Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shiws an unidentified boys wearing what looks like a white dress. We at fiorst thought that he was wearing a pinafore, but now thinks it is a large white collar. As the dress and collar is white, it is hard to make out any detail. We do note the large wide-brimmed hat the boy is holding. Note that there is no streamer. We are not sure when the portrait was taken. We don't see that many CDVs after the 70s, but large collas like the one here seem more like the 1880s. The smallest boys seem to have had the larget hats. The studio was R.C. Holmes in Dover, Delaware.

We are not sure about the headwear American boys wore with dresses basically our major source of information is the photogrphic record. And headwear is often not depicted in the primarily studio photography of the 19th century. For some reason the headwear worn with dresses is rarely pictured in portraits. Many mothers seem more concerned with hair styls than headwear. Many of the boys still wearing dresses had not had their curls cut yet. There was no accepted convention. Some mothers cut curls first and other breeched first. A few may have done both at the same time. Thus we do not have a lot of information about the headwear American boys wore with dresses. We have found some portraits where the boys are holding their hats or the hats are somewhere in the portrait. Caps were much less common, but most of these portraits have boys who have had their curls cut. Hats were the dominant headwear for both boys and girls in the 19th century. Not until the end of the century do we see caps becoming the major type of headwear for boys. We notice some headwear styles, but do not have a complete idea of the different styles worn. We note some younger boys wearing fancy bonets. Rounded-crown hats were common. Plainer wide-brimmed sailor hats were also worn. The choice of headwear was influenced by ages and the boys wearting dresses were of course the younger boys. Thus we see the headwear styles worn with dresses were the styles popular for the younger boys. As caps were becoming more popular, the convention of dressing littke boys in dresses and other skirted garments was going out of style.

Limited Information

We notice boys wearing a wide range of headwear with dresses. Headwear is, however, a little difficult to assess. We are not sure about the headwear American boys wore with dresses basically our major source of information is the photogrphic record. We do have some information with the invention of photography (mid-19th century).. Headwear is, however, often not depicted in the primarily indoor studio photography of the 19th century. For some reason the headwear worn with dresses is rarely pictured in portraits. Many mothers seem more concerned with hair styles than headwear. Many of the boys still wearing dresses had not had ther curls cut yet. There was no accepted convention. Some mothers cut curls first and other breeched first. A few may have done both at the same time. Thus we do not have a lot of information about the headwear American boys wore with dresses.

Chronology

The number of images before the invention of photogrphy are limited. Thgere are paintings we have found with boys wearing dresses for earlier periods. Unfortuntely for the most part, the paintings done before the invention of photography do not depict the boys with headwear. We have virtually no information before the 19th century. With the invention of photography we know much more, but of course this means that we have headwear informationn for a relstivl narrow range of the time tht boys wore dresses, only about five to six decades. Early phitographic formats show boys wearing dresses, but headwear with those early images are still rare (1840s-50). Even so we have found a few images with headwear. This changes with the appearnce of CDVs (1860s). Suddenly we have huge numbers of images. Children in many instances were photographed without their headwear. But there are such a large number of CDVs and then cabinet cards that we have more information than ever before. We see a range of headwear ranged from huge wide-brimmed sailor hats to relatively small caps shaped ratherlike pillbox caps. We think this was a common choice for boys wearing dresses. An example of what looks like a pillbox cap without the brim -- an unidentified Pennsylvania boy, we think about 1890.

Headwear Types

We see virtually all kinds of different headwear worn with dresses. The headwear boys wore with dresses were not as fancy as the girls wore, but wore more diverse. We see boys wearing both hats and caps. We have found some portraits where the boys are holding their hats or the hats are somewhere in the portrait. Caps were much less common, but most of these portraits have boys who have had their curls cut. Hats were the dominant headwear for both boys and girls in the 19th century. We some boys wearing vaps in the 19th cntury, buy not very commonlynwith dresses. Not until the end of the century do we see caps becoming the major type of headwear for boys. We notice some headwear styles, but do not have a complete idea of the different styles worn. We note some younger boys wearing fancy bonets. Rounded-crown hats were common. Plainer wide-brimmed sailor hats were also worn. The choice of headwear was influenced by ages and the boys wearting dresses were of course the younger boys. Thus we see the headwear styles worn with dresses were the styles popular for the younger boys. As caps were becoming more popular, the convention of dressing little boys in dresses and other skirted garments was going out of style.

Decoration

Headwear, esoecially hats can be highlt decorated. Our assessment is that girls and women can highly decorate their hats. We do not see this wwith boys and men. This is, however, base primarily on the photographic record which shows ladies hats with flower, berries, fruits, feathers, and even whole birds--in shorteverything short of the kitchen sink. Girls' headwear is often not as highly decorated as the headwear of adult women. But we see the same dichthomy between the headwear between boys and girls. The boys wear plain styles, girls on the other hand may wear fancier styles and sometimes highly decorated styles. Thast is not, however, alwys the case. The girls might wear plainer styles as well. We sometimes see boys and girl wearing the same plainer styles. What we rarely see, however, is boys, even younger boys waring the fancier, decorated styles of girls. Here we think the limited time frame iffered by photography may be a factor. There is some indication that younger boys in the 17th and 18th centuries may have worn dresses and headwear more similar to girls than was the more modern era we can study through photography.

Created: 7:39 PM 10/19/2012
Last updated: 9:44 PM 8/6/2016