*** English boy clothes -- sailor headwear hat








English Boys' Headwear: Sailor Styles--Hats

English sailor hats
Figure 1.--This is a CDV portrait shows a boy from Hull holding a pond yacht. His sailot hat has onlt modrate brim. It was taken by Snowden of Hull. Hull was a important port. The dealer suggests it was taken in the 1890s. We would date it earlier.

It was the broad-brimmed sailor hat that was first worn with sailor suits. The Prince of Wales first wore a white sailor suit with a dark broad-briimed sailor hat. Thus we see the broad-brimmed hat from the very beginning of the era in which sailor fashions were worn by boys. The Royal Family wore them in the 1840s. It is a little difficult to tell how quickly they became popular for the general public, in part because photogography was just beginning to become popular. For some reason the broad-brimmed sailor hat became an emensely popular. We see different styles and colors. The staw-colored hats seem to have been more popular thsan the dark colors. We see these wide-brimmed hats in various styles. Variations appeared in both the crown and brim. We notice flat and rounded crowns. There were also brims of different widths and configuration. After the turn of the 20th century, some of these hats had turned-down brims. We also note in the 19th century a sailor hat with a narrow brim. It was dark and shiny. It seems to have been a Royal Navy style that was not very popular for boyswear. We have found very few images of boys wearing this hat in the photographic record. We think most of these hats were straw, but there may have been other materials. hey were made with chin straps, but for portraits they commonly do not use them. Many of these hats had stramers, but fromthe front we do not see them. Sailor hats were worn by both boys and girls.

Chronology

It was the wide brimmed sailor hat that was first worn with sailor suits and was the main sailor ht style. Thus we see the broad-brimmed hat from the very beginning of the era in which sailor fashions were worn by boys. The Royal Family wore them in the 1840s. It is a little difficult to tell how quickly they became popular for the general public, in part because photoggraphy was just beginning to become popular. The width of the brim varied considerably. The Prince of Wales first wore a white sailor suit with a dark broad-briimed sailor hat (1840s). , We can not see the crown on his hat. We also notice a shiny black hat with a narrow brim. We see it in the 1860s, but are not sure when it first appeared. It was a Royal Navy naval uniform style and we do not see many boys wearing it. For some reason the broad-brimed sailor hat became an emensely popular. Even though it was rather an impractical style. We have few Dags (1940s-50s) and Ambros (1850s). With the appearance of the CDV we find quite a few examples through the (1910s). We mostly see younger boys wearing the broad-brimmed hats, especilly the ;arger wide-brimmed hats. Only with world war I is the wide-brimmed sailor hat phased out. After World war II, the sailor suit declines in populrity and we mostly see sailor caps.

Colors

We see different colors. The black bd white photigraphy of the day makes it virtually impossoble to identify colors. Many of the light colrs were probnly straw colored. The dark colors are probanly black, but some may be nvy blue. We are not sure bout that. The staw-colored hats seem to have been more popular than the dark colors.

Styles

Wide-brimmed sailor hats are probably the headwear most associated with the Victorian sailor suit. We see these wide-brimmed hats in various styles. Variations appeared in both the crown and brim. We notice both flat and rounded crowns. There were also brims of different widths and configuration. Here we note great variety. The classic sailor hat is probably the wide-brimmed hat. These seem to have been mostly worn by younger boys. The brims were often done straight out. Others were done yurned up, rather like a bowl. After the turn of the 20th century, especially in the 1910s, some of these hats were worn with turned-down brims or at least part of the brim turned down. We also note in the 19th century a sailor hat with a narrow brim. It was dark and shiny. It seems to have been an early Royal Navy style that was not very popular for boyswear. We have found very few images of boys wearing this hat in the photographic record.

Material

We think most of these hats were straw, but there may have been other materials. It is a little difficult to tell from many availablephotographs just what material was used. Most of the images we have found are clearly or look to be straw.

Chin Straps

Sailor hats were made with chin straps. They wre very useful, especially for the wide-brimmed hats, when worn outside on winddy days. Chin straps would have been necessary and commonly utilizd. We suspect that chin straps would have been coomon for other children's hats as ell, but for wide brimmed sailor hats they would have been a virtual necesity. The children for their portraits commonly do not use the chin straps. The children look like they don't have chin straps, but we believe most sailor hats were made with chin straps. And they were used outdoors. They were simply folded up into the inside of the hat when not in use. They were of course not needed when indoors inside the studio. And as most 19th century photography was studio photography, we rarely see the children with the chin straps. Thys the avaiable photigraphs give the misleading impression that they were not very common. Chin straps by the 20th century were elasticized, at least my cowboy hats had elaticized chin straps by the 1940s. We are not yet sure about 19th century or early-20th century sailor hats.

Streamers

Many if not most sailor hats had streamers. This was of course because early sailor uniform hats had streamers. Most studio portraits were frontal shots with the boy facing the camera. From the front, however, we do not get see the streamers as most hung off the brim at the back, extensions of the silk ribbon hat bands. Thus the photographic records does not give aood idea of how common streamers were or details about them. The photograph here is a good example, athough sailor hats with upturned strongly brims often did not have long streamers. (figure 1). Streamers were most common on other sailor headwear and for some reason Scottish headwear. The streamers could be both single and double. The double streamers seem to hve been more common with actual sailor hats as they could reinforce thevchin straps to tie the hat on in windy weather. They also varied in width and length. They often had forked, notched endings. They were almost dark, black or perhaps navy blue, even with light colored hats. Streamers became common fr girls' hat, presumbly because so mny were derivitives of sailor styles.

Accompanying Clothing

Sailor hats, especially the wide-brimmed sailor suit, is most associated of course with sailor suits. And we note these hats being worn with sailor suits. They were in fact worn with many other outfits. We note them being worn with kilt suits, but not Highland kilt outfits. They were a popular choice for Little Lord Fauntleroy suits. We also see them being worn with many other types of suits. As the wide-brimmed sailor hat was a dressy style, they were usually warn with suits. An exception here was blouses. Boys diring the summer might wear them with a fancy blouse without a jacket on the hot weather. And we note them bdeing worn with beachwear. The sailor suit and sailor styles were popular at beach resorts in the 19th and early-20th century.

Gender

Sailor hats were worn by both boys and girls. Both boys and girls wore many of the same styles. We have not yet noted many discernable gender differenes. We do note that older girls, but not older boys commonly wore the broad-brimmed style oif sailor hat.








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Created: 7:12 PM 9/16/2007
Last updated: 2:39 AM 10/11/2017