Figure 1.--This American boy, Robert Hode, wears such a large lace collar that it is difficult to see what kid of jacket he wears with his his above-the-knee knicker suit. Note the elegant white bow. Click on the image for an enlargement of the lace collar. |
Many other types of suits were worn with lace trim added. Often lace night be added to a boys first adult looking suit and he might wear it with a floppy bow for a year or two. Other boys might wear a Russian blouse type suit with lace trim. Many other suit types were worn with lace collars. Often these were collars that were just pinned on to the suit. Boys of a wide variety of ages might wear these suits with lace collars. Usually they were boys up to 10 or 11, but some older boys might also wear them. Hair styles also varied. Boys were most likely to wear long ringlet curls with Fauntleroy suits when wearing lace collars. Some boys wearing other suits, however, were still swearing ringlets. The lace collars worn with suits varied widely. Some were small modest lace collars. Others were very large, covering much of the boys suiyt jacket.
Many other types of suits were worn with lace trim added. Some included rather mature styles that some mothers felt that were not quite suitable for their sons without a little fancy trim.
Often lace night be added to a boys first adult looking suit, like a Norfolk or Suffolk suit. The boy might wear it with a floppy bow for a year or two. Then if he had not outgrown it, he would wear the same suit with a more mature looking collar.
Other boys might wear a Russian blouse type suit with lace trim. Thr Russian blouse suit was mostly worn as a tunic suit with the tunic jacket extending almost to the boys' knees. Others were worn wuth shorter tunics that looked more like jackets. These outfits had high collars without any lapels. They were worn with knicker-style pants, usuallu above the knee lengths.
Tuxedos were not a suit normally worn with lace collars. We note one American boy with a tuxedo-like garmet that also had a lace collar. It was a suit made for public oratorial performance. He was Roy Chapman Hodgson who was photographed in the 1890s.
Several other suit types were worn with lace collars.
The collars worn on these various types of suits were almost always detachable collars. They were just pinned on to the suit. HBC is not sure if there were conventions associated with these collars. HBC is sure age was a factor. But the occasion for which a boy was dressing up may have also been a factor. The lace collar may have just been added on a boys suits for special occasions.
The lace collars worn with suits varied widely. Some were small modest lace collars. Others were very large, covering much of the boys suit jacket. The collar size was in part affected by the type of suit the boy was wearing. Relatively small, modest lace collars would be worn with the more mature suit styles, like a Norgolk suit. Rather big lace collars could be worn with Russian blouse suits.
As with other garments. Lace collars with these suits were worn with and without floppy bows. It was more common to wear them with floppy bows, but many were worn without.
American boys gebnerally wore suits with long stockings. Dark colored stockings were the most common, but zome light colored summer suits were worn with white stickings. French boys were more likely to wear three-quarter length socks.
Quite young boys might wear Russian blouse suits. The more mature looking suits like Norfolk suits were generally made in sizes beginning at about age 8 years. Boys of a wide variety of ages might wear these suits with lace collars. Usually they were boys up to 10 or 11, but some older boys might also wear them.
Hair styles also varied. Boys were most likely to wear long ringlet curls with Fauntleroy suits when wearing lace collars. Some boys wearing other suits, however, were still swearing ringlets. Although relatively rare, some boys even wore ringlets with hair bows.
While we have no information on the Robert Hode, the boy in figure 1, we have attempted to analize his outfit in more detail. While we discuss the kace coillar here, we thought that there were other aspects of Robert's outfit that needed to be assessed.
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