Figure 1.-- This CDV portrait shows us an unidentified London boy wearing a highly decorated velvet lapel suit done wuth embroidery and aplique. The piping on the jacket become chevrons on the pants. Also notice the white stockings. the portrait is not dated, but we would guess the early-1870. The studio was Hatherill in the London neighborhood of Bermondsey.

We note an interesting shift in the suits for younger boys in the 1870s. A lot of the suits for boys during the 1860s were relatively plain. We notice that many of the suits for younger boys might have elaborate decoration during the 1870s. e do not have enough dated images to know precisely when this change occurred. We can say that we note many plain suits in the 1860s and many elaborately dcorated suits in the 1870s. We see the same trnd in merica as well. Presumbly the fashion was set in Englnd. The decortion might include extensive embroidery and other decoration such as aplique and stripes on the jacket, Interstingly, these decorations were so popular that we also notice them on the pants. A good example is the Gibson boys. As far as we can tell, this is the only decade in which highly decorated pants were popular. This decoration was much more common than on the suits we see in either the 60s or 80s, but we are not saying of course that in began in 1870 and ended in 1880. Suits in the 80s may seem more elaborate, but this is bcause of the fancy blouses and bows, not the actual suit garments. Clothing was more varied in the years before ready-made clothing became standard. While the highly decorated outfits were most common for the younger boys, decorative vertical stripes were very common on the outer pants keg -- a mikitary touch. This issen even for older teenagers. Younger boys might have horizontal bands on the shortened-length pants and/or elaborate embroidery.

Created: 5:54 AM 5/15/2015
Last updated: 5:20 AM 1/16/2022