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We notice a variety of fancy styles in the 19th century for younger boys. The principal jacket style by mid-century was the cut-away jacket. Suits with cut-away jackets appeared in the mid-19th century in a range of different styles. Many of these were very plain. The portrait here is an example of a very plain suit (Figure 1). Other suits were detailed with military styling. Piping, stripes, and embroidery were commonly employed in the detailing. The most striking such suits were the Zouave suits. Of course the best known suit style in the late-19th century was the Fauntleroy suit, one without military styling. The cut of the jacket varies as to how sharply the two sides separated. There were also differences in length. Fauntleroy cut-away jackets were especially small to show off fancy blouses to the best advantage. Cut away jackets were connected at the top in various ways. Some buttones near the collar. Others had tab connectors. Many cut-away jackets had breast pockets. The cut-away jacket suit was worn with and without vests and with a variety of blouses, both plain and fancy blouses. We are not sure about the age conventions involved as we ave few catalog from the mid-19th century. We see to see boys from about 3-8 years of age wearing these suits, but this is just an initial assessment. These jackets were normally worn with shortened leg pants, both kneepants and bloomer knickers. Quite a number of Ameican boys wearing these cut-away jackers are archived on HBC. A good example is Charles Fox in the 1860s.
We do not yet have a complete chronology of cut-away jackets in the United States. We are unsure as to how widely worn they were in the 1850s. We do not find very many cut-away jackets in Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes we have collected from the 1840s and 50s. We do note one unidentified boy from we believe the late 1850s. We note large numbers of American boys wearing cut-away jackers in early CDVs meaning images as early as 1862. The style was so well established in the early 60s that it surely must have been popular by at least the late-50s. We note cut away jackets still popula in the 1870s. It was the cut-away jacket thast was used for the classic Fauntleroy suit in the 1880s. We not some boys wearing cut-away jackets in the late-90s, but rarely after the turn-of-the-20th century.
We notice a variety of detailing used in the cut-away jacket suits for younger boys in the 19th century. This was the principal jacket style by mid-century was the cut-away jacket. Suits with cut-away jackets appeared in the mid-19th century in a range of different styles. Many of these jackets were very plain while others were heavily decorated. The portrait here is an example of a very plain suit (figure 1). Other suits had elaborate detailing, often g with military styling. Piping, stripes, and embroidery were commonly employed in the detailing. The most striking such suits were the Zouave suits. Of course the best known suit style in the late-19th century was the Fauntleroy suit, one without military styling. The Fauntleroy jackets, however, came at a time when the cut-away jackets had for the most part gone out of style.
We do not have much information on the colors cut-away jackers were dome in, but we have begun to acquire some basic information. The black-and-white photography of the day makes color difficult to assess. As afar as we can tell the cut-away jackets worn in the 1860s and 70s were done in muted colors. Most of the suits we note in the photographic record inthe 1860s and 70s when the jackets were most popular seem to be light-colored material. We think the light colored suits were usually done in colors like grey and tan. There were also some dark suits, but the light-colored suits seem the most common. The Fauntleroy cut-away jackets of the 1880s and 90s were in contrast mostly dark colors. The cut-away jackers were also used Zouave suits were done in bright colors, often red and blue. The blur was commonly bused for the jackets and the red for the pantaloons.
Cut-away jackets were cut in a variety of styles. The principal variation wa the the degree and styling as to how the jacket was cut away. Here we are referring to the fact that the jacket was cinnected in someway at the top, but then gradually cut away as one moves down toward the waistline. There were different kinds of toop connectuions. Usually a tab or button was used at the top. We see a few jackets tht had several buttons at the top. The cut of the jacket varied as to how sharply the two sides separated and the finishing at the wauistlin, often done as a kind of rounded than a sharp point. . There were also differences in length. Fauntleroy cut-away jackets were especially small to show off fancy blouses to the best advantage. Other jackets were hardly cut away at all. Most cut-away jackets were short jackets, ending at or just belo the waisline. We see, however, a few jackets that were cut longer, extending well below the waistline. Thios was not very common, but we do see a few examples.
Most cut-away jackets were worn largely open, but connected at the top in various ways. This was especially the case of the jackets worn in the 1860s and 70s. The classic Fauntleroy cut-away jackets which appeared in the 1880s tended to be smaller than earlier cut-aways and were usually made without a connecion and made to be worn open. The reason of course was to displsay the fancy Faunrleroy blouse. There were a variety of ways to make connections. We have seen buttons, tabs, and string ties. The most common seems to be a connncting tab. Tab connectors were done in different shapes and lengths, but normally in material that matched the jacket. Some cut-away jackets buttoned at the top near the collar. There were also string or cord connections in might be tied in a bow. Quite a number of Ameican boys wearing these cut-away jackers are archived on HBC. A good example is Charles Fox in the 1860s. He had a cut-away jacket with a two button tab connection.
Most cut-away jackets were made without lapels. They were often done as simople basic jackets without any lapels. The standard cut-away jacket of the 1860s and 70s was usually done without lapels giving aather elegant, cl;assic look. The great majority of cut-away jacjets we have noted in th photographic record were cut in this manner. We note a few of these jackets that had lapels. One example is Frank Mortimer Hene in the 1870s. The lapel jackets, however, wee not very common. The ones we note were also often jackets cut longer, extending below the waistline.
Many cut-away jackets had breast pockets.
We notice two different types of sleeves, half sleeves and full sleeves. Half sleeves were shorter length sleeves, cut somewhere below the elbow. The actual lengths varies. A good example is an American boy wearing a half-sleeve ajcket about 860. Often the half sleeves were very wide, sometimes worm with blouses that had voluminous sleeves. Other cut-away jackets had full sleeves that extended to the wrist, sometimdes with a cuff. The boy here is wearing a full-length sleeve (figure 1).
Cut-away jacket suits by the 1860s were suits composed of matching items. This was a new development at the time. Skeleton suits had matching items, but then the convention lapsed. We notice both two-piece and three-piece suits. The cut-away jacket suits came with matching pants. Some also came with matching vests. We see large numbers of boys wearing these suits in the photographic record. Before the 1860s when these suits began to become very common, the jacket and pants at first often did not match. This was often the case for suits in general in the 1840s and 50s. But in the 60s, especially the late-60s, we see mostly matching jackets and pants. Cut-away jacket suits except for the fancy Zouave outfits, usually did match by the 60s.
Most boys wore cut-away jackets with various kinds of pants. The suits included knee pants, knickers, and long pants, but mostly we see some kind of pants. We also see cut-away jackets being worn with dresses. This obviously meant girls, but a few younger boys still wearing dresses had cut-away jackets. These jackets seem more stylish tht the cut-away jackets worn with pants. As part of dress outfits, they were done in the same material and style of the dress. Which means that that they were more coloful and stylish than the cut-away jackets wirn with pants. We notice a range of jacketed dress. The cut away jacket was just one of the different jacket styles.
We are also collecting information with the accompanying clothing worn with cut-away jacket suits in addition to the jacket, vest, and pants that comprised the suit. The various items differed somewhat depending on the boy's age and the decade. We have only limited information on headwear. Boater hats were popular headwear. We do not see many caps. And we do not yet know much about the shirts and blouses. Button-on blouses were common. We often do not see much of the shirts and blouses. The collars are normally small and often covered by vests. Boys both wore and did not wear neckwear. American boys almost always wore stockings rather than socks. We notice white stockings in the 1860s. Striped stockings became popular in the 1870s. We mostly notice high-top shoes.
We are not sure about the age conventions involved with cut-away jacket suits. A major problem here is that we have few catalog from the mid-19th century (1860s-70s) when the jackets were most popular. Thus our assessment is primarily based on assessing the photographic record. They seem very common with pre-school boys and younger primary school boys. We see to see boys from about 3-8 years of age wearing these suits, but this is just an initial assessment. we are not entirely sure of the upper age level at this time. Our inintial assessment is that after about age 8 years boys started wearing more mature styles, but this has to be confirmed. We have not note boys over age 10 commonly wearing these suits. Age may have also affected styling, but this we are not yet sure about this and it needs further investigation. A complication here is that by the 1880s these jackets were going out of style there was one stykle that became very popular--the Fauntleroy suit. And the age conventions for Fauntleroy suits (1880s-90s) are not the same as for the standard cut-away jacket suits.
The cut-away jacket was primarily a younger boy's suit garment. We have, however, noticed both girls and women wearing them, a much wider age range than was the case for males. An exception here seems tobe Spain where mn did wear these short jackets. There wwre several names for these jackets worn by girls and women. The most common was the bollero jacket. We are not yet sure about the chronology, but hve noted them as early as the 1850s. Thy could have appeared even earlier. Fashion historianns often just describe these jackets as appering in the mid-19th century. What we are not sure about is if this was a woman's fashion adapted for boys or a boy's garment appropriated for girls and women. The term 'bolero' suggests a Spanish origin, as does 'torreador' which is often sometimes used. And the French also used the term'senorita' suggesting a Spanish garment for girls. We also notice the term 'zouave', suggesting a French military origin. Girls and women wire these jackets both over blouses and dress bodicies. What is definitely known is that the cut-away jacket while isppeating for boys bsivlly with the tgurn of the 20th-century is still as fashionable item for women , but not for girls.
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