Fauntleroy suit

noun

1. a formal outfit for a boy composed of a hip-length jacket and knee-length pants, often in black velvet, and a wide, lacy collar and cuffs, usually worn with a broad sash at the waist and sometimes a large, loose bow at the neck, popular in the late 19th century.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Fauntleroy suit¹

After the title character of the novel Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886) by F. H. Burnett

Example Sentences

Mrs. Ogletree even primped her boy Georgie, whom she’d gadded up in a green velvet Little Lord Fauntleroy suit.

From Literature

The portrait shows a young boy in a red velvet outfit that Vehr calls his “Little Lord Fauntleroy” suit.

From Washington Post

Cedric, like most other little boys of his age and standing, was forced to wear a Lord Fauntleroy suit, from which his cropped bullet head and spectacles emerged incongruously.

From Project Gutenberg

Violinist Ruggiero Ricci appeared on the stage at Carnegie Hall for the first time dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit with flowing white bow tie and velvet kneepants.

From Time Magazine Archive

She kept Lorna Doone and Tennyson within easy reach of the Willson children, and dressed curly-haired Meredith in a black velvet Fauntleroy suit on the occasions when he spoke a piece at the Congregational Sunday School.

From Time Magazine Archive