Boys Sailor Suits: Fashion Inspiration and Influences


Figure 1.--Here we have an American sailor in what looks like the 1890s with what we assume is his son. They wear identical suits. The only difference we see is the cap tallies. The sailor's tally reads "Uss Laka ... (perhapas Lackawana) and the boy's reads Hartford. The portrait was taken in Vallejo, California. Click on the image to see a more detailed portrait of the boy' s suit.

The boy's sailor suit was first inspired by the Royal Navy enlisted man's uniform. Interestingly, the classic enlisted man's uniform first worn by the Prince of Wales in 1846 was a relatively novel invention because the Royal Navy had only just begun to regularize uniforms for enlisted men. Some attention had been given to officer's uniform for some time. Enlisted men until the mid-19th centurty, however, lacked uniformity and its the style and even color could vary substantally the period and whim of the clothing contractor and vessel capatain. Even the blue and white convention is a realtively recent development. As the popularity of sailor suits spread to other countries, the uniform of their navies influenced the styles of the sailor suits worn in each country. Of course the British Royal Navy uniform stronly influenced naval uniforms worn around the world. Naval uniforms were not the only fashioin influence. We note both boys' and girls sailor suits that have very fancifal styling, far removed from actual uniforms.

The Royal Navy

The boy's sailor suit was first inspired by the Royal Navy enlisted man's uniform. Interestingly, the classic enlisted man's uniform first worn by the Prince of Wales in 1846 was a relatively novel invention because the Royal Navy had only just begun to regularize uniforms for enlisted men. Some attention had been given to officer's uniform for some time. Enlisted men until the mid-19th centurty, however, lacked uniformity and its the style and even color could vary substantally the period and whim of the clothing contractor and vessel capatain. Even the blue and white convention is a realtively recent development.

Other Countries

As the popularity of sailor suits spread to other countries, the uniform of their navies influenced the styles of the sailor suits worn in each country. Of course the British Royal Navy uniform stronly influenced naval uniforms worn around the world. One of the most obvious is the caps with red poms that French sailors wore. Modst counties had uniforms very similar to the Toyal Navy. The American unidorm and the sailor suits wirn by boys were strongly indluenced by Royal Navy uniforms.

Fashion

Naval uniforms were not the only fashion influence. We note both boys' and girl's sailor suits that have very fancifal styling, far removed from actual uniforms. The sailor unifirms normally have "V" fronts with back flaps. We notice many sailor suuits with a very different treatment of the "V" front. We notice these variations in masny countries. Our initial impression is that they were particularly common in Germany.

Uniforms

Part of the charm of the sailor suit was that the British Royal family chose an enlisted man's uniform and not an officer's uniform for Bertie and the subsequent princes. Unfortunately the discussions that led to this are lost to history. But the whole idea must have required considerable discussion and vetting. Of course it was nothing new to dress pinces in military uniforms. This was probably done since the time of the pharoes. What was different was that an enlisted (ratings) uniform was chosen. Monarchy was underseige in the mid-19th centuries. The famous Winterhalter portrait of Bertie was Prince Albert's gigt to Queen Victoria (1846). The Revolutions of 1848 targeting monarchies were to follow shortly. Attaching themselves to the popularity of the Royal Family was a very astute step. But Bertie appearing in an admiral's uniform would not have had the same affect. We believe that this was Prince Albert's judgement at work, but cannot confirm it. Many styles of sailor uniforms became popular for boys throughout Europe and America--but they were always enlisted uniforms. We believe thar admiral's uniforms never woukd have been nearly as popular. We are not entirely sure why this was, but believe it to be true. Somehow it invested boys with the lore of the sea, but giving him an admiral's rank without earning would just not have been right. We notice an exception to this. We begin to see boys in the Catholic countries of southern Europe (Spain. France, and Italy) wearing naval officer's uniforms. We do not see army uniforms, only naval uniforms. We begin to see this in the 1930s, but they do not become common until after World War II. Mostly se see them as a First Communion outfit. Enlisted unifoems were more common, but we do note them being worn in all three countries, especially Spain. We do not see this in the Protestant countries of nirthern Europe, although it is a little difficult to tell as the sailor suit as a boy's garment rapidly went out of style after World War II. We are unsure why officer's uniforms becamne a boys' style in these three countries. Perhaps readers will have some thoughts here.







HBC




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Created: 8:28 PM 9/14/2004
Last updated: 1:57 AM 10/6/2010