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We are not sure what the proper name for these button-on suits is. Nor do we know what they were called in the 1860s when they were most common. They were probably just referred to as suits, meaning the shirt or top matched the pants. We assume that the style was a European import, but are information is still quite linited. We are not entirely about the chronology of these button-on suits. We see them in the 1860s, but are unsure about the 50s and 70s at this time. We have a fairly good collection from both decaded and we do not see these suits being worn very commonly. We have found quite a number of CDV portraits from the 1860s. Most are undated, but look like the 1860s. The early CDVs from the 60s are quite destinctive. They look rather like one-piece suits, but I believe they were two pieces that buttoned to gether. They were suits in the sence that the top matched the bottom, but there was no jacket. Rather the top was a shirt liked top to which the pants buttoned. The suits were often decorated with piping, embroidery, and buttons. We do not, however, notice the elaborate decoration that became popular in the 1880s. While many of these suits were done with decorative trim, we also notice plain suits with limited decoration.We are not sure about the colors. We notice these suits done in a number of styles. Both the tops and pants varied. We notice both long pants and bloomer knickers. We are not yet sure about the age conventions. We do see younger school age boys wearing these suyits, but I suspect that they were not all that common at school.
We are not sure what the proper name for these button-on suits is. Nor do we know what they were called in the 1860s when they were most common. They were probably just referred to as suits, meaning the shirt or top matched the pants. This is interesting because we still commonly see boys in the 1860s wearing suits that did not have matching jackets and pants.
We assume that the style was a European import, but are information is still quite limited.
Button-on outfits have varied in popularity over time. We are not entirely about the chronology of these button-on suits, but have begun to develop some basic information.. We supose that the skeleton suits popular in the late-18th and early 19th century might be classified as button-on suits. We see boys wearing a variety of fancy suits in the mid-19th century. We are unsure about the 50s at this time. They do not seem to be noticeable in the Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes we have archived on our 1850s individuals page. We have a fairly good collection from the 1850s and we do not see these suits being worn very commonly. We see them in large numbers during the 1860s. This is in part because with the advent of the CDV, very large numbers of portraits were taken. Most ofthese portaits are undated, but look like the 1860s. The early CDVs from the 60s are quite destinctive. We also notice some if these suits being wirn in the 1870s, especially the early 1870s. Button-on styles seem to decline in popularity at this time. We note many button on outfits appearing in the 1920s and continued to be popular through the 1940s. After the 40s we see button-on outfits mostly being done as fancy outfits for formal events like weddings.
They look rather like one-piece suits, but I believe they were two pieces that buttoned to gether. They were suits in the sence that the top matched the bottom, but there was no jacket. Rather the top was a shirt-like top to which the pants buttoned. That said some of the portraits show boys wearing lighter-weight shirts underneath.
These button-on outfits were twopice suits. The two basic elements were the shirt or top and the pants or bottom. We notice these suits done in a number of styles. Both the tops and pants varied. The tops as far as can tell were always long sleeves. While they might be called shirts, the were made with the samechavy material as the pants, a heavier material than normally used for shirts. We notice both long pants and bloomer knickers. We are not exactly sure what the boys wore under the tops. Some portraits show the collar of what looks to be short waists. Other photographs show small collars. And in other instance the tops button at the top without showing any shirt underneath. We notice some of the headwear in the portraits. There does not seem to have been any headwear specifically associated with these suits, but the portraits do show some of the popular styles worn with them in the 1860s.
The suits were often decorated with piping, embroidery, and buttons. We do not, however, notice the elaborate decoration that became popular in the 1880s. While many of these suits were done with decorative trim, we also notice plain suits with limited decoration.
We are not sure about the colors. We suspect that they were primarily blue, brown, and grey, but we have little information at this time.
We are not yet sure about the age conventionsfor these button-on suits. The age range seems to be about ages 3 to 6 years. The photographic record clearly shows this. We think that somewhat older boys 7-8 years old may also have worn these suits, but cannot yet confirm this. This is our initial estimate abd needs to be refined. The younger age range includes the age at many boys were still breeched. This shows how the age of breeching was highly variable from family to family. Notably these suits were a fashionable style wore by children from families in comfortable circumstances in major cities where fashion was most important. The fancy hairdos we see on some of the boys helps to confirm that these suits were worn by boys from fashionable families. These well-to-do families were often the most likely families to delay breeching so it is interesting to see younger boys from these families wearing these fashionable button-on suits. We see many pre-school boys wearing these suits. We also see younger school age boys wearing these suits, but we are not sure if they were worn to school. We don't have much information on 1860s schoolwear yet.
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