Figure 1.--This American boy, we think in the 1860s apparently wanted his portrait taken in a uniform-like outfit. Note that the sah was added for a military uniform look.

One decorative item that was not very common for boys was the sash. We see sashes much less commonly than bows. The sash was initially a military style. We see officers wearing sashes with dress military uniforms. Military styles have strongly influenced men and boys wear. Sashes were such a formal style that they were not commonly used in boys clothing. We see a few boys wearing uniforms with sashes, but surpringly for a military-inspired style, the one outfit where the sash was employed was the Little Lord Fauntleroy suit. Not all boys wore sashes with theoir Funtleroy suits. We do see sashes with a number of the more formal Fauntleroy suits. We have also noted sashes being worn with dresses, but this was less common. A good example are unidentitified twin brothers from Muncie, Indiana, porbably in the 1870.

Military Sashes

The sash was initially a military style. We see officers wearing sashes with dress military uniforms. Military styles have strongly influenced men and boys wear. Sashes were such a formal style that they were not commonly used in boys clothing. We see a few boys wearing uniforms with sashes.

Fauntleroy Sashes

Surpringly for a military-inspired style, the one outfit where the sash was employed was the Little Lord Fauntleroy suit. Not all boys wore sashes with theoir Funtleroy suits. We do see sashes with a number of the more formal Fauntleroy suits.

Plain Sashes

We mostly find boys wearing sashes with fancy decorative outfits. Which is why we see them primarily with fancy military and Fauntleroy outfits. We rarely see boys wearing sashes with plain outfits, including plain dresses. This of course is only logica because the sash was seen as a decorative item. Thuis we see more sashes wit decirtive garment. h

Dresses

We have also noted sashes being worn with dresses. This seems to be the most common use of sashes for boys. Most dresses, however, were worn without sashes, but we see more than worn with other garments. Most of the sashes we have found were worn with white dresses. A good example are unidentitified twin brothers from Muncie, Indiana, probably in the 1870s. Unfortunately because of the black and white photography of the day we can not tell what color the sashes were worn with colored dresses as well, but not as commonly. A good example is an unidentified boy during the 1870s. They varied in width. We are unsure about the colors. Given thatb they were worn with white dresses, mothers chose colored sashes. A good example is an unidentified Hartford child that we think is a boy in the 1870s. We suspect that many sashes were blue, but other colors were also worn. The blue sashes were worn by both boys and girls. We note both light and dark colors, but different emusions react variously to colors. We have some chrological information. are not sure about the 18th century. All of the examples we have found to date are from the 19th century. A good example are unidentitified twin brothers from Muncie, Indiana, porbably in the 1870. Some dresses were worn with decorative sashes, sometimes tied in big bows at the back. Children probably wore the sashes with dresses when dressing up for special occassions. Boys wearing sashes with Fauntleroy haf them tied so the ends fell down to the side. We do note note this with dresses. We know that girls sashes were tied in bows at the back. We suspect that the same was true for boys wearing dresses. Unfortunately, we have few back views of the sashes. We see these sashes mostly in the 19th century at least in connection with boys. After the turn-of-the-20th century we see fewer boys wearing dresses. Girls in the 20th century continued to wear colored sashes with white dresses for a variety of formal occassionms. .

Created: 9:00 PM 10/6/2008
Last updated: 8:16 PM 3/23/2023