Figure 1.--Here we see a farm mother with her two boys dressed in identical plaid Fauntleroy blouses. The mount helps date the imahe to 1888-95. We would guess the portrait was taken in the early 1890s. These boys are wearing their blouses without floppy bows. The portrait was taken by an itinerate photographer operating out of Chilo, Ohio. Click on the image for a fuller discussion.

We do not yet have a detailed chronology of plaid blouses, but we are compiling some basic information. We know nothing about the early-19th century at this time. As a result of the invention of photography, we notice some plaid blouses at mid-century. These are difficult to date as most Daguerreotyoes are undated. Thus we can not yet prove they were worn in the 1840s, althouh we think they wsere. (This would mean that they may have been worn earlier.) We know they were worn in the 1850s, but they do not seem common in the 1860s. We do not see plaid blouses again until the Fauntleroy ruffled blouses became popular in the 1890s. We are not yet sure about the 1900s, but they were probably worn in the very early 1900s. We do not notice plaid blouses after the 1900s, but we do notice plaid shirts at least by the 1940s--I wore one.

Created: 9:38 PM 6/7/2010
Last updated: 9:38 PM 6/7/2010