Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrair shows two unidentified brothers. They look to be about 5-9 yeats old/ The youngr boy wears a double brasted kilt suit, we thnk dome in velvet. Totice the lace-trimmed collar whih seems to have a sailor back flap. The older boy wears knee pants suit. They have similar staw hats except that the younger boy's hat has soething on the top. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1870s. The studio was Hodgeman in South Lyon, Michigan.

Another factor affecting the wearing of kilt suits along along with age was chronology. We do not see kilt suits before mid-century. From the beginning, 5 years of age was a common age for wearing kilt suits. We see a few in the 1860s, but many more in the 70s. We think more boys wore kilt suits in the 1870s and 80s, than the 1890s, especially the late-90s. The portrait of the boys on the previous page was taken about 1890. The kilt suit at the time was still a very popular garment. This is, however, just our preliminay assessment. We think 5-year olds wore kilt suit throughout this period. We are not sure about the 60s as we have so few examples. We commonly see 5 year olds wearing kilt suits during the 1870s, 80s, and early- even mid-90s. We see 5-year olds wore kilt suits somewhat less commonly in the late-1890s and especially after the turn-of-the century in the 1900s. This is a time-line trend we are still working on. By the end of the 1890s more boys were being breeched earlier. This meant that more 5-year olds were wearing knee pants. The kilt suit after the turn-of-the 20th century declined in popularity as did the convention of dressing boys in skirted garments. We think 6-year olds were more varied chronologically, but 5 year olds commoly wore kilt suits throughout this period. Only the tunic continued to be an extrmely popular skirted garment for boys. The same basic chronological trends seem to have played out for dresses, but over time 5-year olds not yet breeched were more likely to wear kilt suits than dresses. The kilt suit came to be seen was seen as a little more appropriae for oler pre-school boys than dreses. This is a little diffiult to assess despit a very substantial archive of portrait howing boys wearing kilt suits. . Many cabinet cards are dated and others have th aes of the children. The number of portrait that are both dated and have the age of the children are very limite. Thus we have to rely on estimates which intriduce a degree of uncertainty.

The 1850s

Another factor affecting the wearing of kilt suits along along with age was was chronology. We do not see kilt suits before mid-century.

The 1860s

From the beginning, we believe that 5 years of age was a common age for wearing kilt suits. We only see a few boys in the 1860s wearing kilt suits. So this neds to be confirmed for this decade. We are not entirely sure about the 60s yet as we have so few examples.

The 1870s

We see many American more boys wearing kilt suits in the 1870s, including 5-year olds. We think that more boys were earing kilt suits in the 1870s. The photographic record is a good relection of the actual prevalence. We think the portrait here was taken in the 1870s (figure 1), but we cannot confirm that yet. We think 5-year olds wore kilt suit throughout the late-19th centuries. We commonly see 5 year olds wearing kilt suits during the 1870s, 80s, and early- even mid-90s. We think 6-year olds were more varied chronologically, but 5 year olds commoly wore kilt suits throughout this period.

The 1880s

We continue to see many American boys, including 5-year olds wearing kilt suits in the 1880s. It ws a major fashion for pre-school boys. Unike the 1860s, we have a very substantialarchieve of studio portraits to confirm this.

The 1890s

We continue to see American boys wearing kilt suits in the 1890s. This included 5-year olds, at least during the early- and mid-1890s. The portrait of the boys on the previous page was taken about 1890. The kilt suit at the time was still a very popular garment. This is, however, just our preliminay assessment. We see 5-year olds wore kilt suits somewhat less commonly in the late-1890s and especially after the turn-of-the century in the 1900s. This is a time-line trend we are still working on. By the end of the 1890s more boys were being breeched earlier. This meant that more 5-year olds were wearing knee pants. Thus while images of boys wearing drsses in the 1890s, especially aftr mid-decade decline substantilly the kilt suit persisted as an important fashion in the 1890s. There is a very large photographic record to work with, but dting the actual date as to the early and late-1890s is more difficult.

The 1900s

The kilt suit after the turn-of-the 20th century declined very sharpely in popularity as did the convention of dressing boys in skirted garments. We see a few boys weaing kilt suits n the early-1900s, but this was very rare for 5-year olds. Only the tunic continued to be an exrmely popular skirted garment for boys. The same basic chronological trends seem to have played out for dresses, but over time 5-year olds not yet breeched were more likely to wear kilt suits than dresses. The kilt suit came to be seen was seen as a little more appropriae for older pre-school boys than dresses. .

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Created: 12:00 AM 7/3/2014
Last updated: 3:53 PM 5/2/2015