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One interesting apepect is how the Fauntleroy suit fits into the overall family clothing picture. We note a range of family portraits. Families tended to be larger in the 19th century. So families which several children were fairly common. Normally it is the youngest boy or two that wears a Fauntleroy suit. Given the age spread of the children in a normal family, there were usually only about two boys the right age for Fauntleroy suits. This could be extended somewhat if mother dressed a younger boy in a Fauntleroy likt suit ir dress. Or if she continued dressing an older boy in Fauntleroy suits into the school years. This was basically at the descression of the mother who had much wuder latitudes at the time than is the case today. We have noted three boys in Fauntleroy suits. I've never seen a family with four boys wearing Fauntleroy suits, but I wouldn't say that there ws no such families. This depended on part as to whether their were girls in family as well. Another factor was to what age the boys wore their Fauntleroy suits, this varied somewhat from family to family. We notice the other children in the family waring all kinds of outfits, it part depending on their age. This of course is best viewed in family photographs.
One interesting apepect is how the Fauntleroy suit fits into the overall family clothing picture. We note a range of family portraits. Families tended to be larger in the 19th century. So families which several children were fairly common. Normally it is the youngest boy or perhaps two that wears a Fauntleroy suit. So in most family period portraits there is only one boy wearing a Fauntleroy suit. We notice the other children in the family wearing all kinds of outfits, it part depending on their age. This of course is best viewed in family photographs.
It was mothers of course who were entralled with the Fauntleroy styles for their sons. Mrs. Burnett started in and mothers throughout America and to a lesser extent eagerly picked up on it. Mothers at the time lovely all the ruffles and frills and saw no reason why boys should not be dressed up in the fancy outfits. We think this in part explains the decline of the centuries-old convention of dressing boys in dresses and other skirted garments. These skirted garments like kilt suits were much less fancy than the Fauntleroy outfits. In fact they could be quite plain. Early in the 19th century, younger boys and girls wore dresses that were basically identical. By the late-19th century boys might still wear dresses, but they tended to be more plain than those worn by their sisters. And we see quite a number of portraits of mothers with their boys outfitted in Fauntleroy suits, commonly full suits with the fancy Fauntleroy blouses that so mothers thought so endearing.
We also notice group portraits of just the children. Given the age spread of the children in a normal family, there were usually only about two boys the right age for Fauntleroy suits. We notice a few boys wearing both different and identical Fauntleroy suits. This involved both the suits and the fancy Fauntleroy blouses. We have noted three boys in Fauntleroy suits. I've never seen a family with four boys wearing Fauntleroy suits, but I wouldn't say that there ws no such families. This depended on part as to whether their were girls in family as well. We have found a few of these portraits with two boys, but three boys are very rare.
We note sisters wearing a wide range of dress sttles. Unlike sailor suits, we have not noted mothers trying to coordinate brothers and sisters with the Fauntleroy styles, either identical or coordinated. There may have well been such efforts, but we have not yet found examples. Instead we see sisters wearing quite a range of dress styles. Some were very fancy like Fauntleroy suits, but not coordinated with them. All group images show girls wearing dresses with brothers wearing Fautleroy outfits. We do not see the sisters wearing blouses and skirts. At the time of course boys done up in Fauntleroystyles were wearing blouses or pin on fancy collars. We are collecting information on sister dresses to expand this section.
This could be extended somewhat if mother dressed a younger boy in a Fauntleroy likt suit ir dress. Or if she continued dressing an older boy in Fauntleroy suits into the school years. This was basically at the descression of the mother who had much wider latitudes at the time than is the case today. Another factor was to what age the boys wore their Fauntleroy suits, this varied somewhat from family to family.
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