Figure 1.--This unidentified Wisconsin boy wears what looks like a plaid dress styled like a kilt suit. It could actually be a kilt suit, but it is difficult to tell just from the photograph. Notice the knee pants done in the same plaid material as the dress. The CDV portrait is undated, but we would say was done in the 1870s to us. The photographer Perkins Art Studio in Waupaca, Wisconsin.

Boys wore several different under garmnents with skirted garments. The type of skirted garment was a factor although it did not entirely determine the choice of undergarment. Dresses were normally worn with both petticoats and pantalettes. The petticoat was optional, but pantalettes or some other kind pf underpants were almost always worn. Of course using photography we can only tell about the pantalettes. Boys might wear plainer pantalettes called drawers, but this was not always the case and some girls also wore drawers. Leon here wears a petticoat with a jacketed dress (figure 1). Pantalettes were in the early- and mid-19th century worn to show below the hem of the dress, but this was not the case for petticoats. Knee pants and bloomer knickers were also worn with skirted garments. Knee pants were especilly common with kilts. We think they were sometimes worn with dresses, but only by boys. Girls did not wear knee pants. And we note both knee pants and bloomer knickers being worn with tunics. The choice of undergarments has some connitations useful in identifying gender.

Created: 2:56 AM 8/28/2014
Last updated: 2:56 AM 8/28/2014