Figure 1.--These brothers wear identical sailor suit. At first we thought they were German, but the seller tlls us that they were Russian, probably taken in the 1920s. We would guess the 1910s just before World War I, but the early-20s is certainly possible.

We know more about Russian sailor suits in the the 20th century. Sailor suits were worn both before and after the Revolution. Sailor suits seem very popular in Tsarist Russia. Here the Tsarevitch must have helped popularize the style. We thought that because the sailor suit was so connected with the Tsar's family and the middle class that the sailor suit would have disappeared after the Revolution, but this was not the case. We see quite a number of Soviet boys wearing sailor suits. We are not entirely sure how this would have been preceived. In the rest of Europe, the sailor suit had amiddle-class image which also would have not be a positive in Russia. We think the sailor suit was especially popular with the educted elite in urban areas. Also we think that most sailor suits would have been sewn by mothers and were probaby difficult to find in stores.

The 1900s

Sailor suits seem very popular in Tsarist Russia. We see quite a few portaits of Russian boys wearing sailor suits. The Tsarevitch was born in 1905anf thus still quite young in the 1900s, He was wering sailor suits by 1909. Not only did aristocratic boys wear sailor suits. We think it was also largely a style worn by the wealthy and prosperous middle-class. As far as we can tell it was not a working-class style, but as our archive of portraits includes few workers families, this is not something we can demonstrate at this time. We see both dark and white sailor suits. The styles seem to be traditional and strongly influenced by German styles. We do not note the variety of non-traditional styles that were also common in Germany.

The 1910s

We see many Eussians boys continuing to wear sailor suits in the early 1910s. Here the Tsarevitch certainly helped popularize the style, but he probably wore sailor suits because they were such a popular style. His father wore sailor suits as a boy. Except for special occassions where he wore besecorated military uniforms, the Tsarevitch almost always wore sailor suits until World War I when he joined his father at the front. And of course all the Tsarevitch's his cousins in Britain, Denmark, and Germany also wore sailor suits. The sailor suit was clearly not just for the royal family and wealthy elite. Disasters at the front let to the Russian Revolution (1917). This and the ensuing Civil War (1918-21) devestated Russia and ruined the already war-weakened economy. As a result, we note fewer portraits being taken and as a result we know less about the late 1910s and early-20s. Not only did fashion deteriorate in the chaos, but from the Bolsheviks proletarian point of view sailor suitss as we would now say poltically incorrect. There was not only the assoiciation with the Tsar's family, but the middle class as well.

The 1920s

We thought that because the sailor suit was so connected with the Tsar's family and the middle class that the sailor suit would have disappeared after the Revolution, but this was not the case. We see quite a number of Soviet boys wearing sailor suits. We are not entirely sure how this would have been preceived. Popular fashion standards were slow to appreciate the new political realities. In the rest of Europe, the sailor suit had a middle-class image which also would have not be a positive in Russia. We think the sailor suit was especially popular with the educted elite in urban areas. Also we think that most sailor suits would have been sewn by mothers and were probaby difficult to find in stores. We note boys in the early Soviet era (1920s and 30s). We are not sure how common the sailor suit was at this time. A best we can tell the ssilor suit was worn by boys from properous families that were abe to afford better clothes. We also note some children who seem to be dressed up for formal occassions.

The 1930s

We note some boys wearing sailor suits after the Revolution. We have no idea how common this was. The last image that we have of a Russian boy wearing sailor suits is from the 1930s. Here we see two children in matching sailor suits during 1937 (figure 1). We believe that it was some sort of outfit for an official occassion. It was not, however, the normal Young Pioneer uniform, although specialized Pioneeer divisions did have a sailor suit uniform.

The 1940s

A Russian reader tells us that sailor suits were still popular in the 1940s and 50s, but had begun to decline in the 1960s. And we see some examples in the photographic record, but we do not have a good idea as to just how popular they were. The images we gave suggests that they were outfits selected by mothers who fathers had comfortable positions in Soviet society, either as Aparatchiks or technical positions. They all look like comfortable city families. The sailor suit was a decidelyb urban fashion. This is interesting because in the West the sailor suit began as a royal/arusticrativ fashion, but became associated with prosperous middle-class families. Both of course were targets of Bolshevik/Sovietr propaganda. It is interesting to note how popular these suits were with the Soviet giverning class. Something we are not entire sure of is to what exten sailor suits were produced in Soviet clothing factories as home to the product of home sewing by mothers with an interest in fashion. World War II, launched by Hitler and Stlkin broke out (Setember 1939). Soviet society was not much affected, until Hitle launched Operation Barbarossa, the massive invasion of the Soviet Union (June 194). As a result the entire economic potential of the Sovuet Union was geared for war. One result was a shortage of conumer produvcts like children's clothing. And this continued well into the post-War period.

The 1950s

The 1960s

A Russian reader tells us that his mother liked to dress Victor and his little brother in matching sailor suits during the 1960s.

The 1970s

We do note, however, a Soviet fashion magazine from the 1970s showing boys modeling sailor suits. Suits carefully followed the style of the Russian Navy which wore dickeys with horizontal stripes. The Russian fashion magazine "The Children Clothes Fashions" showed two sailor suits, I think in the 1970s. do not think, however, they they were were a style that was commonly being worn at the time. Note the school book bag. This was clearly a style being suggested for schoolwear. It was not, however, actually adopted or widely worn.

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Created: 7:02 AM 3/21/2008
Last updated: 2:58 PM 12/19/2018