Figure 1.--This 1848 painting shows an 11-year old English boy still wearing dresses and lacey pantelettes to modestly cover his leg below the knee. Note his younger sister is not wearing pantalettes.

Pantalettes are most associated with girls, but boys also wore them, especially in the early 19th Century. Boys and girls generally wore different style pantalettes, but pantalettes were not made and sold as gender specific garments. It was up to mother to decide who wore what style. Some limited information is available on the pantalettes worn by boys. They were most commonly worn in the early 19th Century, but did not entirely disappear until the turn of the 20th Century. Styles varied over time. There were differences between countries over pantalettes.

Styles

Pantalettes were made in a wide variety of styles. There were no boys and girls styles, the same styles were worn by both boys and girls. The most common style for boys were plain pantaleetes with little or no lace trim or ruffles, however, this style was not exclusevely for boys. Pantalettes were also made in fancy styles with elaborate lace or ruffle trim. Some pantalettes also had extensive embroidery work. Often ribbons were threaded through the lace trim or ruffles at the hem of the leg. Fancy pantalettes were most common for girls, but many 19th Century mothers selected fancy pantalettes for their sons as well.

Figure 2.--Boys in dresses were still wearing pantalettes in the 1860s, but much shorter ones than at the beginning of the century. This photograph shows Prince Albert Victor of Whales, eldest son of Edward VII in a rather frilly lace trimed dress for a 1868 photograph. Note the lace trimmed pantalettes and short white stockings. Eddy, as he was called by the family, was a favorite of Queen Victoria. He died at the age of 27, probably a blessing in disguise as his private life would have scandalized the Victorians.

Chronology

Pantalettes for children, both plain and fancy were an important 19th century garment. They were primarily worn by boys during the first half of the 19th Century. They did not entirely disappear, however, until the turn of the 20th Century. The length of the pantalettes varied based on fashion of the day. The major change over time was the length of the panatalettes. In this regard, boys pantalettes while generally plainer, but the length primarily reflected the length that girls were wearing. Early in the 19th century, women wore very long pantalettes with trimming at the for the part that showed under the skirt. Boys panralettes were also quite long. Even after the introduction of the hoop skirt, pantalettes continued to be fanciful because of an occasionally glimpse of the ankle was possible. Children by the 1860’s, however, were wearing shorter dresses and the the bottoms of the pantalette legs extended to just below the knees. After the Civil War even pantalettes for women and girls became plainer and eventually were referred to as drawers.

Figure 3.--The noted English author E.M Forster is pictured here at the age of 5 years in 1884. He wears a Fauntleroy dress with pantalettes. While they were becoming less fashionable, pantalettes were still worn by some boys as late as the 1890s. His rich aunt who left him a sizeable inheritance, reportedly liked to see him nicely dressed. Click on the image for information on Forster.

Countries

I believe the style of having boys in dresses and tunics wear pantalettes was a fashion throughout Western Europe, Britain, and America in the 19th Century, especially the first half of the 19th Century. I have not yet noted pantalettes in the 18th Century, but the style probably did appear in the 1790s. Clearly pantalettes were widely worn in Britain, France, and America. The number of images suggest that pantalettes were most common in America and England. However I believe that this is just a function of the fact that America and British images are most accessible to HBC. I have little information, however, on other countries. Hopefully some HBC visitors from other European countries can provide some insights on this. The fashion trends for pantalettes are probably primarily French and passed to America primarily through England. The fact that HBC has a number of American images is probably a function of the HBC's greater access to American images rather than a reflection of the relative popularity of the style in America. I have not yet been able to discern stylistic differences between the various countries or changes in those countries over time. The information I have at present is currently limited making it difficult to discern country trends and stylistic differences. There appear to have differences in social class affecting who wore pantalettes. Boys from affluent families were the most likely to wear them. Class differences appear to have been less in America, but still important. One of our difficulties here is establidhing gender in unidentified images.

Clothing

Boys wore pantalettes with a wide variety of clothes, from dresses to pants for most of the 19th century. The garments worn changed as the century progressed. Interestingly at the beginning of the 19th century they were worn with dresses and long pants--long pants being at the time a destinctive boys' garment not worn by gentlemen.

Dresses

Pantalettes are most associated with dresses. In fact boys wore pantalettes with dresses throughout the 19th century--although the dresses over that period varied substantially. Dresses in the early 19th century were quite long and pantalettes might be barely visible at the hem. As children's dresses became shorter, pantalettes might be visible from the knee to the ankle.

Smocks

HBC at this time has little information about pantalettes worn with smocks. I believe they were, but have little information at this time.

Kilts and kilt suits

Kilts and kilt suits were commonly worn by boys in the second half og the 19th century. The kilt suit was especially important in America. Pantalettes were much less common with kilt suiys than dresses, but they were worn with kilt suits. The pantalettes when wirn with kilt suits were the shorter ones, barely visible at the kilt hem. Avtual Highland kilts, however, were not worn with plantalettes.

Tunics

Tunics were also worn through much of the 19th century. At mid-century, pantalettes were worn by younger boys with tunics. When the boy grew older he might continue wearing a tunic, but with knicker style pants replacing the pantalettes. Infornmation on tunics in the early 19th century is not available, but clearly tunics were being worn at mid-century. They appear less common in the 1870s and 80s. Tunics reappeared at the turn of the 20th century, but by that time they were no longer worn with pantalettes

Jackets

Similar to the tunic is a jacket-like garment worn with pantalettes. The jacket is worn much like a tunic, although it has front button openings. The tunic has not front openings like most boys' garments. I have noted on a fewcinstances of this style.

Pants

Pantalettes were worn with both long pants and kneepants. They might be worn with long pants in the early 19th century--long pants being at the time a destinctive boys' garment not worn by gentlemen. Boys wore long pants skelleton suits. Often the pants ended at ankle level wgich was then coverd with panalettle ruffles. Later when kneepants became increasing popuklar for boys innthe 1870sm pantalettes were less common, but younger boys might wear them with kneepants or knickers.

Dating images

The style and length of pantalettes, along with other fashion trends, can help date an image or determine the gender of the children pictured in unidentified images. Thus a knowledge of this garment can provide useful indicators to assist in evaluating old photographs and paintings. The fanciest pantaettes, for example, were usually made for girls. Boys could wear quite plain pantalettes, although this was at the mother's whim and a boy could be dresses in nquite fancy pantalettes. It is likely, however, that a child in a short dress and long fancy ankle-length pantalettes is probably a girl.

Created: October 30, 2000
Last updated: 3:39 AM 9/20/2007