Figure 1.--This boy in a photograoh that appears to have been taken in the 1870s wears horizontal stripped stockings. He also sports very long sausage curls which his mother carefully arranged so they would be visible in the photograph.

I have so fgar collected very little information on horizontal stripe stockings. They appear to have been popular from the 1860s through the 80s. It does not appear to have been a formal style. Only a few of the images of Fauntleroy suits or kilts show boys in horizontal stripe stockings. These are usually with jackets and kneepants so they were not a casual style, but they do not sem to have been worn with a boy's party suit.

Chronology

Stripped stockings appear to have been popular during the 1860s and 70s. HBC believes that stripped stockings appeared as boys began to wear kneepants. There would be no reason to have fancy stripped stockings with long pasnts. The colors and varied patterns added a little style to the previously generally drab outfits worn by boys in the 1840s-50s. HBC has also noted them through the 80s, but as not yet sure how popular they were in the 1880s. I do not have details on this, but is my general impression from a review of available images. More work is needed on the 1880s.

Conventions

I am not positive about the conventions for wearing stripped socks. They do not appear to have been a formal style. Only a few of the images of Fauntleroy suits or kilts show boys in horizontal stripe stockings. These are usually with jackets and kneepants so they were not a casual style, but they do not sem to have been worn with a boy's party

Garments

Striped stockings were most commonly with kneepants, although some boys not yet breeched wore them weith dresses. They were even less common with kilt suits.

Suits

The suits worn by boys with stripped socks are representative of the plainer suits worn in the 1860s and 70s. One common feature were vertical strips, usually in contrasting colors on the sides of the kneepants. This became less common in thr 1880s.

Figure 2.--This boy in the late 1860s or 70s wears a plain kneepants suit with stripped stockings.

Pants

Most of the boys wearing stripped stockings appear to have worn them with kneepants. Often they were rather long kneepants--to the calf level. This appears to have been because the time at which they were popular was before the 1880s when the lebgth of jkneepants became fairly standardized at just below the knee. Notably some younger boys even at this time wore shorter cut kneepants. Thus in the 1870s the length of kneepants may well have been made purposefully shorter for younger boys--although HBC can not yet confirm this. HBC is unsure to what extent stripped stockings, or for that matter, long stockings in general were worn with long pants.

Dresses

Mosts American boys still in dresses appear to have worn them with solid-colored stokings. There were some boys, however, who wore their dressed with long stripped stockings. This appears to have been especially popular in America. French boys in dresses more commonly wore three-quarter length socks.

Length

They appear to have been long stockings, held up with suspednder waists. I do not know of kneesocks made with such stripes.

Age

Horizontal stripped socks were worn by a wide age range. Boys of all ages still in knee pants wore them, both younger boys and teenagers. They appear to have been most common, however, on pre-teen boys.

Patterns

The most common pattern of stripped socks were bold stripes, usually two colors, of even width. There were, however, many other patterns of mixed strip widths, striped and solid areas mixed, and even stripes amf or solid collors with patterns or motifs. HBC is not sure at this time if these diffrent patterns had conotations concerning gender or age.

Color

HBC has no infornation at this time on the colors used in these long stripped stockings.

Figure 3.--The girl and younger boy in this photograph wear stripped stockings, although differet patterns. The girls' stockings have a flat weave, the younger boys' stockings are haeavily ribbed. Notice how the older boy has solid coliored stockings and much longer kneepants than his younger brother. HBC can not date this photograph with any degree of accuarcy, but belieces it to be the 1870s.

Hair Styles

Given the age range, boys wearing stripped socks could have hair styles from ringlet curls to close cropped hair. Most boys are seen with short hair cuts. HBU can not yet determine any pattern witybthe hair styles of boys wearing stripped stockings.

Gender

I had thought thatv boys' stripped stockings were primarily a boys' style. This may well be true, but girls also did wear them. There may have been gender stylistic differenves. Boys appear to havemostly worn regular, bold stripes. The stickings worn by girls do not appear to have been such regular bold stripes.

Material

Most stockings were made of wool. Silk was also used for very expensive stockings, but not generally boys' stockings.

Weave

A wide variety of weaves can be seen in these stripped socks. Some are heavily ribbed while other have only moderate ribbing. Some stockings apperar to have a flat weave without any noticeable ribbing.