French Clothing Catalogs and Clothing Advertisements with Boys Clothings: The 1890s


Figure 1.--These French school uniforms were pictured in the catalog of the "Grands Magasins du Louvre" in 1899. These do not look like uniforms specifically for military schools, but look to be uniforms worn at regular secondary schools. We believe these military uniforms were adopted after France's defeat in the Franco-Prusssian War. There were several different styles of military iniforms worn. I am not sure if all French secondary schools required these military uniforms, but they were certainly very common

French department store catalogs offer a very useful time line on changing fashion trends. French mail order catalogs show a variety of popular styles in French boys' clothing during the 1890s. Little boys less commonly wore dresses, but fancy suits with bloused kneepants were popular for parents that could afford them. Paris department suits offered a wide range of suits and hats for boys. The most popular style for younger boys was the sailor suit. Boys wore both long pants and kneepants for dress wear. Boys wore both sailor hats and caps as well as a range of more mature headwear. Clothing in real terms was less expensive than in the 19th century, but still more expensive than is the case today. We note school uniforms in military styles.

1890


1891


1892


1893


1894

One of the most influential and long lasting French fashion magazines was La Mode Ilustree. This magazine was particularly important for any assessment of 19th century children's fashions as it sought to deal with children's fashions and issues. It also spanned a long time period from 1840 to 1937. The first and long serving editor wrote extensive pieces, advising French mothers on children's fashions and other domestic issues. A reader has sent is an illustration from a 1894 issue showing a boy's sailor dress. It does not have the classic V-collar usually associated sailor styling, but there are all kinds of stripes which were also commonly used for detailing sailor outfits. We do not yet have the ad copy from the La Mode Ilustree page.

1895


1896


1897

We have found a few items from French publications in 1897. Sailor styling was very popular in the 1890s. We note a fashion plate of a boy's sailor dress from an 1897 issue of La Mode Enfantine 1897. The styling is done similarly to a tunic, but seems to be a dress. We see an illustration for children's fashions from a 1897 edition of Le Monde. It shows a boys knee pants suit and little girl's dress. It does not look like an advertisement to us, but rather a fashion article.

1898


1899

Here we note school uniforms in military styles. These do not look like uniforms specifically for military schools, but look to be uniforms worn at regular secondary schools. There were several different styles of military iniforms worn. I am not sure if all French secondary schools required these military uniforms, but they were certainly very common.






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Created: July 16, 2003
Last updated: 9:01 PM 2/16/2014