P. Jamieson Boys' Suits (Canada, 1883)


Figure 1.-- P. Jamieson placed this newspaper advertisment for his Palace Clothing House. He offered three styles of collar-buttoning knee pants suits for boys 2-12 years of age, depending on the style. Note the fancy Hussar styling on two of the suits. The school suit is done in a plainer style.

Knee pants were becoming standard for boys in the 1880s, but only younger boys. We note a Toronto retailer offering collar-buttoning knee pants suits for boys up to age 2-12 years of age in a 1883 newspaper advertisement. P. Jamieson was located in Totonto and advertised itself as a "clothier and men's finisher". The suits were collar-buttoning knee pants suits. This seems similar to American styles and conventions. Two of these suits were ornamented with military styling--Hussar styles. The other was a plain school style.

P. Jamieson

P. Jamieson advertised itself as a "clothier and men's finisher". We know nothing about the company at this time, other than it was located at the corner of Yonge and Queen Strrets in Toronto. We suspect that was a fashionable shoping distruct uin the 1880s, but hopefully our Canadian readers can tell us more. The company was very new. The location had been occupied by the old Agricultural Hall and Sun Tavern. P. Jamieson opened his Palace Clothing Hll there. One source reports he opened in October 1883 [Berchem]. The advertisement here is for Soring 1883. Jamieson operated his clothing business untill 1910. Note that the boys suits here begin at age 2 and run to 12 years. We are not positive, but think that mens wear stores commonly carried boys suits, but that skirted outfits such as dresses and kilt suits were more common carried by millineries and other women's clothing stores. This needs to be confirmed.

Knee Pants Suits

Boys in the late 17th and early 19th century began wearing the first specialized children clothes. This at first meant long pants. Tge next uniquely styled fashion for boys trousers was kneepants. This new style appeared for boys after mid-century. This new style along with associated more modern styles of knickers and short pants were to dominate boys' fashions for the next hymdred years. They were at first worn by younger boys, but in some periods and countries were worn by older boys, even boys of high school age. The terminology for Kneepants is somewhat difficult to develop. This is because there was no consistent term for kneepants. We have seen them described as both kneepants and short pants. Kneepants were still widely worn in the 1900s, but declined signifiacants in the 1910s as boys turned to short pants, knickers, or long pants. The ages of the boys wearing kneepants varied from country to country an over time. At this tpoint HBC only has a rough idea of the ages of boys wearing kneepants. We know that this varied chronologically. A younger boy after wearing a Little Lord Fauntleroy or sailor suit might be purchased a more mature looking kneepants suit with single or doubble-breasted styling. Many mothers, however, frequently added accessories like large floppy bows and lace or ruffled collars and cuffs. The type of trousers or pants worn by a boy in many cases had social class connotations. This has varied from country to country and over time.

Men's Suits

The illustrations at the top of the asvertisement offer what the store calls " sacque " suits. This appears to be a fancy way of saying sack suit. They were done with 1-3 buttons. They might be worn open or partially open to show off the vests commonly wore with these suits. The major departure from earlier frock suits is the shorter jackets of the sack coat.

Boys Suits

The boys's suits offered by Jamieson were very different than the sack suits offered for men. They were collar buttoning suits without the lapels of the men's sack suit jackets. They were domne in sizes 2-12 years with variaions for the three different styles. One was specifically designed for schoolwear. We are not sure just why, but it has the plainest styling. Thd other two have ffancy military styling. We do not understand the names of the other two suits. All three were knee pants suits. Knee pants were becoming standard for American boys inthe 1880s, but mostly younger boys.

Boys' Own Suit

The ad copy read, "This plate exhibits our Boysz' Own Suit. It is one of the most fashionable designs for 1883. It can be made in Tweed, Diagonal Worsted, Blue Venitian. or Serge, and with or without Bleding, according to taste. It is suitable for a boy 4-9 years of age. Price from $3 to $8, accordubg to size and quality of cloth." We do not know just what Venitian was. We have not seen this fabric mentioned before for boys' vsuiting. We are also not sure what bleding was.

Boy' "Model Suit"

The ad copy read,"This plate represents our Boys' 'Model Suyit'. You will observe it is richly ornamented in front and back, Hussar Pattern. It is made up of all-wool Tweeds abnd is composed of Tunic and Pants. It is available for Boys from 2 to 8 years of age. When sending your order we only require you to give the age, and we can arrange the size accordingly. Price from $2.50 to $4.50." Hussars were originally, Hungarian light calvalry. Hussar units were prominantly deployed by several countries during the Napoleonic Wars. And uniforms worn during the Napoleonic Wars influenced both military uniforms and fashions in the 19th century. This is one example. We have noted this styling in America, but never so prominntly displayed. We are not sure how popular these styles were in Canada. Note that this suit was available for boys as young as 2 years of age. This meant yhat some boys were being breched at age 2 years.

School Suit

The ad copy read, "This plate represents our Boys' School Suit. It is Suit which can be worn summer or winter. It is most suitable for Boys from 6-12 years of age. It is generally made of Tweeds, but would be very handsome in Diagonal as a Dress Suit, or in a nice light-colored Tweed, with buttons to match. Price from $5 to $10." Note the size for these suits basically coveres grades 1-6 in elementary (primary) schools.

Sources

Berchem, F.R. Opportunity Road: Yonge Street, 1860-1939







HBC






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Created: 5:30 PM 7/30/2008
Last updated: 5:30 PM 7/30/2008