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Little Lord Fauntleroy outfits : Standard lapel jacket types
Fauntleroy Outfits: Standard Lapel Jackets
Figure 1.--This unidentified American boy looks to be about 7 years old. He wears a standard double-breasted jacket. Notice the high cut lapel. The Fauntleroy blouse with large ccalloped collar and matching cuffs and floppy bow turn it into a Fauntleroy outfit. Notice the flap pocket. The pants are knee pants as was usually the case for boys this age at the time. He also has black long stockings and high-top button shoes, standard at the time. The cabinet card portrait is undated, but the pinking edges suggest it was taken between 1888-95, we would guess the early-90s. The sudio was Marion Berry in Monroe City, Missouri. A reader writes, "Note that the boy here has four decorative buttons on his knee pants. Three was standard, but we occassionally see four or two. His haircut looks quite modern for today much less 1880s."
With all the lace, ruffles, ad floppy bows often obcure the fact that boys are not waring Fauntlroy jackers, but standard suit jackers with only Fauntleroy trim added. The appearance is that of a Fauntleroy suit because the Fauntleroy blouses and trim anf floppy bows tend to dominate the outfit. The unidentified Missouri boy here is a good example (figure 1). Standard sack suit jackets with lapels worn with Fauntleroy trim were done in various styles. These were plain suits, but were done with many different variations including lapels and pockets. Here we usually see double-breasted rather than single-breasted jackets, but there was no definitive rule. A good example is Harmon King about 1899. Harmon wears a double-breasted jacket which he has buttoned. Another example is Raymond. J.D. Webb about 1900. He also wears a double-breasted jacket with a Fauntleroy blouse, but his jacket is open. Boys also wore collar-buttoning jackets. These jackets have been stylistic differences. Suits in the late-19th century often had high-set lapels, thus when covered by a large collar the jackets also look like collar-buttoning jackets. Thus actually identifying a Fauntleroy suit and jacket is a little complicated. There were also a range of pocket arrangements.
