Figure 1.--THis seaside photograph shows a variety of styles worn about 1910. Notice the Eton collars that two boys are wearing.

The clothing styles worn by French boys at the beach have changed greatly over time. Stange as it may seem to modern readers, suits were commonly worn at beach resorts. For boys sailor suits were the most common. We also note other styles like Norfolk suits. Sailor suits, especially white suits, in the late 19th and early 20th century were one of the most popular styles for many years. Most boys wore sailor and other suits ith bloomer knickes. Sailor caps and hays seemed to be every where. Many more formal casual styles were worn until after World War I, including more modern looking bathing suits.

Headwear

Hat and caps were expected as beachwear. Tans were not as popular as they were to become. In fact ladies at the turn of the 20th century were expected to have a creamy white complection. No headwear was more common for beachwear than the sailor hat. Sailor hats and caps were not the only headwear worn. Boys also wore berets and tams. Some strangely shaped straw hats are pictured in fashion magazines. In the late-19th century, wide brimmed saior hats had upturned brims. By about 1910 many brims were turned down and various styles of caps were more common. Tams however became less common.

Dresses

Younger French boys in the 19th century commonly wore dresses. A popular choice for seaside vacations by the mid-19th century were dresses with sailor styling.

Sailor Suits

Interest in seaside vacations began in Britain and gradually spread to the Comtinent which had quite a few beaches. The coming of the railroad and the wealth ctreated by the industrial revolution brough a sea side vaction within the ability of the middle class. All of this came together at about the same time that the sailor suit emergd as a popular outfit for boys and eventually girls as well. And of course nothing seem more appropriate for the seaside than a sailor outfit. Thus sailor suits were one of the most popular seaside styles for boys by the late-19th century, especially white or light blue suits. Striped suits were especially popular when white suits were not worn. Boys especially younger boys did not swim at the seaside. The might play in the waves, but wadinf in the shllows or even more imporanly plying in the sand was common. Thus sailor suits fit in well with what the boys were doing. They were also populr tire away from the beach in seaside resorts. The sailor suit continued to be popular through the 1910s and World War I (1914-18). Unlike World War II, French and English beachs were safe places and continued to be used during World War I. The sailor suit began to decline in popularity during the 1920s. They were no longer widely worn by the 1940s. Of course by this time seaside vacations went out of style during the World War II German occupation (1940-44).

Kilts

Kilts, especially the Highland kilt, were primarily a Scottish and after Queen Victoria popularized it, an Englisg style. Fashion magazines clearly show it being worn by French boys after the mid-19th century. The drawing here shows it being worn at the beach. HBC is unsure just how common this was.

Figure 2.--These French children, George and Paul Charpentier, in their beach costumes for a 1879 photograph. Note the berets.

Smocks

We see photographs of French children wearing smocks to the beach in the early-20th centyrt. We believe this was also the case in the very-late 19th century, but do not yet have dated images to confirm this. We tend to see this mostly in groups. In images where we mpstly see family groups, the children are not wearing smocks. The image here is a good example (figure 1). Notice that none of the children are wearing snocks. The images with groups of children at the beach with the children wearing smocks, we take to be school groups. Many French schools required the children to wear smocks at the time, both boys and girls. We are mot entirely sure what the children were doing in these beach visits. We suspect it was mostly playing in the sand or wading in the shallows. It is possible that there was some educational element, but we believe that it was primarily a recreational activity, possibly with an exercise component thrown into the mix. Hopefully our Frenchbreaders will be able to tell us more about these school trips.

Bathing Costumes

HBC does not have details on beach costumes for children. We have very limited information on the 19th century. One 1879 image shows children wearing them in 1879. I'm not sure though how common they were. The earliest ones had knicker-length pants for men and long dresses for women. Shorter costumes were acceptable for young children. More information is available on the 20th century. A French reader writes, "Before the nid-1930s, French children, both boys anf girls, wore the same style of swimwear. It was called a "nageur". These swimsuits were one-piece knitted suits, commonly done in wool. After the mid-30s, one sees suits without top for boys but still knitted wool garments. They were often done with pompons. This did not change until after World War II."

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits] [Sailor hats] [Buster Brown suits]
[Eton suits] [Rompers] [Tunics] [Smocks] [Pinafores]

Created: December 18, 1999
Last updated: 12:03 AM 4/14/2020