Figure 1.--Hair bows became less fashionable for boys after the turn of the century, but continued to be fashionable in France until World War I. I am not sure why this was, perhaps HBC readers can offer some insights. This child is clearly a boy because he is wearing a boyish suit and collar bow--an unlikely outfit for a girl.

Hair bows for boys appar to have been most common on the Continent. I am aware of only a few photographs in America and even fewer in Britain of boys wearing hairbows. The practice on the continent, especially France seems much more widespread. Note that in the wealth of photographs of American and British boys in Fauntleroy suits and Fauntleroy dresses, even the ones still in curls, I know of only a few with the added indignity of girlish hair ribbons. Most of the available images of boys wearing hair bows suggest the practice occurred primarily on the Continent, especially in France. While most wide-spread in France, the custom was not absent in other countries--even America.

French Parents

We are not sure why French mothers were so enamored with the fashion of hair bows for boys. Hopefully some HBC readers can offer some insights.

French Mothers

French mothers seem to have particularly idealized view of their children. I do not have a lot of information on French mothers and their attitudes toward motherhood, but hope to eventually acquire some. The number of available images, however, suggest it was quite a popular fashion.

French fathers

We are not sure what French fathers thought about this practice. An American researcher reports that a French fashion magazine published around the turn of the century as recommending long curled hair decorated with ribbons as fashionable for both girls and boys. After quoting this source the author of the book then remarks sarcastically: "In Franch it must have been a lucky father who could tell his son from his daughter."

Details

Some limited details are available on French hair bows. These details are mostly conclusions drawn from examining available images. French fashion magazines recommended long curly hair decorated with hair ribbons for both little boys and girls. HBC has not yet been able to located copies of these articles. Hair bows were most commonly worn in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. HBC can not yet, however, been able to determine the extent to which French boys wore hair bows. Available images suggest, however, that it was not a rare or isolated fashion. As previously mentioned, boys still in dresses and long hair might wear hair bows. Unlike America where many boys with long hair had it done up in ringlets, this does not seem to have been as common in France. The bow thus surved a utilitarian purpose of keeping the child's hair in place. The hair bows of French boys appeard to have been tied much like their American cousins. They were tied on top the head and to the side, but to a lesser extentr at the back. The hairbows for boys were much more modest than for girls. Boys' bows were commonly slender ribbons tied in a discrete little bow. French boys appear to have commonly worn colored hair bows. Red seems to have been a popular color. This varies somewhat from the American experience where white bows were the most common. I am not sure about ages. Available imnages commonly show boys of 5-6 years of age. How much longer French boys wore them, I am not sure. Available French images suggest that hairbows were not just for formal dress occasions. They seemed to have been worn informally at home when boys were dresses casually in smocks or for park outings as well as in party clothes.

Social Class Connotations

HBC believes that boys from affluent families were most likely to wear hairbows--but cannot confirm it at this time. There do appears to have been a element of social class here. Many of the boys wearing hairbows, other than infants, appear to be from wealthy familes. This is suggested by the fact that they are also wearing fancy or very fashionable dress suggesting that they came from an affluent family. Many of these children were raised and schooled at home and their interactions were primarily with family. Thus the were kept away from boys of other classes that were less likely to wear hairbows. We know from memoirs, however, that middleclass boys alsomwore such bows. One boy noted by HBC, Paul, remembers being sent to school during the 1890s in curls and being teased. However, his mother only added a hairbow to his curls at home. HBC notes that while the ringlets worn by American boys required considerable time and effort to maintain. This was not the case with long uncurled hair. Virtually any mother could afford a small ribbon and tie it into her son's hair with little effort. Thus while hair bows may have been most common with affluent families they were not unknow among families of mor modest means. And in fact we have noted boys in realtively plain outfits wearing hair bows.

Figure 2.--The child at right in this 1884 French illustration wears a dress with elaborate sash is clearly a boy because of the short hair. There are several reasons to believe that the child with long hair and hair bow is also a boy.

Assessing Images

The lack of a historical written record on the practice of doing boys' hair with bows forces us to assess available images for possible insights. Often it is difficult to identify that the children pictured are boys. There are a number of ways. Some clearly have boyish faces. Sometimes their dresses are plainer than those worn by their sisters. The neckline is often higher and plainer. One particularly important cue are the props. Children pictured with farm implemenys, guns, or boyish toys lmost certinly are boys.

Some historical information exists. One publication, Children's Fashions, 1860-1912" 1,065 Costume Designs from La Mode Illustree", edited by JoAnne Olian, Dover Publications Inc, New York, 1994 provides some information. Illustrations show boys with hair bows. Some of the boys are in dresses, some in skirts, and others in pants. The first is from 1884 and show two children in skirts and jackets (figure 1). The one on the left is identified by the author as a girl of 4-6 years and the one on the right as a boy of 6-8 years. However, she is probably mistakenly identified. There are both boys and the one on the left misidentified because of the hair bow. The reason for beleiving they are both boys is that they are wearing very similar outfits and if anything, the one identified as a boy, wears the fancier dress. Also, note that both jackets have the buttons on the right and not on the left as is customary with girls' blouses and jackets.

Figure 3.--French clothing magazines at the turn of the century illustrated dresses for both boys and girls. Both the children in this 1910 illustration are probably boys, despite the hairbow. The plainess of the dresses and the fact they are playing with a hobby horse both suggest that they are boys.

A 1910 image shows two small children wearing dresses, long hair, and hair bows (figure 2). Note that the coat buttons on the left which indicate while in dresses small boys also wore girls' style coats. The reason for thiking they are probably boys is based on the toy horse they are playing with. Elsewhere in this publication girls are usually pictured with dolls. The ages are given as 2-4 and 1-3. The outfits could probably worn by either boys or girls.

Another image shows four girls and four boys from 1906. The three youngest boys all have long curled shoulder length hair. This image can be viewed on the French country page. The ages of the boys (left to right) are 11-13, 4-6, 3-5, and 6-8. The last is the most usual. He wears his hair in long curls, without bangs, and tied with a hair ribbon. From the looks of concern on his sisters' faces, he is obviously the precious baby of the family.

Individuals

HBC has analized some specific photographs of individual French boys or families. Information on the families in which boys wore hair bows and some details on the individual boys involved. Information is available on only a few such families, but HBC hopes to acquire details on more families. Some of the inviduals involved are well known and we can this clearly identify the chronology inolved. When the provinance is known, HBC can make more definitive assessments of other factors such as ocial connotations. Two of the best known families were the De Lesseps and Renoir families, but information must be available on many more French families. We also have added individuals that we can not identify. In such cases our assessment is thus much more specualtive. The quality of many of these images, however, is such that we can note details about hair styling and hairbows.

Popularity

HBC does not know how common it was for French boys to wear hairbows. The number of available images suggest that it was not unusual, but it was probably a relatively small proportion. The actual proportion was probably dependent on the boy's age. The relative importance of this fashion is difficilt to asses as boys commonly did not swear hairbows at the time, but just for speciall occasions. There were also differences over time.

Figure 4.--This photograph was taken about 1907, it shows a French boy in a short pants outfit wearing longhair with a hairbow.

Conventions

French boys may not have normally worn then during the day and they may have just been added for specoal ocassions. Thus a boy may have worn his hair without hair bows, although some Renoir portraits show that boys informally dressed in smocks might wear them. There is some evidence that boys may have worn hirbows on varying occasions. A boy beginning school might keep his long hair, but only wear his hairbow at home or for special occasions.

Chronologies

I do not yet have enough information to confidently date the style of tieing hair bows in boys' hair. I believe it began at about the same time as hair bows became popular for girls which would be about the mid-19th Century. Before this time boys, except for the very youngest, wore short hair and hair bows were not commonly worn by girls. The style appears to have been particularly popular during the late 19th Century (1870-1900). Many boys still in dresses wore hairbows in the late 19th Century. Even when dresses became less common after the turn of the century, some boys still wore hairbows, usually with smocks or short pants outfits. They continued to be worn in the years before World War I (1914-1918). A small minority of boys wore them. This is suugested by the fact that only a few are pictured in French postcards--despite the fact that the boys in these cards are often depicted in fancy clothes. The relative importance of this fashion over time is difficilt to asses as boys commonly did not swear hairbows at the time, but just for speciall occasions. Hair bows for boys became much less popular after the War, except for very young boys. Some of the hairbow images are difficult to interpret. The 1920s photograph of the child on the scooter shown here is a case in point. The It may be a a girl as by the late 1920s hairbows for boys had become less common as was long hair for boys. There are several factors, however, suggesting it is a boy. Girls at the time did not commonly wear pants. Other aspects of the photograph suggest that it may be a boy: especially the clothes and shoes. Also this was not the 1990s. You would not expect a girl at the time to jump on a scooter and ride off.

Figure 9.--This French photograph may have been taken in the 1930s. The child might be a girl, although even as late as the 1930s girls did not usually wear pants. There are several reasons to believe the child may well be a boy. One HBC contributor points out that the scooter looks much more recent--in fact it appears to be an imitation of a 1950s Vespa, or late 1940s at the earliest.

Age

Our information is very limited at vthis time. Our initial assessment is that hairbows were primarily worn by pre-school boys. In America hair bows were almost entirely limited to pre-school boys. This appears to be true in France as well. At least mist of the boys are school-age boys. We have, however, found photographs of younger school-age boys wearing hairbows. We can not yet assess just how common this was or to what age boys wore hair bows. We suspect that school-age boys wearing hair bows were mostly educated at home. We know, however, that some boys were sent to school with long haor and hair bows. We can not yet assess how common this was.

Sources

Much of the available images we have found are drawings in fashion magazines or commercial postcards. These are useful sources of information. They suggest that hair bows for boys were fashionable that some boys wore them, but they are not a goof reflection of popular fashions. We see enough of these illustrations and post cards that it would appear that quite a few boys wore hair bows. But only actual photographs provide actual confirmation as to how common hair bows were. Our archive of French photographs is limited, but we have found actual photographs of bows wearing hairbows. We need more photographic images, however, to assess how common hairbows were and the age conventions

References

Some of the major references for this page include:

Nadar, Nigel Gosling, Alfred A Knope, New York, 1976.

Renoir, Harry M. Abrams, Inc, Publishers, New York, 1985.

Renoir, Elizabeth Elias Kaufman, Ottenheimer Publishers, Inc, USA, 1980.

Dag Hammarskjold, Nicholas Gillett, Heron Books, 1970.

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Created: June 1, 1999
Last updated: 11:07 PM 10/14/2009