Figure 1.--This Broklyn boy probably in the ealy 1880s wears a partial lace collar with a small white floppy bow. These collars were worn both with and without bows. Note that there were no matching cuffs.

This American boy wears a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit with a partial lace collar with a small white floppy bow. All we know for sure about the boy is that he was from Broklyn, a New York City bourough. This is a lace collar style that we have not noted very commonly. Note that there were no matching cuffs. Lace collars were worn both with and without bows. The dark velvet suit is quite a fancy one with extensive fancy work on both the jacket and knee pants. I'm not sure just what this style of decoration was called. This was a collar-buttoning suit, not the classic small cut-away jacket. The knee pants suit was worn with black long stockings. We suspect that the collar is a detachable collar and the boy is not wearing a fancy Fauntleroy blouse. We are not entirely sure how to date this portrait. Thhe relatively small collar and bow it seems to us suggsts the early 80s to us. The collar buttoning jacket may have been more common in the 90s. The light-colored mount probably was more common in the 90s than 80s. The length of the knee pants probaby argues for the 90s. Boys' knee pants could still be quite long in the 80s. A reader writes, "This is a good illustration of long stocking length in the 1890s. Note the exposed hose supporter clasp at the hem of his knee pants. The exposed hose supporter button doesn't seem to me inconsistent with the 1880s, the length of the knee pants, however, seems more like the shorter lengths worn in the 90s."

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Created: 8:04 PM 8/8/2007
Last updated: 8:04 PM 8/8/2007