Figure 1.--Here are the cloth suit and a one-piece suit. The cloth suit was for a boy 1-6 years of age while te one-piece suit was for a boy 1-4 years. The cloth suit looks to be a play outfit and the one-piece suit a littkle more dressy and was pictured with a bow. |
Here Weldon's offers a grouping of four outfits for younger boys, each with short pants. They include a cloth suit, a one-piece suit, a jumper (looking rather like a tunic), and a shorts set. The terminology is interesting. Jumper in Britain normally means sweater, here it describes a smock or tunic-like outfit. Knickers are used in thecsence of short trousers. The outfits shown are all for boys 1-6 years, except for the one-piece suit which only is for a boy to age 4 years. They are all shown as being worn with white socks and strap shoes.
Weldon's appears to have been a major supplier of pattrns to British mothers. We do not know when the company bergan operating. We have an issue of Weldon's Home Dressmaker
devoted entirely to boys' clothing. It is undated, but is ussue N°248 (figure 1). It looks to us like about 1922. These pattern bookles were published by Weldon's Ladies Journal
in Britain and Canada and provided advice, fiction, household hints, and fashion news to women. One of the services the magazine provided to its subscribers was the inclusion of a
fashion portfolio that illustrated all of the new pattern releases--and a set of free sewing patterns. One reviewer maintains that "The Weldon's patterns are some of the most
stylish of their era." A British homemaker in the 1920s, however, recalls, "We always used Weldon's paper patterns for cutting out, and we had one for almost anything. They
were very fragile and had to be used carefully, using pin holes that had been used before. When Woolworth's opened in Leigh, we were able to buy Butterick patterns which were
more up to date. We are unsure just when Weldon's was first published, but we have noted issues in the 1890s-30s.
As clothing terms can be confusing, readers may want to refe to our Anglo-American glossary to better understand the differences and nuances between American and British usage. A jumper in England normally means a sweaterm but her Weldon's is using it to mean a kind of tunic outfit (pattern 62933). All of the shorts are referred to as knickers which is no lionger a current usage in Britain.
Here Weldon's offers a grouping of four outfits for younger boys, each with short pants. They include a cloth suit, a one-piece suit, a jumper (looking rather like a tunic), and a shorts set. The terminology is interesting. Jumper in Britain normally means sweater, here it describes a smock or tunic-like outfit. Knickers are used in thecsence of short trousers. The outfits shown are all for boys 1-6 years, except for the one-piece suit which only is for a boy to age 4 years. They are all shown as being worn with white socks and strap shoes. Note that thge garments are not illustrated in mumerical order
The tunic and shorts is pattern 62933 (figure 2). Weldon's calls the outfit a jumper and knickers. Neither term is in in current usage in Britain for the garments shown here. Te tunic and shorts match. They arw worn with a large, pointed but not stiff white collar that has a sharp point. The tunic has front draw-string ties. The tunic has a breast pocket. Note no bow is shown. This ourfit was probably a play suit. It is shown worn with white socks and white strap shoes.
Figure 2.--Here are the tunic or "jumper" outfit and the shirt and shorts. Both are for boys 1-6 years of age. |
The pattern on the right is a shirt and shorts set, pattern 62953. Weldon's refers to it as shirt and knickers. The shirt has a large attched Peter Pan rounded collar with edging. It is worn with a little string tie. The white shirt is worn with heavy colored shorts in the button-on style. It is shown worn with white socks and black strap shoes.
The left middle is pattern number 65414 (figure 1). It is the only one-piece suit shown here. This is presumably why it was only made in sizes 1-4. Apparently a one-piece suit was not judged appropriate for boys over 4 years. The front-buttoning one-piece suit looks rather dressy and was pictured with a black bow. It is worn with an large white Eton-styled collar, but not the stiff kind worn by older boys. It is shown worn with white socks and black strap shoes.
On left is a boy's cloth suit pattern number 66030 (figure 1). It is called a suit because the jacket and shorts match. The pattern is for a boy from 1-6 years of age. It is a colored suit with a jacket matching the shorts which Weldon's calls knickers. The jacket is trimmed at the edges and the shorts appear to be button on style. The jacket has a breast pocket. The boy has a collarsless vest or shirt worn under the jacket. The pattern is for all three garments. It is shown worn with white socks and the old style of strap shoe with the strap at the top of the shoe. Despite the sreap shoes, the outfit looks rather like a stylish play suit.
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