Figure 1.--This unidentified Minnesota boy wears a summer kilt suit with a fancy long cut-away jacket. The cuffs are done in a military style and match the the front of the cut-away jacket. A white collar spreads out in back and he has a kind of bow tie, a style popular in the 1860s. There is a kind of basic sash which seems to match the bow tie. He holds a dark straw boater with high sides. His outfit is completed with white long stockings which seem to have a dark band or bottom and high-top shoes. This cabinet card portrait was taken June 10, 1879. The boy is not named, but was 4 years old and 10 months. The studio name is something like Limurnnan in St. Paul.

We notice hats which we now know as boaters being worn with kilt suits. We are not sure what they were called at the time. The boater had a flat top and modest brims. It was more common for men, but boys did wear them./ It may have been seen as a type of sailor hat. In many cases they look a little different than modern boaters because the central cilinder is higher. We first notice boaters with kilt suits in the 1870s. The boater was developed earlier in Britain, but this is about the same time we see younger boys wearing them. The boater became very popular for men during the summer, but boys may have begun wearing them first. It is also when we first see larger numbers of kilt suits. We are not sure when they stopped being worn with kilt suits. The hat bands varied. Some were very palin. The boater was a type of straw hat. We notice both natural-colored straw and dark-dyed colored straw. Boaters were worn with other types of suits as well. Girls also wore boaters, but not very commonly and only after the boater had become a well esrabblished style. It was not a dominant style with kilt suits, but we do see several examples.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing kilt pages:
[Return to the Main American kilt suit headwear page]
[Return to the Main American kilt suit page]
[Return to the Main kilt page]
[Scottish kilts] [Scottish boys clothing] [Scottish school uniform] [Highland dance]
[Irish kilts] [Irish boys clothing] [Irish step dancing]
[Greek kilts]

Navigate the Related HBC pages:
[Lace collar] [Boaters] [Neckwear] [Cut-away jackets] [Kilt suits] [Velvet] [Long stockings] [Shoes]

Created: 8:14 AM 9/2/2013
Last updated: 8:14 AM 9/2/2013