Sailor Suits: German Garments


Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy from Mainz wearing a moddy blouse with a matching kilt/skirt. I'm not sure, byt mother seems to have added a small frilled collar. We are not sure when this portrait was taken, but would guess the 1890s. The boy looks to be about 4 years old.

In addition to the regular sailor garments, there were also sailor outfits for boys not yet breeched. This included both sailor dresses and sailor kilt/skirt outfits. These wore for boys who mothers judged not yet old enough to war kneepants. We do not note a lot of sailor dresses. We believe that when they were most common that photograph was less common, although the principal reason was that the sailor outfit of middy blouse and kilt/skirt was more common, especially by the 1890swhen photography had become commonplace, at least studio photography. This combination also had a very practical advantage. A boy could continue wearing the middy blouse after he was breeched, only with kneepants.

Sailor Dresses

We note sailor outfits done in many types including kilt suits and tunics. Girlks might wear misdsly blouses with skirts. These outfits were quite common. Less common were actual sailor dresses. We see relatively few sailor dresses, especially sailor dresses worn by boys. We notice these dresses done both in traditional and non-tradiotional styles. We do not yet have a great deal of information on these sailor dresses as to the various styles employed. We are not sure yet when they first appeared. Our preliminary assessmemnt is the 1870s, but we can not yet confirm this. They were worn by younger boys and girls of all ages.

Sailor Kilt Suits

We see some boys wearing kilt suits donme in sailor styles. The image here is aood example (figure 1). This combination also had a very practical advantage. A boy could continue wearing the middy blouse after he was breeched, only with kneepants.

Sailor Tunics


Sailor Blouses and Skirts

The principal sailor outfit of middy blouse and skirt was the most common sailor skirted garment, at least by the 1890s. This was mostly worn by girls. By this time photography had become commonplace, at least studio photography.






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Created: 4:39 AM 4/11/2005
Last updated: 7:02 AM 4/19/2010