Figure 1.--This boy from Salem, Massachusettes wears a classic cut-away jacket and matching kilt skirt. Note that the jacket has some of the military styling often worn with Highland klit outfits. The portrait was undated, but probably taken in the 1870s, probably the late 70s. The boy is unidentified, but looks to be about 5 years old. Note the striped long stockings. Also note the low-cut shoes.

Kilt suits, unlike Higland kilts, were always worn with long stockings, never with kneesocks. This is certaonly the case in the United States, we are less sure for Britain at the time. This is a little surprising as one reason kilt suits became popular was that they were based on a skirted garment worn by men. Yet we have not yet found a portrait of an American boy wearing a kilt suit with knee socks. We do note a few American boys wearing Highland kilts and they do wear knee socks. But kiltsuits were always worn with long stockings. I am not sure just why these conventiobs were so strong. Normally there is a degree of diversity when large numbers of people were involved. But unlike most popular fasions, these conventiins were very strictly followed. Kilts were mostly worn in the late 19th Century. By this time pantalettes had become much less common for children, especially for boys. While they were still worm as late as the 1890s, they were rarely worn with kilt suits as far as we can tell.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing kilt pages:
[Return to the Main American kilt suit page]
[Return to the Main kilt page]
[Lace collar] [Floppy bows] [Cut-away jackets] [Kilt suits] [Stiped long stockings] [Shoes]
[Scottish kilts] [Scottish boys clothing] [Scottish school uniform] [Highland dance]
[Irish kilts] [Irish boys clothing] [Irish step dancing]
[Greek kilts]

Created: 9:14 PM 12/22/2007
Last updated: 9:14 PM 12/22/2007