Figure 1.--These English boys are wearing emaculate white sailor suits with wide-brimmed sailor hats. HBC would date this image about 1895-1900. Here the hats, including their mother's hat, and the stickings are the best clues. Image used courtesy of the MD Collection. |
The boys are seen here in their sailor hats which they wore with immaculate white kneepants sailor suits. Both boys wear wide brimmed sailor hats. One of the few differences in their outfits is that the older boy wars a slightly smaller wide-brimmed sailor hat. I am not positive his mother bought a larger hat for him because he was the older broyher. It does seem that in available images, however, that the younger boys wore the hats with the widest brims.
This image like the others availble on these boys is undated. HBC would date it about 1900 and not later in the decade. One of the reasons for this is the popularity of these wide-brimmed sailor hats was greater in 1900 than by the end of the decade when boys' hat syles began to change. Hats with smaller brims and with the brims turned down began to appear.
HBC notes several interesting aspects of the sailor hats seen here.
The wide-brimmed sailor hat was a very poular boys' style. It was widely worn with sailor suits as well as other styles like Fauntleroy suits.
The older boy wears a slightly smaller wide-brimmed sailor hat. I am not positive his mother bought a larger hat for him because he was the older broyher. It does seem that in available images, however, that the younger boys wore the hats with the widest brims.
Note how the younger boy with the larger hat wears his hat well back on his head. I am not sure this is related to a fashion statement, but rather becaus it would have been difficult to photograph the three together if the hats had been properly seated on their heads. Another possibility is that mother wanted their hair to show. Then again it may have been the photographer that posed them like this.
Figure 2.--Note that the oldr oy has the smaller hat. English boys from well-off families commonly wore sailor suits to about ag 8 years. Afterthey began their preparatory school it became less common. Image used courtesy of the MD Collection. |
The wide-brimmed hats were often worn eith elastic chin straps. I see no indication here, however, of the elastic straps. Wide-brimmed were in fact based on the hats actually worn by British seamen in the early 19th century. Of course they did not have brims as wide as the hats seen here. Sailors would have hd ifficulty keeping thm on in a heavy wind. This of course is why bys' sailor hats often had chin straps.
These hats almost certainly had log black streamers in the back. But they do not show in these front views.
The sailor suit ws a popular outfit for both parents and boys. HBC is notsure, however, that these wide-brimmed hats wer nearly as popular as the suits them selves.
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