American Fauntleroy Blouses: Features

Figure 1.--This cabinet portrait shows an American boy with slender long curls reading a book, at least that is the pose. He may just be looking at the pictures because he only looks to be about 5 years old. He may not have learned to read yet. He wears a fancy Fauntleroy blouse. Notice the large rectangular shape of the collar. Written in pencil on the verso is: Lizzie Blenker. That may have been his mother's name. The studio was Stierle Bros., Marshfield, Wisconsin. The portrait is undated, but we would guess the 1890s.

These Fauntleroy blouses were quite varied, but had many common features. There were attached ruffled collars--commonly very large collars. The collars varied in size and shape. This provided for endless variation. Many blouses had a back flap rather like a sailor blouse. The ruffles could have lace mixed in, often near the edges. There were often also front ruffels. Some of these blouses had huge collars. Some had matching wrist cuffs. Quite a few were done with these wrist cuffs. Most of the fancy blouses had them. A good example is Roy Swanson in the early1900s. The standard Fauntleroy blouse was done with the matching cuffs. But we do see some without them. A good example is an unidentified boy, we think in the late-1890s. They blouced at the waist with a string closure. The collar and blouse were a very important part of the Fauntleroy style as were the cuffs. The Fauntleroy blouse that the boy on the previous page wears is a good example of this. The boy here is another good example (figure 1). Note that you can see most of the jacket. On many Fauntleroy outfits the jacket was smaller. Sometimes you could almost not see the jacket, It is not always easy to tell if the collar and cuffs are actually part of the blouse or not. As a general rule, they were except when you see pin-on collars.

Collars

Fauntleroy bloused had attached collars, both lace and ruffles. The collar was only one of thge many features of the Fauntlkeroy blouse , but it was by far the most proiminant feature bd fominasted the look of the blouse. The collars varied in size and shape. Some comined lace and ruffles. There were differences in the size of the collars. We nore very large collars, especially the ruffled collars or the ruffled collars with lace mixed in with the ruffles. The cost of real lce limited the size of lace collsrs somrwht.The size of the collars and the mixture of lace abnd ruffles provided for endless variation. Many blouses had a back flap rather like a sailor blouse. The ruffles could have lace mixed in, often near the edges. Some of these blouses had huge collars. The collar and blouse were a very important part of the Fauntleroy style as were the cuffs. The Fauntleroy blouse that the boy on the previous page wears is a good example of this. The boy here is another good example (figure 1). Note that you can see much of the jacket. On many Fauntleroy outfits the jacket was smaller and was almost entirely obscured by the jacket. Sometimes you could almost not see the jacket, The really large collars did not begin until 1885 when the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book lasunched the Funtleroy craze. And we contiunue to see these large collkrs into the 1900s, especially the early 1900s.

Front

The front of a classic Fauntleroy blouse had fancy ruffled often including eyelet lace trim matching that of the collar and the cuffs. The classic blouses were all one piece. They were easily destinguishable because of the small, open cut-away jackets. The classic Fauntleroy jacket was small and worn open so the front detailing of the blouse could be seen. The jacket was open to show off the fancy front piece work of the blouse. Boys also wore collar-buttoning jackets. These jackets were larger and worn closed, nostly buttoned at the collar. Separate lace collars and cuff trim were pinned on to these jackets as there was not much sence wearing a fancy Fauntleroy blouse if you were going to cover it ip. The front piece or packet on the Fauntleroy blouse could be highly ornamntal. Most plackets were was not ornamental, but Fauntleroy blouses certainly were. But even Fauntlery plackets also had a practical purpose -- the front buttons were worked into it. The material used varied, but was commonly fine shirting, the same as the rest of the blouse. There were commonly front ruffles, very elaborate ruffles. This varied. While some blouse fronts has elaborate ruffles. Others were plain. A good example of a plain front is the blouse worn by New York boy Freddiec Deveraux in 1892.

Wrist Cuffs

Some Fauntleroy blouses had matching wrist cuffs. An almost obligatory element of a Fauntleroy suit was a large, fancy collar. Many, but not all Fauntleroy suits had matching, equally fancy wrist cuffs. Actually these were not part of the suits, but the blouses worn with the suits. A classic Fauntleroy blouse also had lace and ruffled trim to match the collar trim. The cuffs varied greatly in length. They extended well beyond the boys hand and were designed to be folded back over the sleeves of the jacket Sometimes the cuff trim extended back to the boys elbow. This was not obligatory. We see many portraits with boys in fancy Fauntleroy suits without fancy cuffs. The fancy cuffs, however were very common. HBC is not sure about the precise construction of the fancy wrist cuffs which were often worn to match the ruffled or lace collars in Fauntleroy outfits. Some of the collars and cuffs were part of fancy blouses. This meant that the blouses were made with sleve lengths exctending well beyond the boy's wrists. They were then doubled over adter he put on his jacket so they cobered the lower portion of the jacket sleeve. Others appear to have been separate items sewn on to the jackets. One HBC contributor believes that they were worn with cuff links. HBC is less sure of this and has not noticed cufflinks in either the photographic records of these suits or mentioned in the accompanying literature. The cuffs of course normally wee part of the blouse. Unlike the collars which could be pinned on, the cuffs were simply extensions of the blouse sleeves that were turned over. As the Fauntleroy style was especially popular in America, most of the examples we have found are American. Quite a few were done with these wrist cuffs. Most of the fancy blouses had them. A good example is Roy Swanson in the early-1900s. The standard Fauntleroy blouse was done with the matching cuffs. But we do see some without them. A good example is an unidentified boy, we think in the late-1890s.

Waist Closure

These blouses blouced at the waist with a string closure. This can be easily observed because classic Fauntleroy cut-away jackets were commonly cut short ar or even above the waist to show off the fancy blouses. Also we see boys wearing the blouses without jackets.

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Created: 12:10 AM 5/6/2011
Last updated: 10:58 PM 7/4/2021