Figure 1.--The Dutch fashion magazine 'Libelle' showed these matching brother-sister sailor suits in 1950. We are not sure what sizes were involved. Notice the button-on styling. They look to be about 3-5 years old.

The sailor suit was one of the many styles of boys' sailor suits done with button on construction. We know a varity of styling. The sailor suit was an enomously popular style for boys in both Europe and America during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Yet we have relatively few examples of button-on sailor suits during the 19th century. Most of the 19th century images we have found were tops that bloused worn over the pants. Most of the button on images we have found come from the 20th century. We are not entirely sure why. Many of the examples of button-on sailor suits we have found are American or German. This may reflct reltive popularity but suspect at least in part reflects the fact tht we have a substantial archive for both countries. During the period in which button-on styling was most common from about the 1920s-40s, the popularity of the sailor suit was declining. This limited the number of sailor suits done with buttoning on styling. The age range for button-on styling was about 2-10 years of age after World War II, it became a style for much younger boys. In the late-20th century it became primarily a style for infants and todlers.

Styles

The sailor suit was one of the many styles of boys' sailor suits done with button on construction. We know a varity of styling.

Chronology

The sailor suit was an enomously popular style for boys in both Europe and America during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Yet we have relatively few examples of button-on sailor suits during the 19th century. We have just begun to build a chronology. We see 19th cntury button-on outfits, often with the buttons covered. But we do do not see many button-on sailor suit. Most of the 19th century sailor suit images we have found were tops that bloused worn over the pants. Most of the button on images we have found come from the 20th century. We are not entirely sure why. During the period in which button-on styling was most common from about the 1920s-40s, the popularity of the sailor suit was declining. This limited the number of sailor suits done with buttoning on styling.

Countries

Many of the examples of button-on sailor suits we have found are American or German. This may reflct reltive popularity but suspect at least in part reflects the fact tht we have a substantial archive for both countries. We see other countries as well. The children here are Dutch.

Ages

The age range for button-on styling was about 2-10 years of age after World War II, it became a style for much younger boys. The Dutch children here look to be pre-schoolers (figure 1). In the late-20th century it became primarily a style for infants and todlers.

Created: February 23, 2002
Last updated: 2:33 AM 3/3/2018