Knee Pants: Chronology--Mid-19th Century


Figure 1.--

The open-cut straight-leg knee pants were intially the most common style of shortened-length pants for boys. Some closed with buttons like knee breeches. Most simply were open-leg knee pants. Many had ornamental buttons as if they closed like knee breeches. The buttons show that they probably evolved from 18th century knee breeches. It is unclear, however, just who first thought that knee pants were suitable for boys who in the early 19th century had been wearing long trousers. Knee pants were at first worn primarily by younger boys who had just emerged from dresses. I know of no mid 19th century image showing older boys in knee pants. In addition knee pants were generally worn with plain clothes at mid-century. The lace collars and large bows did not appear until the 1880s. Early knee pants could be quite long. Most were worn at calf length and we see many boys wearing them at almost ankle length. A good example is American boy, John Van Horn, in 1859. In many ways the suit jackets worn by boys in the 1860s-70s, because of their plainess seem much more modern than the more elaborate outfits of the 1880s. Many of the sailor suits worn in the 1850s and 60s were worn with long pants and only gradually in the 1870s did knee pants become more common with sailor suits. When the knee pants fashion first appeared after mid-century, they were worn primarily by little boys. Knee pants had become an important style by the 1860s, but had not yet replaced long pants. A good example is John Schwensusen, we think in the late-1860s.






HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Pants pages:
[Breeches] [Knickers] [Knee pants] [Short pants] [Long pants]


Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main kneepants chronology page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Bibliographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Created: 6:06 AM 3/23/2009
Last edited: 6:06 AM 3/23/2009