Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait show an unidentified brother and sister. They look tobve abouut 5-8 years old. Notice that both have razor center parts. The girl wears a dark dress with baloon sleeves. The boy wears a double breasted suit with Fautleroy trim. The girl's dress helps to date the portrait to about 1895. The boy's outfit and mount style also suggest the 1890s. The studio was Fermann in Stoughton, Wisconsin.

Older boys with center hair parts were not very common in the 19th century, at least until the 1890s. Thus the part was perhaps the most accurate gender indictor uring the 19th century. Not perfect to be sure, but a very reliable indicator. Suddenly for some reason, center parts for boys become stylish. We are not sure why. Perhaps it was all the boys with ringlet curls who had center parts and perhaps continued to maintain the part after the curls were cut. Or perhaps the reason behind the sudden popularity is like many new fashions simply unknown. Center parts were standard for girls throughout the century. In fact they were so prevalent that they are a good indicator of gender in early portraits. The only major exceptions we have found or younger boys with ringlet curls intil the 1890s when we see older boys in the 90s with fashionable center parts. By this time the convention of younger boys wearing dresses had begun to decline and clothing become an increasingly important indicator of gender, even for younger boys.

Created: 1:54 AM 6/6/2016
Last updated: 1:54 AM 6/6/2016