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HBC has little information that kilt suits were worn in England. We have rarely noted photographs of English boys wearing kilt suits. We have, however, noted some 19th century images. The few examples we have may just reflect our more limited archiveof English images. English mothers had some idea about how a kilt should be worn, although certainly not as much as Scottish mothers. The decision of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to dress the princes in kilts mean that the boys wore proper Highland kilts. There was, however, no precedence for any kilt-like garments like kilt suits. A Scottish reader has provided an assesment of kilt suits in Scotland and England. His conclusion was that they were not worn in either England or Scotland. The kilt suit appears to have been a destinctly American garment. We have, however, noted a few images of English boys wearing kilt suits. That meant kilt outfits with matching jackets and kilts, rather than tartan kilts. The earliest example is an unidentified boy, perhaps as early as the 1840s. We are, however, not sure about the date. We note Stanley Clulow in 1899 who looks to be wearing a sailor styled kilt suit. Unlike American boys, quite a number of English boys appear to have worn sporans with their kilt suits. We note English boys wearing kilt suits in the 1870s, they probably were worn earlier, but HBC does not have information as to the actual time line or the extent to which they were worn. We also do not know if the kilt suit was a fashion or suggests a Scottish family connection. We note some boys wearing fancy outfits that may be jacketed dresses rather than kilt suits, although it is a little difficult to tell the difference. A good example is Oliver Strachley in 1879.
HBC is not sure how prevalent kilt suits were in England. Queen Victoria popularized Scottish styles during her reign, escpecially by dressing the princes in Scottish kilts. As far as we know, this was always proper Highland dress and not kilt suits. But we do see kilt suits beginn in the 1860s. This apparently was the creation of the fasgion indusdtry trying to capitalize on the popularity of Scottish stylesg. It was not one of the more popular boy's styles, but we do notice a number of boys wearing kilt suits. Not as many as in America, but it was not a rare style. English mothers would have had had some idea about how a kilt should be worn. Certainly not as much as Scottish mothers, but surely more than American mothers. A Scottish reader has provided an assesment of kilt suits in Scotland and England. His conclusion was that they were not worn in either England or Scotland. The kilt suit appears to have been a destinctly American garment. We have, however, noted images of English boys wearing kilt suits, especially in England. That meant kilt outfits with matching jackets and kilts/skirts, rather than tartan kilts like Highland outfits. Unlike American kilt suits, English boy not uncommonly wore Scottish items like sporans with their kilt suits. While not a especially popular style, it certainly was not rare. It would have been an upper and middle-class style. And of course the 19thb century photogrphic record was almost entirly studio photogrsphy dominated by the upper- and middle classes.
We have just begun to build a kilt suit chtonology. This is, however very difficult to do without a substantial archive. And because kilt suits were not nearly as prevalent in Britain as America we can only make prelimanary assesments at this time. The decision of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to dress the princes in kilts mean that the boys wore proper Highland kilts (1840s). There was, however, no precedence for any kilt-like garments like kilt suits. The earliest examples we have look to date from the 1840s, but it is very difficult to destinguish 1840s and 50s Dags. We note an unidentified boy, perhaps as early as the 1840s. If not the 1840s it would have been the 50s. They are not dated examples, only our period estimate. We definitely note English boys wearing kilt suits (1860s). The CDVs are a little eaier to date and it suggests that they were worn earlier, but HBC does not yet have information as to the actual time line or the extent to which they were worn. We are, however, not sure about the date. Ernest hear wrs a kilt suit (1876). We note Stanley Clulow who looks to be wearing a sailor-styled kilt suit (1899). We have not yet found any 20th century image. But given the Clulow 1899 image, surely there were some, although we suspect not very many.
We are not entirely sure about usage. The great majority of the images we have of boys wearing kilt syuits are studio images. This is because 19th century photography was primarily studio photography. Taking a photograph required bulky equipment and the image for the most part had to be processed where taken. More portable cameras were coming on the market and proceses simplified. But simple to use cameras did not come on the market until the turn-of-the 20th century. And by this time the kilt suit was going out of style. Thus we only have limited images showing just when and where kilt suits were being worn. But it appears that the kilt suit was not just a dress-up garment. We see a few images showing boys wearing these outfits as everyday dress. Of course kilt suits were a style primarily worn by boys from families in comfortable circumstances. We do not see working-class boys wearing these garments. This and the age of the boys means that they were mostly being worn around the home.
English boys wore kilt suits in different styles. We have a good idea about the vrious styles because we have a lot of information on American kilt suits. We do not yet have enough images to fully understand the various syles, but we have some information. We notice some done in the same styles as jackets worn with regular knee pants or knicker suits. We see cut-away jackets. The boy here wears a cut-away jacket as part of a kilt suit (figure 1). We also see lapel jackets. These were popular styles for youngr boys suits in the second-half of the 19th century. The suits were normally worn with trousers, including shortned length trousers. We also notice different collar styles with ghe different suits. Notice the small collar here which was stylish in the 1860s. The interesting thing about English kilt suits is that unlike American kilt suits, they were sometimes worn with Highland kilt items like sporans. The boy here is a good example (figure 1). We also notice sailor style kilt suits which seems to have been a popular choice. A good example is Theodore Quintus Studd in 1896. There were also Fauntleroy kilt suits.
There are many garments associated with kilt suits. Many portraits do not incline head wear which was very commonly worn in the 19th century. But unlike many other outfits, when shown we commonly see Scottish bonnets meaning Balmorals or Glengaries. For some reason, almost always we see Glengaries and Balmlorals are rare. This as not the case in America where kilt suits were also worn. In America, Scottish bonnets were not as common. By the 1890s we see a greater variety of head wear. We see a range of different jackets. We see a lot of cut-away jackets. What we do not see is the black military jackets commonly worn with Highland kilt outfits. We see many vests worn with kilt suits. The vest usually matched the jacket and kilt skirt. We see a few worn with sailor blouse tops. An essential part of the kilt suit of course was the kilt skirt. Rarely do we see tartan kilts worn with kilt suits. Most, but not all kilt suits were pleated. The material and pattern of the kilt usually matched the jacket. With Highland kilt out outfits we usually see patterned knee socks. We almost never see this with kilt suits. When kilt suits first appeared, we commonly see kilts suits worn with long stockings. As the century progressed, we see more and more English boys wearing various kinds of socks rather than long stockings. This is a major difference with America, the only other country where kilt suits were worn. In fact, kilt suits were more popular in America than England. And American boys virtually always wore kilt suits with long stockings. British boys by the mid-19th century generally wore long stockings as we begin to see shortened-length pants. Kilts and kilt suits along with dresses for younger boys were the first boys' garments where we begin to see uncovered legs. A fashion that was not followed in America.
Unlike American boys, at least some English boys appear to have worn sporansanf other Scottish sccessories with their kilt suits. We botice some, but only only a few, espedcially with elaborate Scottish accesories. As our archive is so limited that this may suggest that it was not that uncommon. We almost never see this in America.
We also do not know if the kilt suit was a fashion or suggests a Scottish family connection.
We note a variety of dresses that look like kilt suits. We see dresses that look like kilt suits, but are clearly drsses. Some seem to have two skirts. We are not sure why that was done, other than to look like kilt suits. This is all complicated because with the younger children involved you cannot always tell if the children are boys or girls. We see girks wearing jacketed dresses, it was a fashionable styles. We note some boys wearing fancy outfits that may be jacketed dresses rather than kilt suits, although it is a little difficult to tell the difference. A good example is Oliver Strachley in 1879.
The kilt suit was an outfit for boys. The kilt itelf was a male garment and won by both boys and men. And we only see boys wearing kilt suits. Of couse we can not say that girls never wore them, but we see no evidence that they did. The same is true in America for which we have a much larger photographic record. The problem here is that only a few of the portraits have the child identified. In many cases the child's genfer is obvious. Nut some girls had short hair and some boys had long hair. So assessing gender is not as esay as one might think. Kilt suits except for the kilt were very much like the other suits boys might wear. An important fashion consideration at the time was that girls did not wear boys' clothes. Younger boys wore girls' clothes, but girls and women did not wear boys and men's clothes. For this reason we do not think that girls wore kilt suits. And there is no indication in the photographic record that girls did so. We have not found any portraits of children identified as girls. We have found images of some children who look like girls because they have long hair, but as best we can tell they are actually boys.
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