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At this time HBC has only limited information on French pantalettes. Thus we can not yet reasonably assess this fashion. We believe they were widely worn in the first half of the 19th Century just as in America and England. In this regard it is likely that French fashion trends concerning pantalettes sugnificantly incluenced America. American fashion magazines did show children wearing pantalettes clearly specifying that they were French styles. The limited information available on France is a serious limitation at any serious assessment of pantalettes. This is a limitation HBC evenntually hopes to rectify. While we have cery limited information at this time, we have noted boys wearing pantalettes in many early 19th century French images. Some French images sho girls wearing fancier panatelles than boys. Other French images show boys and girls wearing virtually identical pantalettes. Chronologiacal trends for pantelettes in Frannce seem quite similar to those in America and England.
At this time HBC has only limited information on French pantalettes. Thus we can not yet reasonably assess this fashion. The limited information available on France is a serious limitation at any serious assessment of pantalettes. This is a limitation HBC evenntually hopes to rectify.
We are not sure at ths time as to the French word for pantalettes. A Canadian reader tells us, "Undoubtfully, the term "pantalettes" comes from French . Every term ending by "ette" is French and signifies a short trouser (un pantalon court ou un petit pantalon) like "corselette" means a small corset. But, curiously, no dictionary, even the Robert Historical Dictionary of French Language (Dictionnaire historique de la langue française) mentions this term. I suspect that this term comes from French but used mainly in Britain instead of "pantalon" which is the word from which pantalettes much have been derived. Thus in Frnce 'pantalon' was appaently used. Pantalettes after all are a form of pantalons/pants. Because France was the place where many important fashions were created during Napoléon III (contemporary of Queen Victoria), many terms were the same in France and Britain. A good example is "crinoline" initiated by the wife of
Napoléon III, Eugénie de Montijo." This is a good point, although we need to mention that many of the French inspired fashions were for women and girls. Britain at the same time inspired many fashions for men and boys.
Our chronological information on pantlettes is limited, but we have begun to build some pasic information. We believe that French boys commonly worn pantalettes in the first half of the 19th Century, at least boys in families with means. It was probably not so common for working-class boys. The same was the case in America and England, but not as common. Our information on the early-19th century is very limited. We know more about mid-century because of the invention of photography. We see boys still wearing pantalettes at mid-century. They were worn with both dresses and tunics. And in available photographs the difference between dresses and tunics seems somewhat blurred. Chronologiacal trends for pantelettes in Frannce seem quite similar to those in America and England, based on the limited French image archive we have at this time. We note Louis Dubois wearing a tunic outfit with pantalettes in the late-1870s. Tghe popularity of pantlettes declined at mid-century, at least pantalettes that were worn long below skirted garments and pants.
In this regard it is likely that French fashion trends concerning pantalettes sugnificantly incluenced America. American fashion magazines did show children wearing pantalettes clearly specifying that they were French styles. While we have very limited information at this time, we have noted boys wearing pantalettes in many early 19th century French images.
Some French images show girls wearing fancier panatelles than boys. Other French images show boys and girls wearing virtually identical pantalettes.
Pantalettes were to a large extent a modesty garment, especially in the mid-19th century. This occurred when hen lines rose after the long Empire dress style of the early 19th century. It was not considered appopriate to have bare legs. It think this injunction may habe been more pronounced and persisted longer in France than Britain and America, but this needs to be confirmed.
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