Figure 1.--Headwear was still seen essenbtial for properdress in thge eaely 20th cenbtury. This included children as well as adults. These boys in 1905 certainly look American. The cabinet card mount, however, does not look American. The portrait does illustrate headwear styles in the early 20th century. One of the older brothers wears a bowler hat and their little brother wearing a flat cap with a sailor suit.

We see a wide variety of headwear in the modern era, changing chronologically over time and varying from country to country. There were also notable social class differences over time. The tri-corner hat was the standard headwear during the 18th century. We see more varied styles in the 19th century. Hats were the most common headerar, but we do begin to see caps, especially in the second half of the century. And because of the invention of photography, we can follow this in some detail. It is only in the 19th century that we begin to see headwear specifically made for children. And some styles were quite impressive. Wide-brimed sailor hats were popular for younger boys. Yoonher boys wore them with Little Lord Fauntleroy suits. More common were a range of different sailor caps. And there were boaters boaters for older boys. A good example of hat styles isthe headwear wotn by the Clark boys (1897). By this time caps were becoming even more popular for boys, but hatsere still common. Caps had been necoming increasingly popular in the late-19th century and became the dominant style for boys in the 20th century. Although in the early-20th century, older teenagers often switched to hats. This caried from country to country over time. Some styles are iconic, berets (France), flat caps (America), and school caos (England). Headwear in general became much less common after World War II, especially in the 1960s. You almost never see children wearing hats anymore. But caps are worn. The American baseball cap became a popular style.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1880s] [The 1890s] [The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s]
[The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s]
[The 1970s] [The 1980s]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Youth group headwear] [School uniform] [Kilts] [National styles] [Fauntleroy suits] [Sailor suits] [Sailor hats]

Created: 4:29 AM 8/26/2015
Last updated: 4:29 AM 8/26/2015