Figure 1.--Some boys wore skirts and blouses. I'm not sure if skirts as oposed to dresses were more common for boys. Note the pantalettes. I believe this child was photographed about 1860. There is no way to be sure the child is a boy, but the short hair suggests a boy.

Yonger American boys in the 1860s continued wearing skirted garments. Dresses just like their sisters were the most common, but the kilt style imported from Britain became a popular choice for boys. American boys wore kilted suits rather than Highland kilt costume. We also notice boys wearing blouses and skirts rather than actual dresses. Unlike the kilt suits, these skirted outfits seem similar similar to what girls might wear, although this needs to be confirmed. Boys also wore tunics, although often the tunivs were relatively short, looking more like jackets. Skirted garments were still commonly worn with pantalettes, both by boys and girls. Breeching practices varied from country to country. Here sovcil class was an important factor.

Specific Skirted Garments

There were several different types of skirted garments worn by American boys in the 1860s. The rising popularity of photography allows us to see these styles much more than in the early 19th century for hich far fewer images exist.

Dresses

Young American boys, as in Europe, still wore dresses in the 1860s. Their dresses were little different than those worn by their sisters. Boy dresses specifically styled for a boy were not yet available until the 1870s. The age at which they were breeched was still left to the disgression of the mother and, as a result, could vary widely. Class destinctions had some impact on breeching. While most younger boys might wear dresses, generally it was boys from wealthy families that were kept in dresses the longest. Raised at home under constant supervision of nannies and governesses, boys from wealthy families, closted in nurseries, often had very little contact with other children. The interactions that did occur were mostly with relatives or children of the same social class and this other boys who may have also be kept in dresses. One interesting aspect of the dresses worn by little boys was that some styles were sleveless. Interestingly shirts for boys and men were always almost always made with long sleeves. In viewing hundreds of 19th Century images, I rember seeing only one short-sleeved outfit for a boy, a kind of velvet skeleton suit worn with a front buttoning pinafore. Thus even images that do not show all of a boy's outfit can be assessed by the slkeeves. If the boy has short sleeves, it srongly suggest that he is wearing a dress. Dress styles varied. Some boys wore styles indistinguishable from those worn by ther sisters. Some mothers brought plainer styles for their sons, although they were not yet marketed as boy dresses. Even boys outfitted in the plainer boy dresses, however, might wear the with pantalettes. Boys' dresses came in a wide variety of styles and embelishments. The low open necklines common in the first half of the century had begun rise. Collars were increasingly common on dresses, but tended to be relatively small. Ruffled are lace collars were common. Often a dress would have wrist ruffles matching the ruffles or lace collar. Hems for boys wearing dresses were usually at or slightly below the knee. A boy might wear a belt on his dress, but this was not common on a girl's dress. Some dresses were made in plaid material. Both boys and girls wore plaid, but boys dresses were more commonly plaid than those of girls. Apparently as plaid dresses incorporated the same patterned material as kikts, they were somewhat more acceptable than some of the fancier materials used for girls' dresses. Plaid dreses might be referred to as Scotch dresses or even kikts, but they were actual one-piece dresses. The plaid dresses were worn in both America and England, although kilts whch first apprared in America during the late 1840s and 1850s, became increasingly popular for boys as the decade progressed.

Skirts

We notice some boys wore skirts with blouses, we are not sure if this was a new style, or simply more observeable because of the rising number of photographic images. While kilts werre little worn, some skirted outfits were worn. They were often worn with matching jackets. They were worn with a variety of garments friom pantalettes to matching long trousers. I am not sure about the origins of this style. I have not noticed it during the early 19th Century, but this could be more of a relection of increasing number of available images as a result of photography. The skirt style has different possible origins. Some of the outfits have the look of tunic outfits. They may also be a reflection of the new kilt style for boys introduced in England. I am not sure at this time about the gender conotations of skirts. I do not know at this time whether skirts as opposed to dresses were widely worn by girls and women and whether there were social class or national differences. Nor do I know if there were differences between how young boys and girls were dressed in skirts.

Kilts

One alternative to trousers for the doting Victorian mother were the kilt outfits for boys which appeared in England during the 1840s and had reached America by the 1850s. It was still not common in the 1860s for younger American boys to wear kilts. Kilts were still little seen in America during the early 1860s, but they became increasingly common after the War. The kilt style was popularized by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the 1840s when they dressed the young princes, but not at first the princesses, in kilts as part of the popularity for things Scottish and the Royal family's astute political judgement. Thus even an American boy, at least in an affluent family, might by the 1860s wear a kilt suit even after being breeched. This style became even more common in the 1870s. It was not, however, the full Highland kilt with all the associated regalia that begun to be worn by American boys.

Pantalettes

Pantalettes are not a skirted garment, but they were worn with skirted garments. Pantalettes were still in the 1860s worn by boys still wearing dresses, but they were no longer worn at lengths far below the hem of the dress, especially by the mid-1860s. Once a boy was breeched, pantalettes were not normally worn. They appear to have been more common in England than in America. (I'm not sure about Europe, but assume they were worn by French boys) Pantalettes were comminly worn by American girls, but I was becoming increasingly less common for boys to wear them. The part of the pantalettes that showed were likely to be trimed in lace. I am not sure if these pantalettes were made especially made for boys or if boys and little girls simply wore the same short style. Older girls, of course, would cover their legs and thus wear long pantalettes, many of which were elaborately trimmed in ruffles, lace, and even ribbons.

Tunics

The popular tunic style declined sharply in popularity during the 1860s, but never completely disappeared. The longer tunics worn in the early 19th century gradually evolved into a kind of tunic jacket.

Breeching

Schooling was one factor affecting breeching. Amereican public education was becoming increasingly prevelent, especially in the northeastern states. Presumably boys in more affluent families where they were closely supervised and perhaps schooled at home would be likely to wear drsses the longest. More and more state-supported schools were appearing in America and public education was becoming an excepted norm. Boys would almost always be breeched before being sent to school. Thus for the most boys, the age at which they began public education would put an upper limit on the age in which they still wore dresses. Boys from affluent families that were educated at home would not have this upper limit.

Created: 7:06 PM 7/3/2004
Last updated: 1:50 AM 7/13/2024