Figure 1.--This post card had a shiny gold background and golden basket of roses held by a dog. The boy wars a blue sailor suit wuth red, white, and blue trim. It was a birtday post card printed in Germany as was common before World War I. The card was mailed from Syracuse, Nebraska during 1911. The back has a handwritten message from Martha Haack to Harve of Syracuse. Lithographic printing like this is not the best source of information on actual sailor suit colors, but they are one of the available sources.

Boys sailor suits have always primarily followed the standard naval styles of blue and white. The great majority of sailor suits were either blue or white. There were many different shades Mothers being mothers, however, many did not share the dedication to naval tradition. Suits appeared in many different colors, some quite a deaprture from naval tradition. We note suits done in brown, frey, pink, and red, and there were probably other colors as well. Unfortunately the black and hite photography of the day often makes it difficult to determine what the colors were. There are some sources of information, however, that provide us some clues as to the variety of colors. Clothing catalogs are the best source of information, but vintage clothing is another important source. Post cards and other color lithographs also provide some information, bu these images are less reliable. We have begun to collect some information about the colors used for sailor suits. The basic colors were of couese blue and white with black sometimes used instead of blue. Red was sometimes used in the detailing. In addition to these classic or traditional colors we also note some non traditional colors being used.

Classic Colors

Most boys sailor suits were the classic traditional blue and white. The great majority of sailor suits were either blue or white. There were many different shades There were, however, many shades of these two basic colors, many of which were departures from actual uniform colors. Of course only dark or navy blue was used in uniforms. Many other shades of blue were used in boys sailor suits. The blue and white suits acquired a seasonal connotation. We see many examples of suits in these classic colors. A good example of a white summer suit is an unidentified American boy in the early 20th century. We had thought that the dark suits were navy blue. We note some black suits. A good example is an Austrian/German boy in 1911. We are not sure how common they were. We note that in addition to the basic color of the suit, bright colors (especially red), was sometimes introduced into the detailing of suit.

Non-classic Colors

Sailor suits have been made in virtually every conceivable color. The brighter colors were, however, much less common than the classic blue and white. It was the summer suits that were most likely to depart from the classic colors. We note greys and browns used in the play suits worn in the 1920s and 30s. We are less sure about the colors used for the more formal suits. The best source of information for these non-traditional colors are period clothing catlogs. Another important source is vintage clothing. We have found quite a range of colors in the various vintage sailor suits we have archived. We notice brown and grey suits in America. We have found a pink suits in France.

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Created: 8:43 PM 10/4/2008
Last updated: 3:12 AM 7/1/2009