Figure 1.-- These children were from Grenola Kansas. The boy wears a blouse with a ruffled collar and a skirt. Note that there was no kilt styling or pleating on the skirt. The blouse covered the waistline. Ither shirt-like garments were tucked in to the waistline.

We are not sure about the conventions of wearing skirts/kilts. There were two different options for wearing skirts/kilts. First was to wear them as part of a kilt suit. This could mean both matching and non-matching jacket/kilt combinations. Kilt suits were a very popular choice for younger boys in the late-19th century. Second was to wear a blouse with a skirt, but not jacket. We note quite a range of blouses worn with skirts.

Kilt Suits

Boys wore skirt/kilts as part of a kilt suit. This could mean both matching and non-matching jacket/kilt combinations. Kilt suits were a very popular choice for younger boys in the late-19th century. The Scottish kilt was never extensively worn by American boys, despite the sizeable number of Scottish Americans. we noice a few boys from wealthy families done up in Highland kilts, but this was not very common. A related garment, however, the kilt suit, was very commonly worn by two generations of American boys. It was one of the most popular outfits for younger boys. We notice quite a range of different styles. They were often worn with vests. I believe that the style was also widely worn in England and to a lesser extent in France. Its popularity in Germany and other continental countries, however, appears more limited, although admittedly I have little information on these countries.

Blouse/Shirt and Skirt

We note quite a range of blouses worn with skirts. The blouse/shirt and skirt may have been an acceptable style or perhaps primarily a concession to the hot summer weather. Adults of course were expected to wear jackets. This convention was relaxed for children, at least during the summer. We think many of these portraits were taken during the summer and that the boys were just not wearing the matching jacket with the kilt-suit. We note many images of boys wearing blouses with knee pants during this period for similar reasons. Wether mothers just bought or sewed a skirt or the boy just did not wear the jacket we do not know. Of course skirts were relatively easy to sew at home while jackets were much more complicated. We note many skirts without kilt features, but we note them being worn with suit jackets as well as without jackets. We note some images with boys wearing skirts that do not seem to be part of a suit. Either the boy is not wearing a suit jacket or the skirt is a pattern that seems unlikely to be done in a jacket. The convention was that a skirt could be a loud pattern, but this was much less likely for the jacket. How common this convention was we are not sure. We have noted more portraits of boys wearing kilt suits (matching jackets and skirts). Notice the boy here wears a blose thatbhas ben bloused over the waistline (figure 1). We also notice shirts that wee tucked into the waist od the skirt.

Conventions

Another question related to skirts is that we ae not sure if they were purchased or made as skirts or if theybwerevpart of a kilt suit and just the skirt was being worn. This might have been a matter of informality or concession to the boys age. Seaonal issues could have been involved, espially the fact tht warm summer wealther made in uncinfortable to wear a full suit. Adult men mightbhave to do so, but fashion cinventions were commonly relaxed for younger children. The fact that quitea number of boys were photographed in just the skirt suggests that this was an accepted convention. We do notvsee just the skirts being advertised in catalogs and other advertisingvwhich suhhests that the skirts were mostly purchased as parts of suits. Of course this does not tell us about what mothers sewed at home. And a skirt/kilt was much easier to sew than a jacket. We have not found any written discussion of these issues in period sources so all we have to go on is he photographic record. Mothers may have discussed such matters informally, but it is not th kind of matter that seems to have appeared in print. And unfirtunately by the time the family snapshot became common, the fashion of boys wearing skirts was passing.

Created: 12:32 PM 8/20/2006
Last updated: 8:51 AM 8/9/2014