Figure 1.--Hair bows were primarily wirn by girls, but boys also wore them. French and Belgian mothers in particularly liked them. This Belgian post card dates to 1906.
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Figure 1.--Hair bows were primarily wirn by girls, but boys also wore them. French and Belgian mothers in particularly liked them. This Belgian post card dates to 1906. |
Boys' clothing and hair styles in Belgiun, especilly the French speaking areas, were quite similar to those in France. Hair bows for boys were more common in Belgium and France than in any other country.
I have no details on when Belfian mother began tieing hair bows in their sons hair. The chronology, however, is probably similar to France. The firs I noticed this practice was the 1870s, but it might have began earlier. It persisted after the turn of the century, but had become less commin in the 1910s, especially after World War I.
Belgian boys were most likely to wear hair bows with dresses before they were breeched. As seen in the post card on this page, however, even boys who had been breeched and wear trousers, usually kneepants might still wear hair bows.
Belgian oys wearing hair bows generally had long, often shoulder-length hair. Unlike American boys, however, it was not commonly curled.
I have no details on how prevakent hair bows were in Belgium. Judging from available impages, only a small raction of boys wore them.
Boys appear to have worn hair bows from about 3 tom6 yearscof age. Generally mothers stopped tieing them in their sons hair when they began school. Some mothers even after a boy began school, might tie then when he retuned from classes or for special occasions when the boy put on his party suit.
I am not sure what colors Belgian mothers preferred for hair bows orvif there were differences among the bows wrn by boys and girls.
It is likely that most boys by the age of 5 were not enamored of the idea of wearing a hair bow. Boys in the 19th century, however, often did not question their mothers on the subject of clothes and hair styling.
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[Kilt suits]
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[Fauntleroy suits]
[Fauntleroy dresses]
[Sailor dresses]
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