Figure 1.--The Delineator is the best source of information on late-19th Century children's fashions. Note that the magazine was using the term Fauntleroy suit for a wide range of styles. |
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Fashion magazines are those that focus largely on fashion and women's and children's clothing. Of course thet are women's magazines in the sence that their readership is mostly women. This is in fact a little difficult to classify these magazines as there is considerable overlap between the two. Just as womens's magazines include considerable fashion information, fashion magazines often include more than just clothing. There is often information on grooming, hair styles, and cosmetics. There tend to be, however, much less information about homemaking, especially cooking and child care. Some fashion magazines do, however, focus on children's clothes.
This magazine was introduced in 1938 by Paul Rand and included collage covers, a unique photogrpahic approach that helped change the look of fashion cover design in the decades to follow.
A HBC reader has mentioned the Boys Buyer. We know nothing about it except that it was a trade magazine for shops that sold boy's clothing. We do not know the time line for the magazine, except that we have some pages from the the late-1920s and early-30. Presumably the press run was longer. The editors discuss the Depression in the 1930s, expressing the opinion that it would soon be over if salesmen got out and aggresively sold their wears. We see fashionable high-end clothing for younger boys. We note a fancy party suit offered in the January 1929 issue.
We also note more standad clothing such as knickers and bright patterned knee socks. Most of the pages were advertisements paid for by manufacturers to advertise their producrs. Quite a number of important manufacturers placed ads.. Thus we see some items that do not seem very common, like the Polar Play Suit. We note all kinds of garments, including underwear.
We do not have a great deal of information about The Boys' Outfitter yet. We know they began publishing in 1919 after World War I. We do not know how long it was published. The first six issues of The Boys' Outfitter ran from September
1919 to February 1920. The magazine was Full of wonderful advertisements showing the latest boys' fashions, knicker suits, short pants, washable suits, norfolk suits, also blouses, hats and other accessories. There are also advertisements showing how boys' full-length stockings were held up with "suspender waists" for boys. (This was apparently the origin of the derisive term "pantywaist"). There were lots of articles about selling to boys (and mothers) and about the coming trends, what boys were wearing in England and France, store displays, etc. They were pushing the "new" short pants style. The magazine was full of illustrations and photographs.
The Delineator was founded and closely associated with Butterick Company--one of the most well known companies making home sewing patterns. According to Metropolitan Monthly [February 1874], the Butterick company
started printing patterns in 1865, issuing a Metropolitan Monthly as a
means of illustrating and advertising their patterns. In 1872 they started
publishing their Delineator to provide more scope in a larger publication
for there patterns with many more pictures in all categories and sizes. The Delineator achieved immediate popularity at a cost of 15 cents per issue
or a years subscription offered at $1.50 that included a choice of bonus patterns to a value of $1.00. Prices of individual patterns ranged from 20 cents to 40 cents with a deluxe version sometimes reaching $1.50. By 1883, the circulation was 155,000 copies per month, and 10 years later in 1893 it had reached the staggering number of 500,00. Circulation was worldwide, including 85 countries in such exotic and out of the way places as Ceylon, Chile, Hong Kong, Congo, Curacao, Fiji Islands, Siam, etc. In 1905 the Delineator was
still selling for 15 cents per copy, the same as 1872. According to the same
article Butterick was producing about 15,000 patterns a day, and sending them
out to all the places mentioned.' The Delineator was graphically reserved,
and used stylized representations of contemporary women. It was run by the inventors of the pattern and initiated the fusion of the sewing pattern and magazines. The Delineator, as with most fashion magazines, primarily focused on women's fashions. There was for the time, however, unprecented coverage of children's fashions--including boys' clothes. The magazine is the single most important source of information on late 19th and early 20th Century children's fashions.
Demorest's Monthly Magazine first appeared as Mme. Demorest's Mirror of Fashions. It was a beautifully decorated quarterly and sold for 10 cents. It competed with Sarah Josepha Hale's Godey's Lady's Book. The magazine was founded my Nell Curtis, a milliner. Curtis had married Williams Jennings Demorest, a widower merchandiser in 1858. Hale with assistance from her black maid Kate, developed an innovative way to to cut and assemble dresses from patterns using thin paper. They received medals at a Philadelphia exhibition for the process. As a result, patterns were included in Demorest's from the beginning as a promtion to ordering such patterns by mail. This proved very popular and fashions designers were added to the staff to produce trendy fashions, often drawing on French styles. Curtlis was an eraly equal opportunity employer, hiring both black and white women at equal salaries. Complaints from clients were ignored. Curtlis in 1879 simplified the name of their magazine to Demorest's Family Magazine. I'm not sure when they ceased publication, but note an issue as late as 1896.
No information yet.
I have been unable to find any details on Modern Pricilla. We do know that it was popular fashion magazine in the 1910s, but do not know when it was first published or how long that it was published.
We know very little about The Putnam. It may be more of a catalog than a magazine. We notice information about a child's sailor suits, three-piece suits, and little junior suits in the Spring & Summer 1895 issue..
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