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The double breasted style, like many styles for men and boys,
originated from militry uniforms. It was common in the 19th Century for
soldiers to have extensive rows of buttons on their uniforms.
The effect was purely ornamental. The style was at mid-century carried
over onto boys jackets with destinctive military styling. Eventually
the militarybtyling was lost, but rows of ornamental buttons
continued on many different garments.
Double breasted styling was used with some kilts. The double-
breasted style was more common
in dresses and suits, but the fashion was also used for kilt suits.
I do not yet have any historical information. I am collecting
available images which hopefully will provide some insights on the
development of this important style.
The double breasted styling on kilt suits seems to have been most common in the 1880s
and declined in popularity during the 1890s.
The styling and materials used for double breasted kilt suits appears tomhave been
much the same as for kilt suits in general.
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The double breasted styling appearsvto have been most common on
boys' clothing, a confirmation of its miltary images. Thus double breasted
kilts and dress styling can be used as an indicator of gender when long
hair and curls makes it difficult to identify a child.
Some kilt outfits came with double breasted jackets. However, this
style does no appear to have been common. I have seen double-breasted
kilts as early as the 1870s, but they may have appeared earlier. Some
kiltsuits only had the double breasted styling on the jacket. In
some cases the designer was so taken with double breasted styling
that the buttons were continued from the jacket down to the kilt
skirt.