Figure 1.--This brother looks to be about 6 years old. He wears a blouse-like jacket and kneepants with ringlet curls and a hairbow.
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Figure 1.--This brother looks to be about 6 years old. He wears a blouse-like jacket and kneepants with ringlet curls and a hairbow. |
HBC has noticed two brothers, probably about 1895, that were dressed in identical kneepants suits with a tunic-like jacket. These boys appeared to come from a middle class, not a wealthy family. The boys wear identical ringlet curls and hairbows. Curriously, they were not photographed together, but rather separetly on the same day. The boys look to be about 6 years old.
In other families the boys woud wear both similar or identical clothes and identical hair styles. Some parents, presumably it was usually the mothers idea, wanted to dress the their sons identically. We have little information yet on the family dynamics involved here. We do know, however, that in many family's it was the father who would eventually make the decission to have a boy's hair cut--usually earlier than the mothers would have liked. HBC has generally felt that the families in which boys wore long hair, especially ringlets and hair styles came from affluent families. This did not mean necessarily just wealthy bfamilies, but also comfortable middle class families. We believe this because the time needed to maintain long hair anf ringlets on a small boy required a mother who stayed home and in many cases had dometic help. A HBC contributor maintaind that the suits the boys wear might have come from Sears. This would seem to indicate that the family was not wealthy, but this does not mean that the family wasn't affluent. HBC for example thinks that the family was probably affluent enough to educate the boys at home. The older boy would appear to be school age, but we do not think he would have worn ringets to school. Although even this is not certain.
The portraits are not dated. HBC would date them to the later 1890s. One of the reasons for this is the rather small collar bows. Also the style of ringlets is different than the classic Fauntleroy suits. They appear to be two very thick side rinflets rather than a number of more narrow ringets, having the look of the 1890s. The shoes also look more modern than those worn in the 1880s or even the early 1890s.
The boys or not twins. If they were twins they almost cetainly would have been photographed together. Unfortunately we do not know the names of the boys or anthing about them.
We do not know when the boys were breeched or what they wore as younger boys. The ringlets and hairbows suggest that their mother very carefully looked after them and they may have well outfitted them in dresses very recently before these portraits were taken. On the other hand there were intermediate steps in between dresses and kneepants that boys might wear, such as kiltsuits or tunics. It could be that economic factors were involved here. The boys' outfit were probably less expensive, for example, tha a kilt suit. It may be that the two boys, despite teir different ages, may have been breeched at the same time to keep them dressed alike.
These boys wear exactly the same outfits. As the image is very clear, there are several interesting aspects that HBC notices about the outfits.
The boys both wear white or a very light-colored hair and collar bows. In fact the only discernable difference that HBC can make out is tht the older boy seems to wear a larger hair bow and collar bow. The bow also does not appear to knotted in a neat bow knot as most were in the late 19th centry.
I'm not sure just what the proper name for this out fit is. Iy is somewhat similar to a middy blouse. Note the back flap, but there is no sailor "V" ffont. A HBC reader reports that these are definatly middle class boys because the clothes look like they were bought from a Sears catalog.
Figure 2.--This boy looks to be an older brother. He may be 7 or perhaps 8 years old. Note the differences in the hairbows and collar bows. |
It looks like they are wearing some kind of lacy blouse or undergarment beneath the jackets. It is visible at both the neck and cuffs. I have not commonly noted this garment before and at this point do not quite know how to clasify it. I'm not sure about the color or the material. One HBC reader reports, "I think the lace at the cuffs and neck are part of the blouse sewed to the inside of the cuff and neck."
The boys wear kneepants. Note the three buttons at hem. Also notice that kneepants did not have a crease.
The boys wear long black stockings.
The boys wear quite an elaborate hair style. They wear very large sde ringlets. There is a double side part. I'm not sure how many rnglets there are in back. This of course must have A HBC reader reports, "Since most families were large, the hair curling could have been done by older sisters as well as the Mother and was probably more often applied to the "babies" (younger children) of the family. What is not clear to HBC is whether their hair was done like this on special occassions or if thet always wore it like this. One would assume that the hairbow must have been just for secial occassions, but I'm not sure about the ringkets.
A hairbow tops the hair between the double part. The younger boy wears a ribbon tied into a bow. The boys have realitvely large hairbows. Often the hair bows worn by boys were smaller. The older boy wears a bow that looks to be pinned into the hair. Most girls hair bows today can be bought in stores. Maybe the same was true then.
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