Figure 1.--Here we see three unidentified Rhyl children. They koo to be about 4-13 years old. The cbinet card portrait is undated, but rferences awards won in 1895 and 96. Thuis suggests to us that it was tajen in the late-1890s which cionformns to the mount style. The early-010--s is possible, but the late-90s is more likely. The younger boy wears a knee pants suit,. The older biys wears a single-breasted suir wuth an Eton collar and knickers. Theur sister wrears a whure dress with a ruffle and karge collar. Both older children wear long black stockings.
Wales was a relatively poor area of Britain, thus there might have been a higher proportion of working class population and thus less affluence which ffected clothing and fashion. The styles were, however, essentially the same. That was certainly what we have been able to observe in the 19th century. Unlike Scotland which was never subdued by the English, we have been able to find no evidene of national dress worn by Welsh boys. Many women in village areas wore folk outfits. This was common in the early-19th century, but gradually declined. Presumably girls did as well, but not the boys. It is impossible to identify Welsh photographs unless they are identified or in some cases some Welsh landmark in the background. We have not yet found any art work from the early 19th century. Photography was invented (1839). We do not, however, have photographs from mid-century. The early photographic record is more limited in Europe than America. And we do not yet have any at all from Wales. Only when the apprearance of the CDV have we been abkle to find Welsh inages (1860s). We have a few photographs from the late-19th centurty. We mostly see Welsh boys like English bots earing long pants suyuts, but by the 1870s we see at first younger boys wearing suits with shortened-length pants--both staight-leg knee pants abd knickers. These shortened-length pants had becone standard by the 1890s. The Rhyl portrai here is a good example (figure 1).
