Figure 1.--his cabinet card portrait shows an unidenified boy wearing a double-breasted sailor suit and holding a jaunty boater wih a coloful hat bans. Notice the Eton collar mother had added. The boy looks to be about 9 years old. We are unsure about the date, but we would guess the 1890s.

The clothing English boys wore with boaters is a little complicated. At first we are talking about older boys at public (elite boarding) schools. Because he basically fragile boaters were impractical as boys wear, we only see hem being worn when he boys were dressed up. And mostly by well-to-do or at least families n comfortable circumstance. Younger boys might wear wide-brimmed hats, but school age boys might wear boaters. This include a range of outfits like cut-away jackets as the boys on he previous page are sporting. We also see boaters being worn with Fauntleroy and sailor suits. Sailor suits were often worn with sailor caps of some kind, bu boaters were also a popular choice at least for boys up to about age 10 years. This began to decline for boys at about age 8 years or so because so many of the well-to-do children went to private preparatory schools (primary-level boarding schools). This usually began at abuot age 8 years, alhough some boys might begin a litle later. Thus you do not tend to see see older English primary children wearing sailor suits, especially with boaters. In contrast, boys on the Continent mght wear sailr sus into heir early teens--alhogh no usuually wih boaters. And these schools had school uniforms which usually involved the iconic peaked school caps. When they went on o public schools, they might wear boaters, such as Harrow. But even at public schools, the boater was worn mostly by the older boys, usually during the summer.

Created: 11:21 AM 12/21/2024
Last updated: 11:21 AM 12/21/2024