Figure 1.---H.B. Cady photographed this American boy in Waitsfield, Vermont. The portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the 1880s. The cut-saway jacket was especually popular in the 1860s and 70s, but we noticed mostly flat colors. The bold stripes the boy here wears were less common. It is not precisely clear how the boy's trousers were suspended. The mount style (perforated edges with smooth corners) suggest the portrait was taken around 1890, but are dating is still preliminary.

We note American boys wearing suits with a wide variety of patterns. Patterns have varied in popularity over time. During somne periods, boys have primarily worn suits with flat weaves abnd no patterns. At other times patterns have been very popular. And the patterns have varied, both in style and boldness. We note some boys wearing very bold patterns. Other patterns were much less prevalent. Many of these patterns are not detectable in portrait photography and require a close up to show the actual patterns. The two bassic patterns were stripes and checks, at least the patterns that can be noted in portrait photography. Muted plaids were commonly used in kilt suits. A good example is Fred Wulf, we think in the 1880s. There were many other patterns such as herringbone weave, but these can not be detected in the available portaits. Here a good source of information is mail order catlogs which often have detailed informtion on color and weave in the ad copy. It was common in the late 19th century for a major catalog to offer dozens of options to parents. Options that could not be depicted in the accompanied illustrations.

Chronology

We note American boys wearing suits with a wide variety of patterns. Patterns have varied in popularity over time. During somne periods, boys have primarily worn suits with flat weaves and no patterns. At other times patterns have been very popular. This included at times very bold patterns. We have very little information on the early 19th century. At mid-century we tend to see primarily flat-weave suits for younger boys, albeit we see many suits with extensive emroidery and apliqu�. Older boys wore boith flat-weave and patterened fabrics We note some suits with very bold patterns in the late-19th century. There seems no difference in formality between the bold and more muted pattrns. After the turn-of-the 20th century we begin to see fewer rally bold fabrics and more solid colors. We note dark vlue suits with out any pattern n the 1910s. This became a standard for conservative boys suits. We also see black and grey suits. We note boldly patterened sports jackes in the 1940s, but for the most part the patterns for boys suits were relatively muted.

Prominance

The patterns or weaves for boys' suits have varied, both in style and boldness. The popularity of bold patterns varied significantly over time. We note some boys wearing very bold patterns. These bold patterns see particularly popular in the mid-19th century, but see see them into the early-20th century as well. We see bold patterns mostly done in stripes and checks. These patterns are a little difficult to track because unless we have a high-quality scan, it is very difficult to see the patterns in muted suits. The muted patterns were often done as a kind of plaid. Many of these more muted patterns are not detectable in portrait photography and require a close up to show the actual patterns. After World War I, we see more plain solid color suits or muted patterns. As acresult, these bold patterns look dated to the modern eye. We do note sports jackets with bold patterns, but not suits. And even sports jackets after the early-50s less commomnly had bold patterns. Boys suits increasingly became plain black, black, and grey without any patterns.

Types

We have noted several different popular patterns/weaves for boys' suits. Unlike dreses, suits were not dinre in prints, byt thee were many different pattrns done as weaves. The mostly easily obseveable pattern weaves were stripes, checks, and plaids. These invonc=ved using different colors. There were many other weaves which used the sanme color thread, such as herringbonecand houndstooth. These are more difficult to see in the photographic record because they did not involve color differences. And of course there were flat or plain suits without patterns. Unfortunaltly we can not tell much about the colors involved, but we can make out the patterns. These are at least the patterns that can be noted in portrait photography. Here our HBC coverage is somewhat compromised by the fact that HBC relies heavily on the photographic record and unless tge pattern is bold, they do not display well in photgraphs unles they are closeups. HBC does not rely exlusively on the photographic record, but it is certainly our primary source of information. The bold pattens are the most easily observeable. Patterns wee very common in the 19th century, but many were muted patterns used in dark suits that do not display well. Muted plaids were commonly but not always used in kilt suits. A good example is Fred Wulf, we think in the 1880s.

Mixing

We note mixing of patterned and non-paterned items in the 1850s. This was often solid jackets with patterned vests and or pants. We do not notice patterned suits, at least patterns bold enough to be noted on studio photograpy until the late-19th century, especially the 1880s-90s. We note very loud patterned suits. They were of course mean to be worn with the same patterns for both the jacket and pants. We see that with the suit the boy here is wearing (figure 1). But we see boys in the photographic record with mixed pattern outfits. This was not very common. Most mothers saw to that. The photograhic record is very extensive and thus any signifiicant level of mixing would show up in the photographic record. And we see very few portraits with boys wearing outfits with mixed patterns. We have images, but have no idea why the mothers involved permitted this. Poverty does not see to have been an issue given the fact that some of the boys involved ere spruced up and look like that come from reasoably affluent families.

Information Sources

There were many patterns, but these often can not be detected in the available portaits. The specificpattern often can not be dected unless it is a bold pattern. Here a good source of information is mail order catlogs which often have detailed informtion on color and weave in the ad copy. It was common in the late 19th century for a major catalog to offer dozens of options to parents. Options that could not be depicted in the accompanied illustrations. And the ad copy often mentioned patterns, but did not specify the actual patterns offered.

Created: 1:16 AM 4/8/2008
Last updated: 12:45 AM 7/4/2020