Figure 1.--This is another portrait of the boy, surely taken on the same day as the drummer portrait, but it is possibkle the boy returned on a different day. If you look closely you can see two unexplaimed differences. First, mother has removed the white hanky from the kilt skirt pocket. Second, his white sockinfs were replaced with plaid stockings. The pants look to be aboutthe same color as the suit, but not done in plaid.

The boy is wearing an early kilt suit. Bright plidas as we see here were common with the early suits. And note the kilt skirt is not pleated. The small collars and white stockings were common in the 1860s. You can see the buttons from the blouse on the waist band. Often waist babds like these were used to cover the buttons. He looks to be about 5 years old. Notice the kiltsuit has a pocket with a hannky tucked into it. A HBC reader has provided detailed assessment of the boy's kilt suit. "I think it is worth noting that both images show the child in plaid kilt suits. And both plaid kilt suits have trousers visible beneath the skirt. I cannot tell if they are different because one image is tinted and the other appears not to be. However both images have a lapeless jacket with velvet or velveteen piping on the placket of the jacket to accent the curve of the jacket and on a diagonal on the sleeve by the cuff. The skirt which has a band top that appears to button to the shirt waist also has velvet accent a few inches above the skirt hem. The skirt also has a pocket which appears to be holding something white in the image of the boy with a drum. I cannot tell if the trousers also has a velveteen piping. The shirt appears to have pleats down the front and a small collar which appears to be pinned on but both are a guess. The shirt has starched cuffs to match the shirt front and are plain rather than ruffle or lace trimmed. I don’t think the boy has a bow but that too is a guess. In the image with the drum the boy is either wearing white stockings or his underwear is visible. In the image by the chair the boy appears to be wearing dark or plaid stockings. In both cases the boy is wearing high top shoes and I believe they are button on but that is a guess. In the drum image the boy wears a kind of pill box hat with center button and it probably has a chin strap but that is impossible to tell for sure from the image." We are not sure about the cap. It cerainly as our reader suggests looks like a pillbox cap. Glengaries were more common. There is no bow, but there is some kind of dark material. This nioght be a connection betweem the two sides of the jacket. The boy is wearing pants with his kilt suit. This was not uncommon, but varied from family to family. They look to be knee pants and not pantalettes like many boys wore with kilts. It is difficult to make out the material. They may be a dark color with plaid trim, but the second image looks a little different.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing kilt pages:
[Return to the Main American 1860s kilt suit and top hat family page]
[Return to the Main American kilt suit 1860s page]
[Return to the Main American kilt suit chronology page]
[Return to the Main American kilt suit page]
[Return to the Main kilt page]
[Lace collar] [Floppy bows] [Cut-away jackets] [Kilt suits] [Stiped long stockings] [Shoes]
[Scottish kilts] [Scottish boys clothing] [Scottish school uniform] [Highland dance]
[Irish kilts] [Irish boys clothing] [Irish step dancing]
[Greek kilts]

Created: 5:07 AM 10/14/2022
Last updated: 1:42 AM 10/15/2022