The Little Lords: Analysis of male children’s fashion in the first half of the 20th century (1905-1958)

This article seeks to analyze the peak of the phenomenon of dressing boys as "little lords," its decline and disappearance during the first half of the 20th century. This style of clothing became known through the children's book "Little Lord Fauntleroy" by Frances Hodgson B...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Magno, Isabela Brasil
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2024
Country:Brasil
Institution:Associação Brasileira de Estudos e Pesquisas em Moda (Abepem)
Repository:Revista dObra[s]
Language:Portuguese
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.dobras.emnuvens.com.br:article/1761
Online Access:https://dobras.emnuvens.com.br/dobras/article/view/1761
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Indumentária
Infância
Meninos
Lorde
Moda
Clothing
Childhood
Boys
Lord
Fashion
Description
Summary:This article seeks to analyze the peak of the phenomenon of dressing boys as "little lords," its decline and disappearance during the first half of the 20th century. This style of clothing became known through the children's book "Little Lord Fauntleroy" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Two Brazilian publications are used as sources to examine the trajectory of this style: the children's magazine "O Tico-Tico" and the women's publication "Anuário das Senhoras," in addition to Burnett's own book and its representations in theater and cinema. Through these sources, it discusses the patterns of children's clothing (especially for boys) in the first half of the 20th century and the various transformations they underwent. The main references for this study include the works of Philippe Ariès, Jo B. Paoletti, and Gilda de Mello e Souza. Finally, reflections are drawn on how concepts like sweetness, tenderness and beauty, which shaped an ideal of childhood masculinity in the 1900s and 1910s, gradually disappeared and were supplanted by values such as strength and bravery.