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The idea of suits is today commonly taken to mean matching items. This was not always the case. We see matching suits like the ones the boys here were wearing on the previous page. We also see boys wearing suit items that did not match. And this was not just the vests, but the pants as well. And in the 1840s we see many boys wearing suit-like jackets with contrasting vests and pants. We are not sure why this was so common. We note that earlier with skeleton suits there were both matching pants and contrasting pants. Both color and varied patterns were used to turn these garments into contrasting items. Sometimes bright colors were used for the vests and bold patterns were used for the pants. Stripe and checked patterns were the most common. The boy's outfit here is a good example of he bold patens used for pants. {figure 1). We are not sure that it was an actual fashionable statement. There may be other factors involved. The contrasting device seems especially popular in the 1840s. The non-matching suits were not just for boys. We aklso see men earinb them, but almost always younger men. With adults there was a degree of informality associated with the non-matching suits.
Navigate Related HBC Pages:
[Rounded crown hats]
[Cut-away jackets ]
[Shirts]
[Button-on shirts]
[Long pants]
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