German Sailor Suits: Gender Trends--Identical and Coordinated Outfits


Figure 1.--This Rixdorf family portrait is undated. We believe that it was probably taken in the 1890s. The thought at first the youngest child was a boy not yet been breeched. But on closer examination the doll and ear ring clearly identify the child as a girl. This image is an example of how children with short hair can be girls. Note her pointed bangs.

Some mothers like to outfit their children, both sons and daughters in identical outfits. This convention was very common in Germany and the popular sailor suit was often used. This seems especially true from about 1890-1930. This was also the time that the sailor suit was most popular. The image here is a good example (figure 1). The sailor suit was especially popular for this because it was considered appropriate for both boys and girls. Some mothers dressed the entire family in sailot outits. In other instances just the boys or girls were dressed in identical outfits. The middy blouses worn by boys and girls could be identical, primarily because the both used traditional styling. We see some children in identical outfits. Other mothers have used sailor outfits, but made some concessions deemed as appropriate to age and gender.

Identical

Some mothers like to outfit their children, both sons and daughters, in identical outfits. This convention of identical family outfits was very popular in Germany and the popular sailor suit was often used. Here there is a slight qualification. Until after World War II, girls almost always wore skirts or drsses, except for school gym or similar activities. This when we say identical outfits, we are talking about the blouse or bodice of a dress. Girls would wear skirts abd boys pants. The identical outfits would include skirts and pnts of the sme material and color. Girls did not wear pants with sailor blouses and boys, except for very young boys, did not wear skirts. This seems especially true from about 1890-1935. This was also the time that the sailor suit was most popular in Germany. And as noth boys anf girls commonly wore sailor suits into their early teens (the girls a little longer), it was the perfect garment for dressing the children identically. Noit only could both boys and girls be dressed alike, but children of a wide age rnge could be dressed alike. This mean the entire family could be dressed alike for many years. Only when a boy rreavhed his later teens could this no longer be done, but the other children could be so dressed for several more years.

Similar/Coordinated

Some mothers chose similar or coordinated sailor suits, but not identical suits. There were many different ways of styling or detailing sailor suits. The image here is a good example (figure 1). The sailor suit was especially popular for this because it was considered appropriate for both boys and girls. Some mothers dressed the entire family in sailot outits. In other instances just the boys or girls were dressed in identical outfits. The middy blouses worn by boys and girls could be identical, primarily because the both used traditional styling. We see some children in identical outfits. Other mothers have used sailor outfits, but made some concessions deemed as appropriate to age and gender. The styles of the middy blouses were very similar in either case, but the girls always wore skirts.

Different Outfits

Other mothers chose either the boys or girls for saolot suits and dressed the other gender in different outfits. It is difficult to say which was more common, for the boys or the girls to wear the sailor outfits. And this seems to have varied over time as well with the age of the children. . Often this was the boys who wore sailor suits. This seems based on the photographic record to have been the most common. But this certainly was not always the case. Sailor outfits were very popular for girls as well. We see many families where the girls wore sailor outfits and the boys wore other outfits. There were several different stles of middy bliuses and well as other outfits for boys and girls. It is likeky that even the group chosen not to wear sailor suits pribably had sailor outfits in their wardrobes.






HBC




Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to the Main German sailor suit gender page]
[Return to the Main country sailor suit pages]
[American] [Denmark] [English] [French] [German] [Italian]



Other Related Pages:
[Sailor suits] [Kilts] [Smocks] [Pinafores] [Sailor Hats] [Blouses]
[Ring Bearers] [Long hair] [Ringlet curls] [Hair bows] [Bangs] [Collars] [Bows]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web German pages:
[German choirs] [German country page] [German sailor suits] [German school wear] [Lederhosen] [German youth groups]
[German royal family] [Hitler Youth] [Coordinated outfits]



Created: 10:43 PM 11/4/2006
Last updated: 4:07 AM 10/7/2011