Velvet has been used used for boys clothing since specialized boys clothing becamed widely accepted during the late-18th Century. Velvet was a popular material for the skeltons suiys appdaring in the late 18th century. We do not have much information on the early 19th century, but we do notice velvet suits in the mid-19th century. We notice younger boys in many different countries wearing velvet suits. Many images of boys in different countries are archived on HBC. We have not yet linked them here, but plan to do so. A good example is matching velvet suits worn by the Caplain brothers in France during the 1860s. We note two German brothers wearing identical velvet suits in 1864. We also note German brothers in the 1880s. And of course many of the Fauntleroy so popular in America during the late 19th century were velvet suits. In the 20th Century boys dress suits are sometimes made of velvet, especially Eton suits for small boys. It is particularly popular for boys suits around the Christmas holiday season. Velvet trim was commonly used for trim on the lapels of better coats for small children.
Velvet has been used used for boys clothing since specilized boys clothing becamed widely accepted during the late-18th Century. Many better skeleton suits were made from velvet. Skeleton suits were often made in bright colors like red, rather than the more muted colors subsequently used for Fauntleroy suits in the late 19th Century. Velvet was an expensive, luxury fabric. Thus velvet skeleton suits and other velvet garments were mostly worn by aristocratic or wealthy families. I'm not sure how commonly velvet was used in the mid-19th Century after skeleton suits passed out of style. Suits composed of jackets and increasingly knee pants became increasingly common in the 187os. Some were worn with fancy lace collars. Some boys wore these velvet suits and lace collars well before the style was popularized by Mrs. Frances Hogdson Burnett in the 1880s.
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The Fauntleroy suits which first appeared in the 1880s lasted through the 1910s as one of the major styles for boys' party suits. Not all Fauntleroy suits were made in velvet, but it was the most common material for the classic suits. It was generally the material chosen by affluent families for their son's party suit. Most mothers that could afford it, chose velvet in black and other dark colors. There were some exceptions to this for summer suits, but velvet was the most popular material. Colors varied. Black was the most common color, but not nearly aspopular as commonly assumed. Velvet suits in dark hues of royal blue, forrest green, brown, and burgandy were also commonly worn. The Fauntleroy suit was the first choice of many mothers through the 1900s. Less elaborate versions continued into the 1920s, but this basically disappeared from the boys' fashion scene. The Fauntleroy suit was one of the most elaborate ever worn by boys and one of the most unpopular with them.
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We note a variety of other velvet suits desides just Fauntleroy suits in the second half of the 19th century. This included suits for schoolm age boys. The Fauntleroy suit was primarily an outfit for pre-school or very young school-age boys. We see a range of suits being done for older school age boys. Velvet was a luxurious and expensive fabric. Fauntleroy suits for younger boys required very littkle fabric. Older boys suits required much more fabric. This made them expensive. So the images we see of school age boys tend to be boys from well-to-do families. They are not very common, but we do see some in the enormous and growing photographic record. Of course a factor here was the extrodinary industrial expansion at the time in the United States, generating unprecedented wealth and the expansion of the middle class. There were of course ruch kids in Europe, but the expanfing anmerican middle class creating a huge body of well-heeled consumers, probably larger than all of Europe. We see the major suit types, both collar buttoning jackets and lapel jackets (single and double breasted jackets) being done in velvet. Several had piping to accentuate the velvet. Another type, but not very common, was a kind of tuxedo suit worn by an American boy, Roy Chapman Hodgson, in the 1890s.
Velvet suits did not entirely disappear after the Fauntleroy era. Some mothers continued to dress
young boys in velvet suits. The styles were much less elaborate than the orinal Fautleroy suits. Very young boys might be dressed fancy one-piece suits with lace trim or ruffles. These suits had shortpants or blommer-style bottoms. Somewhat older boys no longer worn with lace or ruffled
collars. Peter Pan collars without bows or Eton collars were commonly worn. The jackets were worn like normal suit jackets or the collarless Eton jackets. They were usually worn with short pants, often with white knee socks. This style was geerally associated with wealthy familes or formal events such as the family Christmas or Easter portrait. They were often worn at formal weddings, usually by the ring bearer. The modern velvet suit was not worn with sausage curls, but it was also not commonly worn with short hair styles.
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