Figure 1.-- This boy is Llewellyn Walker. He w born in 1864 so we suspevt the portrait was taken about 1870. He wears a fanct studio with elaporate tripe detailing. This was similar to many period sailor suits. In this case, however, the collar is not right. It looks to be more of an army outfit. The studio was Brigham in Scarborough.

We note quite a range of fancy juvenile English suit styles. A factor here is that many were not mass-produced, significantly increasing variability. We also notice the expansive use of striping. To a large degree this was associated with sailor suits or at least suits with varying degrees of sailor styling. The unknown This was probably considered a sailor suit. It seems to have a back flap. Not all these suits were sailor version. The English boy on the previous page was photograohed by F. Elliott, Middlesborough & Coatham Redcar, probably in the 1870s. The suits came in many other different styles. We see whay looks like an army version, although they were much less common. Llewellyn Walker here seems obe wearing what might be called an army suit (figure 1). Most of the styles probably originated in Britain or perhaps France. Many were button-on suits. The waist buttons are often hidden by a cloth waist belt. Stripes were commonly employed in the detailing. The styling on the jackets might be repeated on the trousers. The suits with stripes might have been called sailor suits even though they do not have the iconic "V" fromt blouse. Early sailor suits were quite varied and the traditional styles we now know were not well established. We are not sure what other terms may have been used for these suits in comtemporary catalogs. Thdy seem to have been worn by boys 4-8 years of age, although this is only a rough assessment at this time. These suits were worn in many other European countries and America at about the same time. They were worn with knee pants or bloomer knickers. Some were worn with long pants that often look like long knee pants.

Created: 1:32 PM 8/18/2014
Last updated: 1:32 PM 8/18/2014