Figure 1.--This CDV shows a portrait of an unidentified mother and son who oooks about 6 yers old. His face is slightly blured because he moved as the portait was being shot. He wears a velvet cut-away jacket vested suit, but not a Fauntleroy suit. . He has a small white collar and ribboin ties. The suit has extensive piping, especially around the knee pants buttons. He has white long stockings with high-top shoes. Mother wears a voluninous, beaded dress, presumably with a hoop skirt. She holds a small feathered hat. The portrait is undated, but we would date to the 1870s, probably the early-70s. The studio is M. Read in Romsey a small market town in Hampshire.

We have some limited information about the chronology of cut-away jackets in England. Cut-away jackets were a popular style for younger boys throughout Europe and North America. We do not have much information on the early-19th century. Skeleton suits were the popular syle. We are notentirely sure when the cut-away jacket first appeared in England. Suits with cut-away jackets were popular in the mid-19th century for younger boys. We think the cut-away jackets originated in England, although we cannot yet demonstrate that. We do not yet have information on the 1840s. We have some limited information about the 1850s. The Daguerreotypes and ambrotypes taken in the 1850s were much less common in England. We beloeve they existd un the 50s, in part because we have American examples. English boys almost certainly wore cut-away jackets in the 1850s, but do not yet have any English photographic evidence to support this. And we are uncertain how prevalent they were. We have much more information with the 1860s when CDVs began to be taken in large numbers. With the appearance of the CDV, we have many examples from the 1860s. A good early example was Ernst Frederick in 1861. The Watson boys in 1863 are another exmple. We see them being commonly worn in the 1860s and 70s by younger school-age boys. English boys masy have worn cut-away jackets Tn the late-50s. We can not yet confirm thsat. We see cut-away jackets in the 80s, but mostly as part of Fauntleroy suits that became popuilar in the decade. Our information is still limited, but we think that they were most common in the 1860s and the early-70s. They seem to have begun to decline in popularity in the mid-70s. This also needs to be confirmed. Cut-away jackets were much less common by the 1880s with the exceotion of the Fauntleroy suit.

The 1800s

We do not have much information on the early-19th century. Skeleton suits were the popular syle. We are notentirely sure when the cut-away jacket first appeared in England. Suits with cut-away jackets were popular in the mid-19th century for younger boys.

The 1840s

We think the cut-away jackets originated in England, although we can not yet demonstrate that. We do not yet have information on the 1840s. Daguerreotypes were not nearly as common in England as in America.

The 1850s

We have some limited information about the 1850s. The Daguerreotypes and ambrotypes taken in the 1850s were much less common in England. We beloeve they existd un the 50s, in part because we have American examples. English boys almost certainly wore cut-away jackets in the 1850s, but do not yet have any English photographic evidence to support this. And we are uncertain how prevalent they were. English boys masy have worn cut-away jackets Tn the late-50s. We can not yet confirm that, butwe see cit-away jackers in America during the 1850s.

The 1860s

Our information is still limited, but we think that cut-away jackets were most common in the 1860s We have much more information on English cut-away jackets with the 1860s when CDVs began to be taken in large numbers. With the appearance of the CDV, we have many examples from the 1860s. We see them being commonly worn in the 1860s. A good early example was Ernst Frederick in 1861. The Watson boys in 1863 are another exmple. Another example two Frome boys wearing identical cut-away jacket suits. And we note the Smith boys. We see the Grange/Smith boys wearing identical cut-away jacket suits. They have very plain jackets with knicker pants. We see a trend toward matching garments, but w still see some boys weraring jackets and pants that did not maych. This was most common in the 1860s.Mmany of the suits were three-piece suits with vests.

The 1870s

Cut-away jackets continued to be popukr in thec 1870s. We see many English boys wearing cut-away jackets in the 1870s, especially in the early-70s. Some were done with vests. We contunue to see see younger school-age boys wearing cut-away jackets. Some of these suits were very plain. Others have elaborate enbriderty. Shotened-length pants began to become standard for the younger boys. We ote both knee pants and knickers. The boy here is a good example cut-away jacket suits with a vest and knee pants (figure 1). The jacket is oklain, butv has extensive opioing, We also note knickers wirn with cut-away jackets in the 1870s, often rather voluminous knickers. An Eastbourne boy is a good examle. Cut-away jackets seem to have begun to decline in popularity in the mid-70s. This also needs to be confirmed.

The 1880s

The populrity of the cut-away had declined significantly by the 1880s. They had not dusappeared. Cut-away jackets were much less common by the 1880s with the exceotion of the Fauntleroy suit. We see cut-away jackets in the 80s, but mostly as part of Fauntleroy suits that became popular in the decade.

Created: 2:54 AM 2/14/2015
Last updated: 6:35 AM 2/15/2024