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Fauntleroy items were used in age grading. This was not a practice just connected with Fauntleroy suits. Fauntleroy styling was just one of the many styles used inage grading. It was the most important style used in the late-19th century. It was commom;ly used in the late 19th and very early-20th century. This was the practice of using clothing to emphazize age differences in children. This was a common practice for families at a time when it was common to have large families. We note younger boys switching from skirts/kilts to knee pants Fauntleroy suits. The primary Fauntleroy items used for age grading somewhat older boys were floppy bows and lace or ruffle collars. We note instances in which boys might wear similar or even identical non-Fauntleroy suits and the yonger boys wear the Fauntleroy items. And single boys might wear a suit with a floppy bow and Fauntrleroy collar for a year or two and then wear the same suit with more mature collars and neckwear. The paticular items, suit styles and ages of the boys varied from family to family and somewhat chronologically over the two decades that the Fauntleroy suit was a popilar style.
Sometunes the differentation is vet sharp without nuch differenbce in age s we see here (figure 1). Other times we seea much more gradual process with more graditions. This does not seem to have been a chromplogical matter as the Fauntleroy era was fairly short. It seems to hve been simply a matter of family, meaning the mother's fashion sense and preferences
Fauntleroy items were used in age grading. This was not a practice just connected with Fauntleroy suits. Fauntleroy styling was just one of the many styles used inage grading. It was the most important style used in the late-19th century. It was commom;ly used in the late 19th and very early-20th century. This was the practice of using clothing to emphazize age differences in children. This was a common practice for families at a time when it was common to have large families.
We note younger boys switching from skirts/kilts to knee pants Fauntleroy suits. The primary Fauntleroy items used for age grading somewhat older boys were floppy bows and lace or ruffle collars. We note instances in which boys might wear similar or even identical non-Fauntleroy suits and the yonger boys wear the Fauntleroy items. And single boys might wear a suit with a floppy bow and Fauntrleroy collar for a year or two and then wear the same suit with more mature collars and neckwear.
There was no precisely established process for age grading. The paticular items, suit styles and ages of the boys varied from family to family. There does not sem to have been an important chronolgical difference over the two decades that the Fauntleroy suit was a popilar style. This did not really change until the early-20th century when the Fautleroy style rapidly declined in popularity.
There were no precise age steps. Mothers varied on this, but there some general pattrns that can be observed in the photographic record. This is not always easy to tell using the photographic record. If the age between the children is close than the age can be inferred fairly easily. If there is a gap in the children's ages than it is much more difficult to tell. Photography was a well-established family tradition by the time the Fauntleroy craze began. There is thus a wealth of images from which we can assess specific year age trends. Usually the ages are not given, but can be estimated to a fair degree of accuracy. The photographs tell us very definitively at what age various styles were worn, but unless the children are close in age, we can not tell precisely when the changes were made.
The rate of change in age grading varied. Sometimes the differentation is very sharp without a very sharp age level at wgich time everything changes as we see here (figure 1). Other times we seea much more gradual age gadiation process is gradualith more graditions. This does not seem to have been a chromplogical matter as the Fauntleroy era was fairly short. It seems to hve been simply a matter of family, meaning the mother's fashion sense and preferences
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