Little Lord Fauntleroy

Lord Fauntleroy Writes a Letter
From the 1886 Book

Growing up I vaguely remember hearing someone (maybe myself) described as a "Little Lord Fauntleroy".  I equated the description as looking like a sissy or a boy not recognized as boyish. In my secret world, I loved the concept of being a sissy, desiring to dress as a girl and be recognize as such. However, my outside person saw the need to fit in with the neighborhood boys, so I hid and buried deep my internal sissy.  

Just recently I did some research into the ""Little Lord Fauntleroy" movement of the late nineteenth century.  (Before my time. And I am sticking by that.)   

"Little Lord Fauntleroy" is a novel by the English-American writer Frances Hodgson Burnett, her first children's novel. It was published as a serial in St. Nicholas Magazine from November 1885 to October 1886 (common for that day), then as a book by Scribner's publishing  in 1886.

Boy photographed in a
Little Lord Fauntleroy suit.

It is written that Little Lord Fauntleroy "was the Harry Potter of it's time and Frances Hodgson Burnett was as celebrated for creating him as J.K. Rowling is for Potter." It was published as a serial (common for that day) in St Nicholas magazine and readers looked forward to new installments. The fashions in the book became popular, with velvet Lord Fauntleroy suits being sold, as well as other Fauntleroy merchandise such as velvet collars, playing cards, and chocolates. During a period when sentimental fiction was the norm, and in the United States the "rags to riches" story popular, Little Lord Fauntleroy was a hit.  


The stories and book's impact on children's fashion was enormous. The Fauntleroy suit, (also known as the Buster Brown suit) so well described by Burnett and realized in Reginald Birch's detailed pen-and-ink drawings, created a fad for formal dress for American middle-class children



From the Book: 

What the Earl saw was a graceful, childish figure in a black velvet suit, with a lace collar, and with lovelocks waving about the handsome, manly little face, whose eyes met his with a look of innocent good-fellowship. — Little Lord Fauntleroy

I believe a Americanized version of Little Lord Fauntleroy (Buster Brown) came later and started as a comic strip character in 1902.  I remember as a child getting "Buster Brown Shoes" and seeing illustration of the fictional Buster Brown.  "Oh yuck" my outside self commented, all the while longing to be dressed that way - and more.  Anyone else remember Buster Brown Shoes? I think they had an androgynous "Mary Jane" look with a strap and buckle. 


The Fauntleroy suit appeared in Europe as well but nowhere was it as popular as in America. The classic Fauntleroy suit was a velvet cut-away jacket and matching knee pants, worn with a fancy blouse and a large lace or ruffled collar. These suits appeared right after the publication of Burnett's story (1885) and were a major fashion for boys until after the turn of the 20th century. Many boys who did not wear an actual Fauntleroy suit wore suits with Fauntleroy elements, such as a fancy blouse or floppy bow. Only a minority of boys wore ringlet curls with these suits, but the photographic record confirms that many boys did.

Buster Brown 

It was most popular for boys about 3–8 years of age, but some older boys wore them as well. It has been speculated that the popularity of the style encouraged many mothers to breech their boys earlier than before, and it was a factor in the decline of the fashion for dressing small boys in dresses and other skirted garments. Clothing that Burnett popularized was modeled on the costumes which she tailored herself for her two sons, Vivian and Lionel.

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The source of much of this is Wikipedia and the complete book/story "Little Lord Fauntleroy", 1886 edition is available here. The pen and ink illustrations are beautiful. This post is dedicated to my internal boyhood sissy.  More on the Mary Jane side of this story later.  

 Buster Brown & Dog Tige Heart Shaped Balloons
Pre-1907 From Ebay