Figure 1.--This little American boy was probably photographed in the 1890s. He wears a sailor-style tam which is coordinated with his dress.

We are not sure what kind of headwear boys in dresses wore. This is difficult to assess because most portraits of boys wearing dresses are indoors portraits and the mothers involved have generally removed the child's hat to better show the child's hair and face. What we do not know is if the child wore girlish or boyish headwear styles. Nor do we know if the conventions changed over time. We do know that that some boys wore girls' hats and bonnets. We also know that some boys wore more boyish headwear like Scottish glengaries and sailor hats and caps. We believe that trends vared over time. Our general assessment is that boys with dresses wore girlish headwear in the early 19th century, but were more likely to wear boyish headwerar by the late 19th century. This is, however, only a working hypothesis and we do not yet have sufficent images to draw any form conclusions. There may be differences ampng countries, but we are not yet able to asess this.

Research Problem

We are not sure what kind of headwear boys in dresses wore. This is difficult to assess because most portraits of boys wearing dresses are indoors portraits and the mothers involved have generally removed the child's hat to better show the child's hair and face. HBC relies heavily on the photographic record for our assessments. Thus this is a significant limitation.

Alternatives

What we do not know is if the child wore girlish or boyish headwear styles. Nor do we know if the conventions changed over time. We do know that that some boys wore girls' hats and bonnets. An example here is an English boy during the 1880s. We notice another example, Frederick James Robb, an American boy in 1900. We also know that some boys wore more boyish headwear like Scottish glengaries and sailor hats and caps.Here we see a younger American boy wearing a sailor-style tam, probably in the 1890s (figure 1). We believe that trends vared over time.

Chronological Trends

Our general assessment is that boys with dresses wore girlish headwear in the early 19th century, but were more likely to wear boyish headwerar by the late 19th century. This is, however, only a working hypothesis and we do not yet have sufficent images to draw any form conclusions. One problen here is that before photograohy was developed, there were very few images made--mostly painted portraits. Thus we have much less information on the early than the late 19th century.

Countries

There may be differences among countries, but we are not yet able to assess this because are archives of images is still quite limited..

Headwear Styles

Some of the most popular headwear styles worn with dresses are bonnets, sailor-style headwear, and Sciottish headwear such as glengaries and tam 0'shanters.

Created: 8:14 PM 6/3/2005
Last updated: 3:13 AM 6/8/2006