ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the element of fashion in the making of boys’ clothing. This will be done through the analyses of sets of visual documents from mass manufacturers, bespoke tailors, and female dressmakers. The focus on visual documents is partly pragmatic, as some of the archives contained only images with little accompanying text. The chapter evaluates these views by investigating each of the main forms of clothing provision in turn. It considers large numbers of designs for mass production were registered in the Board of Trade archive. The chapter also examines the contribution of bespoke tailors to clothing provision for boys, using the Tailor and Cutter and a manual on boys’ clothing by the same publisher. It then examines dressmaking patterns for boys sold by Butterick & Company and by Myra’s Journal and discusses the limitations of the dressmaking skills taught in Board Schools.
