|
We have collected several images of individual American boys show then before and after breeching. Or we see family portraits which provide some breeching clues. Here it can be complicated to assess because in many available portraits, the children are not identified. It is sometimes possible to assess agee and thus the time of breeching. But in other portraits it is more comolicated. A good examole is an unidentified family photohraphed in Randall's studio. We do not know the city, unusual in an American cabinet card. We think the portrait was taken in the 1880s because of the large white collars and kneepants and black long stockings. There are five children in the portrait. These portraits were mostly brothers and sisters, but cousins are a possibility as well. The children look to be about 2-11 years old. They are unidentified so we can only speculate as to gender. Some assessments are obvious. The two children sitting down are obviously a boy and girl. The center part is a strong indicator that the younger child is a girl. The child at the back is surely a boy, in part because of the very short hair. The two children at the side wearing identical dresses are more difficult. They certainly look like boys and they have side parts. They wear fairly simple dresses which boys might wear. We see nothing to suggest that they are girls. The boy on the right, however, looks rather old to still be wearing dresses. This is especially complicated because the child on the right looks older than the boy already breeched. Perhaps they were cousins. The pprtrait suggests that the children were not breeched until about 8 years old, possibly longer. This would mean that the children were taught at hime with tutors.
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web dress pages:
[Return to the Main U.S. breeching page]
[Return to the Main U.S. skirted garment page]
[Return to the Main U.S. national dress page]
[Pinafores]
[Ringlet curls]
[Smocks]
[Bodice kilts]
[Kilts]
[Fauntleroy dresses]
[Sailor dresses]
[Fancy dresses]
[Dresses: 16th-18th centuries]
[Dresses: Early-Mid-19th century]
[Dresses: Late-19th century]
[Dresses: Early 20th century]
[Difficult images]
[Movie dresses]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Essays]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
