Figure 1.-- This unidentified working-class New York City boy wears a rather tattered double-breasted suit jacket, fairly standard at the time. The photograph would have been taken about 1905. The bulding in the background would not have been the family house, but the etrance to a tenament.

Double-breasted jacket suits continued to be popular in the early-20th century. The 1900s decade may have been the peak of their popularity. The photographic record shows countless examoles. There were no social-class factor or regional differennces involved, it was just the accepted fashion of the day. Double-breasted suits were fairly standard at the turn-of-the 20th century (1900s). We see quite a number of boys and adult men wearing them, more than single-breased suits. They were commonly worn by school-age boys, usually with knee pants. The photographic record shows that the style was very widespread. We see many American boys of all ages wearing them, usually with knee pants including many teenagers and not just younger teenagers. Many boys had double-breasted suits for formal occassions. Many younger boys wore them with Fauntleroy blouses. A good example is Raymond J.D. Webb about 1900. The Fauntleriy suit was was going out of style, but the fauntleroy bloyse persisted a little longer and thus meant that some boys wore the fancy blouses with double-breasted jackets. Mail order catalogs also show how double-breasted styling predominated in the decade. The mail order catalogs of the day show many more offerings than are common today, but mostly the various skews were differet colors and fabrics, not alternative jacket styles. Brtish school uniforms impacted fashions. Private schools had uniforms which almost always were single breasted blazers or suit jackets. This had an impact on general boys wear.

Popularity

Double-breasted suits were fairly standard at the turn-of-the 20th century (1900s). Double-breasted jacket suits continued to be popular in the early-20th century. We see countless exampls in the photograhic record. We also see many offerings in the catalogs offerings. Mail order catalogs also show how double-breasted styling predominated in the decade. The mail order catalogs of the day show many more offerings than are common today, but mostly the various skews were differet colors and fabrics, not alternative jacket styles. The 1900s decade may have been the peak of their popularity.

Demographics

Social Class There were no social-class factor or regional differennces involved, it was just the accepted fashion of the day.

Ages

We see quite a number of boys and adult men wearing dounlr-breastedsuits. Far morethan single-breased suits. They were commonly worn by school-age boys, usually with knee pants. The photographic record shows that the style was very widespread. We see many American boys of all ages wearing them, usually with knee pants including many teenagers and not just younger teenagers.

Formality

Many boys had double-breasted suits for formal occassions. Many younger boys wore them with Fauntleroy blouses. A good example is Raymond J.D. Webb about 1900. The Fauntleriy suit was was going out of style, but the fauntleroy bloyse persisted a little longer and thus meant that some boys wore the fancy blouses with double-breasted jackets.

School Uniforms

Brtish school uniforms impacted fashions. Private schools had uniforms which almost always were single-breasted blazers or suit jackets. This had an impact on general boys wear, inluding American trends.

Jacket Styling

There were a variety of stylistic features associated with doube-breasted suit jackets. The most important were lapels, buttons, and the pockets. The double-breasted jackets we see in the 1900s have small, high-set lapels. Notched alpels were standard. We normally see six buttons in two vertical rows. Normally the buttons were choen to blend in with the color of the suit, not to contrast and send out. We also see pockets. Placement and the type of pockets varied. We mostly see flap side pockets in America.

Pants

We mostly see Americvan boys werting double-breasted jackets with knee pants durng the 1900s decade. Knee pants normaly had two or three ormamntal side buttons at the knee hem. The bettr done suits almost always had three buttons. At the end of the year we begin to see knickers In Europe both knicker and knee oants were worn.

Tops and Neckwear