Figure 1.--This CDV portrait had gold letters on an ivory card. Two unidentified children are sitten on a rustic bench. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1890s. The child wearing the sailor dress looks like aoy. The child at the right with the bonnet is probably a girl. A reader writes, "I would guess the boy's age to be 3-4 years old with the girl 1-2 years. He appears to be helping her stay seated on the chair."

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.

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Created: 5:37 AM 4/19/2010
Last updated: 5:37 AM 4/19/2010