Figure 1.--This cabinet card was made by Huttchings. It was a rail-road photo-car. It is a portrait of an unidentified boy with two great family huning dogs. The boy had ringlet curls and wears a Civil Wae kepi with a dark blouse and plaid skirt. Notice that it is a skirt without any kilt styling. The portrait is undated, but was probably made in the 1890s. He looks to be about 5 years old.

Many of the portraits we have found with boys wearing skirts show the skirts done in a plaid or a plaid-like pattern. Thisincludes both skirts with out any kilt details as well as actual kilt construction elements. Dark muted plaids were common. We also see other patterns, bolder than usually used for kilt suits. Many of the portraits we have found with boys wearing skirts show the skirts done in a plaid or a plaid-like pattern. Thisincludes both skirts with out any kilt details as well as actual kilt construction elements. Dark muted plaids were common. We note some solid color skirts and some with a bold stripe at the hem. These are not nearly as common as the plaid one. Here we use the term plaid loosely. Some seem more like checks, but the trend is very notable. We believe that this pattern was particularly popular for boys because it suggested a kilt rather than a skirt. we are not entirely sure about the gender conventions. Girls might wear plaid also, but it was not nearly as common as for boys. We think girls more commonly wore dresses than skirts in the 19th century, but are not entirely sure of this.

Created: 7:51 AM 5/19/2010
Last updated: 7:51 AM 5/19/2010