** vintage Amertican boys' blue kilt kilted suit








Vintage Clothing: American Boys' Blue Summer Kilt Suit (1880s)


Figure 1.-- Kilts are today a type of ethnic clothing. They were in the late 19th century, however, a major suit style for younger boys. These kilt suits were very commonly worn in Britain and America. Here we have a blue summer kilt suit. Click on the image for a rear view.

Kilts are today a type of ethnic clothing. They were in the late 19th century, however, a major suit style for younger boys. These kilt suits were very commonly worn in Britain and America. The jacket was styled like a regular suit jacket and often worn with vests. The boy, however, wore a kilted skirt rather than trousers. The kilt skirt was commonly longer than the traditional Scottish kilt that the fashion was loosely based on. The material was both solid colors as well as muted plaids. A good example is an American blue kilt suit probably worn in the 1880s. This looks to be a summer suit. Many boys on the frontier and farms would not have worn suits like this, but almost all middle-class and upper-class city boys would have.

Kilt Suits

Kilts are today a type of ethnic clothing. They were in the late 19th century, however, a major suit style for younger boys. These kilt suits were very commonly worn in Britain and America. The Scottish kilt was never extensively worn by American boys, despite the sizeable number of Scottish Americans. A related garment, however, the kilt suit, was very commonly worn by two generations of American boys. I believe that the style was also widely worn in England and to a lesser extent in France. Its popularity in Germany and other continental countries, however, appears more limited, although admittedly I have little information on these countries.

Chronology

A good example of a kilt suit is this American blue kilt suit probably worn in the 1880s. This was also a popular style in the 1890s, so it is not possible to date this garment with any precession.

Seasonality

This looks to be a summer suit. Notice the light-weight material. Also notice that there is no vest (waistcoat).

Social Class

Many boys on the frontier and farms would not have worn suits like this, but almost all middle-class and upper-class city boys would have. We do not have any detailed information on this, but this is our assessment at this time.

Material

The material was both solid colors as well as muted plaids. We are not sure what the actual material was here. All we can tell is that it seems to be a realityely light-weight material. Some of the images look rather like flannel.

Age

We do not have the actuial dimensions of the garments here so it is difficult to assess the age of the boy who swould have sworn this suit. These suits were most commonly worn by boys 2-5 years of age. Some older boys wore them, but by school age they were much less common.

Garments

The kilt suit was made in two and three pieces. The basic kilt suit was two pieces consisting of a jacket and kilt skirt. The three-piece suit included a vest (waistcoat). Various headwear was worn with these suits, but we do do not notice matching caps. The jacket was styled like a regular suit jacket and often worn with vests. The vest could vary signigicantly in design. There were quite a vaiation in style. The jacket here was done in the cut-away style popular for younger boys. This suit was worn with a Fauntleroy blouse. This was common for cit-away jackets. It was not, however an actual part of the suit. The boy, however, wore a kilted skirt rather than trousers. The kilt skirt was commonly longer than the traditional Scottish kilt that the fashion was loosely based on. It might be thought as a kilt, but was in fact different in many ways from the traditional Highland kilt. One major difference is length. The kilt skirt here was cut long so that it could fall below a boy's knees. Another difference was the detailing.

Suspension

We are not sure how a boy wering this kilt suit held up the kilt skirt. There does no appear to be any button-on garments. Perhaps he wore suspenders. We are just not sure here. We are in fact not sure jut how kilt skirts wre suspended. Most of the availabke images are of the boys with their jackets and waistcoats one, thus obscuring just how kilt suits were suspended. The suit here does not allow any clues on this. We do note a relatively wide waist line. We are not sure what the purpose of this was.

Other Clothes

One unanswered question we have with many of these kilt suit pages. What other clothes did the boy who wear this kilt suit wear. We are fairly sure that the boy who wore this kilt suit probably wore dresses before he began wearing kilt suits. What we do not know is what this boy would have worn for everyday wear when not dressed up in his kilt suit.






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Created: 8:22 PM 11/14/2005
Last updated: 10:27 PM 11/14/2005