American Little Lord Fauntleroy Suits: Ringlet Curl Hair Styles--Age Trends

Figure 1.-- Most of the images we have found of American boys wearing Fauntleroy suits and ringlet curls are pre-school boys. Once boys begin attending school at age 6 years we see fewer boys wearng Fauntleroy suits abd even fewer with ringlet curls. We see many examples of older boys with Fauntleroy elements, but not the classic Fauntleroy suits. while the numbers fell with each additional year, but we note boys as old as 13 years wearing Fauntleroy suits and ringlet curls, like this unidtified boy. The cap looks a little strange, but we notice boys with Fauntleroy suits and ringlets wearing many different caps.

Age affected both when a boy's curls were cut as well as the age of wearing Fauntleroy suits. Most boys had their curls cut at about age 3-4 years. Social class factors were involved here. Working-class boys were likely to have their curls cut earlier if they had them at all. Thus the great majority of photographic portraits of boys wearing fancy hair styles were pre-school boys, about 3-4 years old. The age range for Fauntleroy suits was similar, but a little different. Fauntleroy suits were quite popular for boys throughh ages 4-5 years. Boys did not wear Faumtleroy suits to school when they began at age 6 years. Some boys did not attend school or might have a Fauntleroy suit for best wear. And we see a range of school age boys wuth fAuntleroy elemets, the numbers werearin Fauntleroy suits was much smaller. Both hair styles and clothing was lagely at the mother whim if the family was affluent enough to endulge in fashionable dress andthe rising affluence of the United states meant that many mothers were. And as relatively few middle-class women of any means worked, they had a good deal of time on their hands. These trends meant that most boys above the age of 4 years wore Fauntleroy suits with short hair. And the older they git the more likely rhey were to have short hair and the less likely to wear Fauntleroy suits. This leads to a complication. After age 6 years, Fauntleroy suits were less and less common. Any the same mothers who insisted that older boys wear Fauntleroy suits wee probanly the same to whom ringlet curls appealed. Thus boys older boys wearing Fauntleroy suits were probably more likely than the average boy to wear ringlet curls. Another complication is the children of well to do families who were raised and schooled at home with a tutor . These boys had less contact with other boys outsude the family. They as a result might wear Fauntleroy suits and curls beyonf the age of other boys.

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Created: 9:56 AM 7/23/2016
Last updated: 9:56 AM 7/23/2016