Figure 1.--

We see a variety of suits/outfits worn by French boys in the early-20 century. Here we are talking about suits or suit-like outfits boys wore when dressing up. Three of the most popular styles were the Fauntleroy suit, sailor suit, and shirt suit. Fauntlroy suits were declining in popularity. The major era for Fauntleroy suits was the late-19th century. We still see some in the very early-1900s, but mostly we see Fauntleroy touches in the early-20th century more commonly than than actual suits. Sailor suits were a different matter. They continued to be popular in rhe early-20th century, perhps even more than the late-19th century. We see numerous images of boys dressed up in sailor suits. Shirts suits seem popular styles, at least in post cards. They seem less common in actul pgotogrphs which is of course a beter metric of actual prevalence. Most of the juvenile outfits were done with knee pants or bloomer knickers. Short pants were were more of a post-World War I trend in the 1920s. They were usually worn with socks (often three-quater socks), but we see some long stockings for really formal wear. These outfits were generally worn by school-age boys. Thee were different age conventions for the various syles. About 13 years are so, boys began wearing more adult-looking styles, but often with some juvenile touches. The age conventions varies somewht from family to family. There were also social-class conventions involved.

Fauntleroy suits

The French fashion magazine, Moniteur de la mode published a interesting articles about fancy suits for younger boys during the early 20th century. Moniteur de la mode was the most important French magazine. I'm not sure if the Fauntleroy suit was a popular as in England and America. While I have few French images, I believe the Fauntleroy velvet suit was popular, although as in America the style changed from lace to ruffled collars. I am not sure what kind of pants were commonly worn with these Fauntleroy suits, that is kneepants with long stockings or short pants with white socks. This is a topic I would like to pursue.

Figure 2.--Sailor suits were popular outfits for boys in the late 19th and early 20th century as in the rest of Europe--perhaps more so. Sailor suits were commonly worn with knee onts or bloomer knickers, but it was the one juvenile style tht could be worn with long pants, especially for the older boys wearing sailor suits.

Sailor Suits

Sailor suits were one of the most popular French styles at the turn of the century. I'm not sure why that was. France had fared poorly in the naval battles with England. (Although it was the French fleet in many ways that made American independence possible.) I think the popularity of the style was that it was one which both mothers and boys liked. Certainly it was much poreferable to boys than the fancy Fauntleroy style which was another option at the time. Perhaps it was the pan-European image of the navy that made sailor suits so popular. It was with the navies and the battleships of the day that the European arms races were most vissible. They were a way of displayoing and projecting power and an object of imense national pride. Other factors may explain the particular popularity of the sailor suit in France, but I have little information to go on at this time. Some of the designs for sailor suits followed the classic designs of the uniforms worn by actual sailors, but not allways French sailors. Many other outfits took design elements from sailor suits and incorporated then into dresses, blouses, coats, and other outfits. In many cases lace and ruffles were added to the outfits for younger children--including the boys.

Shirt Suits

A popular style in France during the early-20 century was the shirt suit. This is a descriptive term we have created. we do not know if the frenh had a name for these outfits. We suspect that they were called a 'costume'. These were suits without a jacket or coat. Rather they were done with matching shirts as the top and without vests. The shirts were special shirts, done in the same material as the suit. This means a heavier material than usually used for shirts. We are not sure what was worn under the shirt suit top, perhaps a shirt waist. We are not sure becuse these suits were collar buttoning shirts so all we see is the collar which was the collar of the shirt suit top and not a standard shirt in lighter material worn underneath. Some boys did have detachable collars, suggesting a shirt waist worn underneath. The tops and bottoms of these suits were done in the same material and color. we notice both long sleeve tops and knee pnys bottoms. Our initial assessmenis that these suits were worn 1890s-1910s. We do not see them after World war I in the 1920s. and we are not sure hw common these suits were. we see them more in postcards than ctual photographs. The age trends look to us to be bout 6-12 years of age. This was a European style. We do not see these suits to any extent in America, but we do see them in other European countries.

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Created: 7:06 PM 2/14/2016
Last updated: 7:06 PM 2/14/2016