Figure 1.--These English brothers had their portraits taken in matching knit suits, almost surely knitted by mother or granny. The portrait was probably taken in the early 1930s. As with many of these suits, notice the solid color. A different knitting technique has created a kind of pattern. These boys look to be wearing their suits without any shirt underneath. We wnder if this wasn't rather uncomfortable. Notice the boy on the right also wears knitted socks. Image courtesy of the MD collection.

Some of these outfits are clearly hand made. Even by 1915, however, we believe there were ready made knit suit outfits available. Many of these suits were hand made. Some knit suits were obviously hand knitted. Some mothers, of course, were more skilled than others. In other instances it is quite difficult to tell. Clearing vissible seams, for example, were an indication that they outfits were hand made. Notice that there is no collar on the suits show here (figure 1). The very basic design and irregularities in the knitting stronly suggest to us that these were hand knitted outfits. These knit suits were a popular item for younger boys in knitting catalogs and as a result there were a variety of patterns.

Image

The image seen here is unidentified and undated. We know it is English. The boys look to be about 5 and 7 years old. We would date the image to the early 1930s, in part because of the modern oxford shoe styles, but the late 20s is also possible. Notice the more modern hair styles. Also note the heavy knit wool used. This haevy wool was easier to knit and is almost certainly a sign of a hand made garment. The boys' outfits also has different patterns for the shoulders and chest area of the shirts. Further the tie shoes appear very modern and the socks are also notable, especailly the knitted socks one of the boys wears.

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Created: January 29, 2003
Last updated: January 30, 2003