Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows a Canadian boy proudly with his thumb in his waistcoat. The portrait is undated, but was probably taken in the 1860s. The photographer Martin of Corner of Craig and Bleury Streets in Montreal. The Photographer's number is on the lower left of the portrait--6229. We might have guesssed that boys with these collar-buttoning suits would not wear a vest, but this boy clearly does. We suspect that these suits may not have actually come with the vests.

We are not yet sure to what extent vests varied as to the different kinds of suits such as collar buttoning, Eton, Rugby, Norfolk, single and double-breated sack suits, ect. We have maby of these suits archived on HBC and will have to index them here to assess the pooularity of vests with the different suit styles. We have seen vests more commonly worn with some of these suits. We had always assumed that boys wearing suits with jackets that did not have lapels and buttoned at the collar probably wore shirt waits and blouses. We have since noted that vests were worn with suits even when they could not be seen. Some portraitsd, however, are quite rare. We are unsure though how common this was. It is of course much easier to assess the suits worn with vests when you can see the vests