|
We notice boys wearing fancy velvet suits (1870s). The Fauntleroy craze emerged on the fashion scene with the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book (1885). It was an immediate sensation in America. The photographic record shows countless boys wearing Fauntleroy suits or suits with Fauntleroy styling. The fashion spread across the Atlantic, the first major fashion style to move eastward across the Atlantic. The Fauntleroy craze was important in Europe, but not nearly as important as in America. We see many of the European examples from England. We do not think that the Fauntleroy Craze was not as pronounced in Scotland as in England, but the styling was similar. Here our smaller Scottish archive may be affecting our assessment. So at this time we are unable to say how prevalent Fauntleroy suits were in Scotland. The Fauntleroy Craze was most popular in the late-19th century, about 1885-1905. We do not yet, however, have many 19th century examples, but we have found a few. We have archived a CDV portrait of an unidentified boy from Alloa in south-central Scotland wearing a classic Fauntleroy suit, we think about 1890. As in England the boy is not wearing a Fauntleroy blouse and ruffled collar. Rather he has a lace collar pinned on to his suit. We also note a fashionable middle-class mother who dressed her boys in a Fauntleroy suit with a lace collar and a kilt outfit, probably in the 1890s.
e have also found some examples from the early-20th century. We have a portrait of an Edinburgh boy wearing a Fauntleroy outfit, but with a cape rather than a jacket, probably about 1910. In this case the boy is wearing a Fauntleroy blouse, bu not like the American blouses with huge ruffled collars. The examples we have found look like boys from well-to-do families. We have found another example done as a kind of bloomer knicker romper suit or perhaps a tunic suit, it is a little difficult to make out, at about the same time (figure 1). This is not precisely a Fauntleroy suit, but the velvet material and lace collar gives it a Fauntleroy look. None of the examples we have found so far look like outfits that would have been widely worn.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Kilt pages:
[Return to the Main Scottish boys' suits style page]
[Return to the Main Scottish boys suit page]
[Return to the Main Scottish boys clothing page]
[Return to the Main country Fauntleroy suit page]
[Kilt suits]
[Scottish kilts]
[Scottish school uniform]
[Highland dance]
[Pipeband]
[Irish kilts]
[Irish boys clothing]
[Irish step dancing]
[Greek kilts]
