Figure 1.-- This CDV portrait is undated, but looks like the 1870s to us. It shows an unidentified boy wearig what looks like a replica of a Royal Navy uniform. Note the double collar. He looks go be about 8-9 years old. The studio was W. McLennan & Co in Greenock, a port south of Glasgow. Note the button flap at his waistline. We are not sure just what this was. It looks to be a heavy winter outfit. Also notice the long pnts. They were still common even for younger boys in the 1870s.

We do not have much chronological informtion on Scottish sailor suits. Our archive is very limited, but the lack of Scottish images may in part reflect the actual prevalnce of sailor suits in Scotland. We are not sure when Scottish boys began wearingsaailor suits. We suspect that the time line is very similar to English trends. The fashion was initiated by Queen Victoria amd Prince Albert when their eldest boy was dressed in a Royal Navy ratings (enlisted) uniform (1840s). One would assume that some Scottish boys began wearing sailor suits some time in the same decade. The rarity of Daguerreotypes and other early formats in Scoitland makes this difficult to follow. The CDV greatly increased the number of available images (1860s). We have not yet fond, however, CDVs of Scottish boys wearing sailor suits in early CDVs. The earliest images that we have found so far date from about 1870. The unidentified boy here wears what looks like a replica of a Royal Navy uniform, we think about 1870 (figure 1). They look much like the the suit that the British princes wore in the 1840s which was the beginning of the convention of dressing boys in sailor suits. By the 1880s we see more varied styles divering from Royal Navy uniforms to a degree. We see, for example, button jackets rather than just the pull-over blouse Royal Navy sailors wore. We have found several exaples of Scottish boys wearing sailor suits in the 1880s. A good example is the unidentified boy on the previous page in the 1890s. We do not yet have any examples from the 20th century, but we suspect that sailor suits were worn by younger in the early-20th century before World War I. As in England they probably declined in popularity after the War in the 1920s. The sailor suiy style seems somewhat less common in Scotland than in England. This is, however, only a preliminary assessment. a problem here is that we are unsure how to date several images that we have found.

The 19th Century

We do not have much chronological informtion on Scottish sailor suits. Our archive is very limited, but the lack of Scottish images may in part reflect the actual prevalence of sailor suits in Scotland. We are not sure when Scottish boys began wearing sailor suits. We suspect the time line is very similar to English trends. The fashion was initiated by Queen Victoria amd Prince Albert when their eldest boy was dressed in a Royal Navy ratings (enlisted) uniform (1840s). One would assume that some Scottish boys began wearing sailor suits some time in the same decade. The rarity of Daguerreotypes and other early formats in Scoitland makes this difficult to follow. The CDV gretly increased the number of available images (1860s). This is where we begin to see large numbers of sailor suit images in most countries. We do not yet have Scootish exmples. We have not yet fond, however, CDVs of Scottish boys wearing sailor suits in early CDVs. The earliest images that we have found so far date from about 1870. The unidentified boy here wears what looks like a replica of a Royal Navy uniform, we think about 1870 (figure 1). all the early sailor suits we see are long pants suits. They look much like the the suit that the British princes wore in the 1840s which was the beginning of the convention of dressing boys in sailor suits. By the 1880s we see more varied styles divering from Royal Navy uniforms to a degree. We see, for example, button jackets rather than just the pull-over blouse Royal Navy sailors wore. We have found several exaples of scottisg biys wearing sailor suits in the 1880s. By this time we begin to se knee pants becoming standrd. A good example is the unidentified boy on the previous page in the 1890s.

The 20th Century

We do not yet have any examples of SCottish boys wearing sailor suits from the 20th century, but we suspect tht sailor suits were worn by younger in the early-20th century before World War I. As in England, they probably declined in popularity after the War in the 1920s. This was a difference between Britain and Europe. We see no evidence that Scotish trends varied materially from Enhland excpt that sailor suits were slighyly less prevalebt than in England. The sailor suiy style seems somewhat less common in Scotlnd than in Englsnd. This is, however, only a preliminary assessment.

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Created: 6:58 AM 10/31/2010
Last updated: 2:41 AM 8/7/2015