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Many of the fashions of the late-Victorian era such as boy dresses, kilts, sailor suits, Fauntleroy suits, and Eton collars continued into the Edwardian Era. Major changes, however, ocurred during this era. While little boys through the 19th century wore dresses, they were increasingly styled differently than those worn by their sisters by the end of the century. And during the Edwardian era this concention was becoming increasingly less common. And This custom began to disappear during the 1910s and World War I Era. By the 1920s it had become rare to dress even very little boys in dresses. Sailor suits were worn throughout the Edwardian era, but by increasingly younger boys. We note younger boys in school wearing them. A good example is the Hallgate National amd Bluecoat School in 1914. Social class was also a factor. Well to do boys began their prep schools at about 8 and few wore sailor suits to these schools, most of which had uniforms. Interestingly, sailor suits do not seem to have been nearly as common in England as some continental countries (France and Germany) and America. The Royal Family of course dressed the children in salor suits. Prince George who became king in 1911 believed it was the perfect outfit for children. Everyone has seen the images of the princes wearing sailor suits. This may give, however, a misleading impression about the popularity of sailor suits. A Lancashire reader writes, "I have looked at a large number of photographs showing Lancashire scenes between 1900 and 1920. Many of these pictures show children. I was struck by how few of them wore sailors suits. It does not seem to have been something that was worn for every day wear. Of the photographs I saw there was only one in which a sailor suit can clearly be seen. The photograph was of a class of school children. The second picture shows the type of clothes worn as depicted in the photograph. The only photograph I found of a boy wearing a sailor suit outside of a school situation was taken in Scarborough about 1913. There had been a fire and the boys had stopped to watch the drama." Kilt suits were worn at the beginning of the era, but by the 1920s only Highland outfits were worn and not the kilt or skirted suits once so popular. Fauntleroy velvet suits were still popular for party wear, but lace collars were giving way to ruffled collars and knee pants for short pants. Some boys would wear white knee socks or stockings and strap shoes. New fashions such as rompers for little boys appeared. Tunics were worn with wide, white collars and floppy bows. Knee pants and long stockings went out of style and were replaced with knickers and short pants worn with knee socks.
Many of the fashions of the late-Victorian era such as boy dresses, kilts, sailor suits, Fauntleroy suits, and Eton collars continued into the Edwardian Era. Major changes, however, ocurred during this era. While little boys through the 19th century wore dresses, they were increasingly styled differently than those worn by their sisters by the end of the century. And during the Edwardian era this concention was becoming increasingly less common. And This custom began to disappear during the 1910s and World War I Era. By the 1920s it had become rare to dress even very little boys in dresses. Kilt suits were worn at the beginning of the era, but by the 1920s only Highland outfits were worn and not the kilt or skirted suits once so popular. Tunics were worn with wide, white collars and floppy bows.
Sailor suits were worn throughout the Edwardian era, but by increasingly younger boys. We note younger boys in school wearing them. A good example is the Hallgate National amd Bluecoat School in 1914. Fauntleroy velvet suits were still popular for party wear, but lace collars were giving way to ruffled collars and knee pants for short pants. Younger boys might white knee socks or stockings and strap shoes. New fashions such as rompers appeared for little boys. Older boys might wear boaters or flat caps. Peaked scool caos were becoming increasingly popular. Boys commonly wore suits. Norfolk suits very popular. We see a lot of boys weating Eton collars. Neckwar varied. Knickers and were pppular in the late-19th century. Knee pants weres also worn but knickers were more common, especially for older boys. We mostly see younger boys weaing knee pants which were gradually bginning to look more like short pants. Long stockings were going out of style and were rapaidly being replaced knee socks. We do not see knickers becoming widely popular as in America by the 1910s. Rather we increasingly see knee pants in the 1910s and they look nore like short pants, largely because they were being worn with knee socks rather than long stockings. It is often not possible to tell if the hosiery is knee socks or rolled down long stockings.
Social class was a very imoprtant factor bin fasion during the early-20th century. At the time sailor suits were very popular in America and much of of Europe, but curiously not so much Engkland. Well-to- do boys began their prep schools at about 8 and few wore sailor suits to these schools, most of which had uniforms. Interestingly, sailor suits do not seem to have been nearly as common in England as some continental countries (France and Germany) and America. The Royal Family of course dressed the children in salor suits. Prince George who became king in 1911 believed it was the perfect outfit for children. Everyone has seen the images of the princes wearing sailor suits. This may give, however, a misleading impression about the popularity of sailor suits. A Lancashire reader writes, "I have looked at a large number of photographs showing Lancashire scenes between 1900 and 1920. Many of these pictures show children. I was struck by how few of them wore sailors suits. It does not seem to have been something that was worn for every day wear. Of the photographs I saw there was only one in which a sailor suit can clearly be seen. The photograph was of a class of school children. The second picture shows the type of clothes worn as depicted in the photograph. The only photograph I found of a boy wearing a sailor suit outside of a school situation was taken in Scarborough about 1913. There had been a fire and the boys had stopped to watch the drama." We think socail class is a g=factor here. Sailor suiyts were especially popular with the mioddle-class and no commomnly worn by wotking class boys.
The 19th century photographic record was mostly studio photography which meant that that people dressed up in their best clothing. This of course is interesting, but does not tell us what people wore everyday or around home. For some reason we have found quite a few outdoor images taken in towns and vilages during the 1890s, mostly wide frame images of street scenes. We have found more of these than in America, but these are not exactly home scenes. Many of the children look like they are dressed up for school, not for wear around home. Suddenly photography changed significantly. In America, Kodak came out with the Brownie camera, making the home family snapshot possible. At last we have images of people at home, mostly outside around the home. Photogaphs indoors were more complicated because of lighting. But outside it was just point and shoot. Results were great if you followed a few simple rules such as don't shoot into the sun. And the kids were a primary subkect to photograph around the hime. While this innovation occurred in America (1900), it very quickly spread to England and the rest of Europe, at first mostly Western Europe. Thus in the 20th century we have a marvelous new addition to the photographic record--the family snapshot and we can see how peoole dressed casually at home.
We also see boys in a range of outings. There were church attendance on Sunday as well as family and frends. Families went visited parks and historocal sites. Families might also go on walks. Here were also amusement parks, especially sea side piers. There were also shopping trips. When on family outings, the children were usually well dressed. Boys also had fun on their own, away from home. In this case they were udsually working-class boys not nearly dressed as well. People at the time tended to dress up, in sharp contrast to modern trends. And by the turn-of the century, photography was no longer restricted to just studios. TAs the nimber of photogrphs increased expnentially. The family snap shot hugely expnded photography. So we can now see just how people were wearing the various fasgions we mostly saw mostly in studio portraits during the 19th century.
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