*** boys' suits collar-buttoning jackets








Boys' Suits: Collar-buttoning Jackets

collar-buttoning jackets
Figure 1.-- This American boy from Norrow, Ohio wears a checked collar buttoning suit. The portrait is undated, but we would estimte was made in the 1890s. Notice how small the pockets were. And of course look at the great dog. You can tell that the two were true friends.

We note a variety of collar buttoning suits. This is a style of suit that we see for younger, school-age boys. We note military-influenced styles in the mid-19th century. Boys wore dark jackets with a row of shiny, we assume brass, buttons. We note these jackets in the 1850s, but are not quite sure about the full chronology. Often a small white collar was worn with the jacket. A good example is Elisha Dickerman about 1850. After about the 1860s the buttons were no longer a major stylistic feature. We note these collar buttoning jackets, without the military styling being worn in the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. A a good example is Minnie Tamn, a Minnesota boy we think in the 1870s. The jacket is not cut with a fron "V" to show a tie, although it was sometimes worn with a floppy bow. Thus there are no lapels. Rather the suit buttons at the collar and there is a shirt like collar. Almost always it was worn buttoned. We do not know what this jacket style was called other than a boy's suit. We note boys in Europe and America commonly wearing this suit stule. Perhaps some of our readers will know more.

Chronology

We do not have a complete chronology of these collar-buttoning jackets. We know little about the early-19th century. We see them very commonly in the mid-19th century, at least in America. We are not sure about Europe, in part because Daguerreotypes and other early photographic formats were not as common in Europe as in America. We are not sure about the 1830s, but know they were popular in the 1840s. The earliest examples have destinctive military styling. A good example is the jackets worn by the American Wallis brothers in 1852. The military-styled jackets with metal buttons was one of the most popular styles. We continue seeing these jackets in the 1860s. We still see these jackers in the 1860s. The military-styled jackets were still worn, but were less common than in the 1850s. We see collar buttoning jackers in the 1870s without the military styling. There were a variety of styles. Norfolk styling was popular. There were also plain suits. We see boys wearing a variety of collar buttoning jackets in the 1880s. A good example is Charley Rosewater in 1881. Another example is Henry Hale in 1886. We note these collar buttoning jackers through the early-20th century, but not longer see them after World War I in the 1920s.

Types

We note a variety of collar buttoning suits. The two basic styles were military-styled jackets abd non-military styles. e note military-influenced styles in the mid-19th century. Boys wore dark jackets with a row of shiny, we assume brass, buttons. We note these jackets in the 1850s, but are not quite sure about the full chronology. We doi see them in the 60s, but not so commonly. Often a small white collar was worn with the jacket. A good example is Elisha Dickerman about 1850. After about the 1860s the buttons were no longer a major stylistic feature. We note these collar buttoning jackets, without the military styling being worn in the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. A good example is Minnie Tamn, a Minnesota boy we think in the 1870s.

Styling

The collar-buttoning jacket is not cut with a fron "V" to show a tie, although it was sometimes worn with a floppy bow. Thus there are no lapels. Rather the suit buttons at the collar and there is a shirt like collar. Almost always it was worn buttoned. We do not know what this jacket style was called other than a boy's suit. There were two different styles. One was a mulitary style, often done in dark blue with prominant buttons off the front. They might be brass buttons and the number was far more than was actually required to close the jacket. The military styles were particularly common in the 1840s and 50s. A good example of these military style jackets is V.A. Blasque in America. We still see the military styles in the 60s, but no so commonly. Also many of the military-styled jackets we see in the 60s do not have as many buttons as the 1850s jackets. A good example is an unidentified American boy in 1865. There was also a non-military style. These were done in both single- and double breasted styles. Tge non-military styles become more common in the 1870s.

Pants

We mostly see boys wearing these collar buttoning jackets with long paznts. This was the case in the 1850s and 60s. We begin to see knee pants in the 1860s, but they were not worn with these suits until thr 1870s. It was only the youngest boys that wore them. Knee pants don't become dominant until the 1890s.

Accesories

Thiese suits were often worn with variously styled collars of different syles. These collars were usually white. Floppy bows or other neckwear might also be added.

Countries

As fr as we can tell, these collar-buttoning jackets were a pn-European style. We do not have inforjmtion from the early 19-th century. We begin to see these jckets at mid-centurry because of the appearance ofDaguerreotypes (1939). Most of the early Dags that we have suceeded in archivbing are American, but as far as we can tell these jackets first appeatred un Euope and becme populr at bout the same time throughout Europe, probably an adaptation from military uniforms. We continue to see these suits into the early-20th century. Many of the styles are quite similar in the various countries. Perhaps some of our readers will know more. We have an American page with country details about the style. We are working on comparable pages om other countries, including England, France, Germany, Hungary, and other countries.

Age

The collzr buttoning jacket is a style of suit that we see for younger, school-age boys. We notice 8-year old boy Henry C. Hale in 1886.







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Created: 8:46 PM 2/4/2007
Last updated: 3:03 AM 12/10/2014