Figure 1.--This unidentified English boy had his portrait taken in a Highland outfit during 1877. The CDV portrait was taken in Teignmouth which is located along the English Channel in Devon. Queen Victoria introduced the style in England during the 1840s and it became fashionable among affluent English families.

As far as we know, English boys did not begin wearing kilts until Queen Vicyoria and Prince Albert began dressing the young princes in them. This would have been some time in the 1840s, although I am not sure about the precise year. I am not sure just how rapidly the fashion caught on. For some reason we have not been able to find English daguerreotype portaits. We do begin to see English boys dressed in kilts in the 1860s when CDVs become available. The boys involved are boys from aristocratic or affluent families. We mostly see formal Highland outfits. And we mostly see them wearing these outfits for formal occassions such as parties and weddings or portraits. They were not worn for school or casual wear. Here we see an English boy in a formal Highland outfit in 1877 (figure 1). We continue to see English boys wearing kilts for formal occassions and portraits throughout the 19th century. This continued to be the case in the Edwardian era in the early 20th century. This changed after World War I (1914-18). We see very few such portraits after the War, although there were a few exceptions such as the Royal Family. But they generally only wore kilts when they went up to the royal residence, Balmoral in Scotland.

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Created: 7:17 PM 10/18/2007
Last updated: 7:18 PM 10/18/2007