century

After the turn-of-the 20th century by the 1910s we see commonly see cloth leggings, but leather versions did not disappear. They also seem common in the 1930s and 40s. An American reader writes, "Both my sister and I wore leggings in the 1940's in New Jersey as part of "snow suits". I know they closed with zippers, but I don't remember if they were attached to anything at the top or were "free standing". We continue see leggings into the 1960s. A good example are winter sets offered by Best & Co. in 1967. By the 1970s they become much less common.

Created: 9:03 AM 1/29/2011
Last updated: 11:36 AM 6/5/2015