Figure 1.--This American boy named Tom posing with his sister looks to be about 9 or even 10 years old, older than the age that most boys wore dresses. The image is not dated, but we would guess was taken in the 1880s.

As in Europe, it was very common for boys in America to wear dresses when young, although conventios varied greatly from family to family. Much of the HBC overall discussion of dresses and other skirted garments has dealt primarily with America. This is due primarily on HBC's greater access to information and images about America. Thus much of our information on American dresses worn by boys is in the overall dress section. One important development in America was the appearance of boy-styled dresses in the late 19th century, especially by the 1880s. HBC assumes that similar developments occurred in European countries, but can not conform this at this time. We have only begun to archive some specifically American information here.

Main Boy Dress Page

As we have only begun to archive some specifically American information here, we suggest that readers interested in this fashion of outfitting younger boys in dresses go the main HBC dresses page where most of our American information at this time is archived. As with many HBC page, we first began working with primarily American images and information. Thus most of the images in the general dress garment section are American at this time.

Chronology

We believe that American mothers followed the same chronlogy of outfitting boys in dresses as was the case in Europe, especially Britain. American boys for much of the 19th century wore dresses as was the fashion in Europe. The styles worn were quite similar ro the styles worn by heir sisters in the 18th and much of the 19th century. This began to change in the mid/late 19th century when plainer styled boy dresses began to appear. Military styling was also more commonly incorporated into boy dresses. This was an exremely common fashion throughout the 19th century which only began to change after the turn of the 20th century, the 1910s. The reason that mothers stopped dressing their sons in dresses is not all together understood, but must have been essentially the same in America and Europe as the same changes were taking place in European countries as it occurred in America.

Ages

We have noted American boys wearing dresses over a wide range of ages from infancy into school years. This has varied chronologically. We see boys of different ages, including school-age boys, wearing dresses in the 19th century. We do not have a lot of information on the early 19th century, but with the development of photography we have a much better understanding of the mid- and late-19th century. The conventions of wearing dresses declined in the late 1890s and after the turn of the 20th century it became less common for boys to wear dresses, especially after World War I (1914-18). We also begin to see mostly very young boys wearing dresses. Our assessment is somewhat complicated by the failure of many parents to date and identify photographic images. But we can roughly estimate the age of children in many portraits as well as the approximate dates they were taken. Here readers are invited to comment if they have any insights on these old photographs.

Styles

A substantial number of the portraits we have noted with boys wearing skirted garments involve skirt/kilt outfits rather than one piece dresses. It is not always possible to tell wether boys are wearing skirts/kilts rather than dresses, but it often is possible. Kilt suits were especially popular in America. We note boys wearing various styles of dresses, but they seem less common than the kilt outfits.

Colors and Patterns

We have only little information about colors and patterns. Much of the information we have gathered comes from our photographic archive. This provides information on patterns, but unfortunlely the black and white photography of the day gives us few clues about color. nother oroblem is that been dresses were sewn at home. Thus catalogs are not as helpful as are the case with other garments. In addition catalogs are less available before the 1890s which was when dresses were more common for boys. One of the patterns we tend to note for boy dresses is plaid. Here the connection with plaid kilts worn by men and boys presumably was a factor.

Accompanying Clothes

We notice a range of accessories worn with desses. We are not sure about the headwear. We notice some headwear styles, but do not have a complete idea of the different styles worn. For some reason the headwear is rarely pictured in portraits. We note some younger boys wearing fancy bonets. Plainer sailor hats were also worn. We notice a range of collars and neckwear. Lockets were common. Some dresses were worn with decoraive sashes, sometimes tied in big bows at the back. Leading strings were once common, but not generally seen in the 19th century. Long stoickings were commonly worn with long stockings. Footwear varied. We note both high-top shos and strap shoes. One popular accessory was a 'reticule'. This was a young girl's 'drawing room' handbag. It was in what the young ladies of the day kept their necessaries - glasses, hankerchiefs, handwork etc. It was an indoor accessory. It had loops sometimes decorated with bows through which a drawstring was used to close it. We do not commonly note boys photographed with these reticules. For that matter girls were not commonly photographed with them. The only boy one we have noted with one is Frank, who wears a summer dress and matching reticule.

Siblings

Parents over time have liked dressing their children in identical and coordinated outfits. The popularity of this practice has varied over time. Other factors involved are coutries, age, and gender. Some styles like sailor suits have been especially popular for dressing children alike. Dresses were not as popular. This because only younger boys tended to wear dresses and after the turn of the 20th century we tend to see fewer boys wearing dresses, even younger boys. Even so we do see some families with the younger children all wearing dresses, often identical dresses. It is often not possible to determine the gender of these children, unless they are unidentified by name. Unfortunately many of the images we have found are not identified. We are not entirely sure how common this was, but we have found a number of portraits.

Pantalettes

Pantalettes were commonly worn by American boys, especially boys still wearing dresses and younger boys wearing tunics during the first half of the 19th Century. Older boys wearing tunics would wear long trousers. Of course boys wearing dresses never wore trousers under them. Boys in skeleton suits also occasionally wore pantalettes. I believe the American fashion trends with pantalettes were mostly a reflection of European styles, probably English or perhaps French. Pantalettes were still worn after mid-century, but they became less increasingly less common. In the latter oart of the Century the boys still wearing pantalettes were boys wearing dresses are the increasingly common kilt suits and other kilted outfits. There are many literary references to pantalettes in America. A good example is Mark Twain's description of Becky Thacher. Almost always they are described as part of a girl's outfit. Tom Sawyer of course would not have been caught dead in them. We know from available images, however, that they were worn by American boys as well as girls. There appear to have been social class and regional differences associated with pantalettes. Boys in wealthy families were most likely to wear them, especially the fancier styles. In addition they were most common in the more urbanized Eastern seaboard cities. The work of American primitive art, however, claerly shows that pantalettes were also worn in more rural areas, but the plainer styles appear nost common there. Many of the images showing boys wearing pantalettes loaded in the pantalette section are American boys. This is not because pantalettes were more common in America, but rather because of HBC's greater access to American materials.

Individual Examples

There are many examples of American boys wearing dresses archived on HBC. We have only begun to build links to them here. Many are not preciesly dresses. Most of the skirted outfits worn by boys in the early 19th century were dressess. This began to change after mid-century. By the mid-19th century a variety of skirted outfits are more common, especially skirt/kilt suits. But quite a number are actual dresses as well, like the dress the boy shown here is wearing (figure 1).

Assessment Problem

We have a major problem in assessing dresses worn by boys in that so many of the old photgraphs available are not identified. Thus we have no way of knowing if the child photographed is a boy or girl. This really complicates our ability to understand the trends. Many of the portraits provide clues that are useful in making educated guesses. Props can be helpful, but are not definitive. Other photogra[hs have no clues what so ever. We are left to assess the faces which is problematic at best.

Created: July 10, 2002
Last updated: 12:14 AM 8/5/2008