Figure 1.--These unidentified brother and sister wear berets, but the dealer identifies them as English. We initially thought that the photograph wax probably taken in the 1930s, but an English reader suggests the 1950s and we think he is probably correct. These juvenile overcoats were mostly worn by children from affluent families. The dweling they are standing in front of, however, looks rather derelict. Click on the image for a fuller discussion of the photograph.

We see younger boys and girls wearing the same style of overcoats. They were mostly worn by pre-school children, but younger primary children might wear them. Somewhat older girls than biys mifght wear them. These were coats mostly worn by children from affluent families. Double breasted styling was popular, but there were also single breasted styles. These coats were also popular in France. The collars might be done in velvet. and there were often flap pockets. We are not sure about the colors. Camel was popular in America. The British royals were commonly photograhed wearing these coats. John F. Kennedy Jr., famously wore one of these coats for his father's funeral. After World War II we see then done in colors. While the coats were almost identical, the buttoning eas different fir boys and girls as you cabn see here (figure 1). There were also some gender differences with the colors.

Created: 2:05 PM 3/21/2021
Last updated: 2:05 PM 3/21/2021