Boys' Leggings and Coats


Figure 1.--This photograph shows a boy wearing a double breasted reefer-style caot with leggings. The photograph is undated, but HBC estimates the 1890s.

It is particularly difficult to determine what clothing boys were wearing with leggings. This is because boys in leggings were commonly photographed wearing their coats over their clothes. More formal photographs without their coats would have often involved removing the leggings as well. The most common type of coat was the double button coat, often a sailor-style reefer jacket.

Coat Types

While it is often not possible to determine the type of clothes boys in clothes were wearing with their coats. It is possible to assess the type of coats. Almost always there were dressy clothes children would wear with formal outfits. The most common type of coat was the double button coat, often a sailor-style reefer jacket.

Headwear

Boys photographed in coats would often be photographed with their caps and hats on. Headwear was at the time a required part of any formal outfit. The hats and caps worn with leggings in the late 19th and darly 20th century were usually wide-brimmed sailor hats or sailor caps of different styles, usually with the associated back streamer. After World War I (1914-18) it was the peaked cap that became increasing popular.




Christopher Wagner

histclo@lycosmail.com



Navigate related Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site cold weather pages pages:
[Return to the Main leggings page]
[Coats] [Knits] [Sweaters] [Winter underwear] [Other cold-weather wear]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Biographies] [Bibliographies] [Contributions]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Created: March 24, 2000
Last updated: March 24, 2000