Boy's Vest and Pants

Boy's Suit, about 1820

The military-looking Eton-style suit was common for young boys in the 19th Century and was used for school or special occasions. This rare example belonged to the Mitchell family of rural New York State (as did the very similar suit numbered 35.596.57). The jacket front is very typical of those worn around 1820. This is a variation of the skeleton suit in which the trouser buttons attached to a shirt or braces rather than the jacket.

Boy's Suit, 1820-1830

The Eton-style suit was common for young boys in the 19th Century and was used for school or special occasions. This rare and rather expensive example belonged to the Mitchell family of rural New York State (as did the very similar suit numbered 35.596.5).The jacket front is very typical of those worn around 1820. The suit is nicely made but not exquisitely so; it is all hand-sewn and of lovely silk fabric. This is a variation of the skeleton suit in which the buttons on the waistband attach to …

Boy's Jacket, 1840-1860

This is a good example of a mid-19th century boy's suit style, made for the "in between" years of a boy too young for an adult male-style trouser suit, and a radical departure from the kinds of suits worn by boys a century before. It might have been part of a spring suit, to be worn with cotton or linen trousers buttoned onto the jacket. It is also an excellent example of the use of velvet for boy's clothes from that era. The lack of seams in the center back also suggests an 1840-1860 constructi…

Boy's Suit and Blouse, 1885-1900

According to the source of purchase, this conventional young boy's black knicker suit belonged to the Linsley Simpson family of Northford, Connecticut. Such Fauntleroy suits became popular after the publication of Frances Hodgson Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy" in 1886. It is not likely that this blouse originally accompanied it - the knickers have buttonholes in the waistband for attaching a blouse waist, and this blouse has no buttons.

Boy's Suit, about 1892

This suit was worn by William Deuel Hailes of Albany, New York.

Boy's Sailor Suit, about 1925

Boy's Suit, about 1920

This is a fine example of an early-to-mid 20th Century knicker suit for a young man of about age ten.

Boy's Suit, 1940

According to the donor, this suit was worn by Richard Royhans Johnson for his first communion, most likely at Visitation Church in Highland Park, Michigan (Johnson was born in Marion, Indiana in the spring of 1941 or 1942). It is a nice example of a shorts suit for a boy moving up from a knicker suit.