Figure 1.--This American boy, probably about 1905, wears what looks like a double-breasted tunic suit with bloomer knickers and long stockings. |
|
Many American boys clothing styles originated in Europe. European fashion has always been important in America, especially among the well to do. Affluent American mothers always wanted to dress their boys like little English boys. French fashions were also important, espcially for younger boys. The Little Lord Fauntleroy suit was perhaps the first uniquely Ameican style, although it was heavily influenced by European sdtyles at the time. Only in the 20th century did American boys clothing styles begin to significantly vary from European styles. The major difference is that American boys do not seem to have liked the short pants that became so popular in Europe after theybwere adopted by Baden Powell' Scout movement. American boys for the most part objected. While shorts were worn by younger boys and boys from affluebt families most influenced by European fashions, most American boys weore knickers or long pants. Even Scouts and Cubs in America, for the most part, did not wear short pants, but mostly knickers. After World War II, the fashion flow reversed and it was American styles that began influencing European boys.
By the 1940s, few American boys wanted anything to do with European fashions. Rather it appears to be that America has influence Europe. Long pants, jeans, "T"-shirts, sport shorts, sweat shirts, baseball caps, and baggy pants are all American styles. I can't think of an important American boys fashion since the 1940s that has been imported from Europe. Not that moms didn't like the European styles--American boys didn't like them.
The skeleton sduit was a European fashion which developed in the late 19th century, in fact the first specialized boys' fashion. Previously boys after breeching had simply worn scaled down adult fashion. American boys at the timer, at least boys from affluent families simply wore imported European styles. HBC know of no uniquely American features.
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.
While few American boys in the 19th Century wore proper Scottish kilts with Highland regalia, many more boys wore the kilt suits that were popular in the late 19th Century. While Higland kilts were most popular with families that had Scottish conections, there does not seem to have been any relationship between kilt suits and Scotland. Mothers of many varied ethnic backgrounds chose klit suits for their boys. These suits were only worn by boys.
The Little Lord Fauntleroy suit it one of the most recognizable boys' style--if not exactly loved by those who actually wore them. It was in fact an American creation, although leavily influenced by European--especially French styles. It is perhaps strange that America's first step on the world fashion stage was such an elaborate boy's suit, seemingly un-American style. HBC does not have a separate American Fauntleroy suit page, but uses the main Fauntleroy suit page as most of the information there deals with American boys.
While few American boys in the 19th Century wore proper Scottish kilts with Highland regalia, many more boys wore the kilt suits that were popular in the late 19th Century. While Higland kilts were most popular with families that had Scottish conections, there does not seem to have been any relationship between kilt suits and Scotland. Mothers of many varied ethnic backgrounds chose klit suits for their boys. These suits were only worn by boys. HBC believes that the kiltsuit was more common in Americ than Scotland and England or other Eiropean countruies, but further investigation is needed.
Sailor suits were introduced as boys' wear by Queen Victoria in the 1840s when she dressed the young princes in sailor suits after they were breeched. The style eventually spread to the Continent. The style gained momentum when Queen Vicyoria's daughters and grandaughters married into most of the important royal families in Europe. The style also spread to the new American Republic as well as France which became a republic in 1848.
British naval uniforms have strongly influenced naval uniforms around the world. The silor suits for boys soon began taking on the styles of the national navies. American boys by the 1880s were commonly wearuing sailor suits and by the 1890s it was a standard as in Europe
Buster Brown suits were popular for younger children in the early 20th Century. I'm not sure who introduced the style or precisely when. I'm not sure if it was a style picked up by the Buster Brown comic strip or an entirely new style created by the cartoonist. It does appear, however, to have been most popular after the turn of the century. Toddlers at that time often wore dresses or smocks. One of a boy's first suits was often a Buster Brown suit.
Buster Brown suits were worn by boys from about 5 to 8 years of age, but some mothers dressed older boys in them for a few additional years. HBC believes that Buster Brown suits were primarily an American style, thus there is no specifically Amderican Buster Brown page.
Portaits show that the Eton collar and Eton suits had crossed the Atlantic as early as the 1840s. I do not know, however, just how popular the style was. The American primitive
show here for a variety of reasons. HBC is fairly confident that the style of their suit and
collar was inspired by the English Eton suits, the shape of the collars, the short black
jackets, the long grey trousers all point to this. The image also shows how common it was
during the first half of the 19th century for boys, even very young ones, to wear long pants
after breeching. Eton suits and more imprtantly Eton collars were widely worn by American boys at the turn of the 20th century. What is now referred to as a Eton suit in America, a short pants suit with a shirtvjacket for younger bous, firstvappeared in Ametica during the 1920s. It was first weorn with an Eton collar, but by the 1950s, Peter Pan collars became more common.
We do not know a great deal about Oliver Twist suits. They were outfits for younger boys that appeard at about the time that the Fauntleroy suit went out of style. The were primarily worn buy pre-school age boys during the 1910s and 20s. The term Oliver Twist probably derives from the fact that these were button-on outfits, a style popular during the 19th century era in which the Dickens nvel is set. At least that is the inly common feature we note in the Oliver Twist outfts offered in catalogs. Other features such as sleeves, collars, and detailing varied widely. Very large collars were popular with many of these suits. String ties with tassels wee another popular feature. These suits were generally offered in sizes up to 4 or 5 years old, occassionally a bit older, but this was not very common. They were done in a wide variety of colors.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main U.S. garment page]
[Return to the Main U.S. country page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Cloth and textiles]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]