|
The sailor suit was one of the most important Dutch boy's style for perhaps three generations. The Netherland's rich maritime tradition was no doubt a factor here. The use of the sailor suit as a boy's garment, however, was a tradition imported from England as was the case in other European countries. We still have limited information on Dutch sailor suits. We do not know when the sailor suit was first worn by Dutch boys or when it first became a popular style. The sailor suit does appear to have been widely worn by the 1880s. Sailor suits were normally worn with kneepants or knickers. Many Dutch boys webt to school dressed in sailior suits during the early 20th century. After World War I (1914-18) short pants sailor suits become more important, but were worn by younger boys. Dutch boys wore sailor suits in the inter-war period after World War I, but the style becomes less common after World War II (1939-45). WE note, however, that the fashion magazinde Libelle still showed sailor suits for younger boys in 1950. We do not have size details, but they look to be for younger primary school boys.
We have very limited information on 19th century Dutch clothing. Our Dutch archive is limited, esopecially for the 19th centuty. The Netherlands was a relatively wealthy country, a factor in photograohy, but the Netherlands is a relatively small country meaning the photographic record is rather limited. We do have. however, a few 19th century images of Dutch boys wearing sailor suits. Queen Victoria introduced the sailor suit as a boys' outfit (1840s). We believe tahtbby the 1859s we begin to see Dutch boys wearing them, but we have very little information documenting this. More infomation becomes available with the advent of the CDV (1860s). We believe that the sailor suit was a popular outfit for boys by the late-19th century and girls also wore sailor outfits. e note a boy who looks tio be about 10 years old wearung a traditionlly styled uniform with a horizontaly syled dickey, we think in the 1880s.
We believe that many Dutch boys went to school dressed in sailior suits during the early 20th century. We do not yet have, however, much photographic evidence of that. We have some school portraits as well as images from individual schools. School portraits are a good indicator of popular styles. While the number of school portraits in our archive is limited, we do not see many sailor suits. After World War II the popularity of the sailor suit for boys rapidly went out of style,
Many Dutch boys webt to school dressed in sailior suits during the early 20th century.
After World War I (1914-18) short pants sailor suits become more important, but were worn by younger boys. Dutch boys wore sailor suits in the inter-war period after World War I.
Sailor suits becomes less common after World War II (1939-45), especially for older boys. TYhey virtually disappear from the photographic record. We doo note that the fashion magazine Libelle had sailor suits for younger boys and girls in 1950 (figure 1). We do not have size details, but they look to be for younger primary school boys. A Dutch reader tells us, "Sailor suits, with shorts and knee socks, were a common thing for younger boys, during the 1950s. I had a sailor suit my First Communion in 1956. I was 8 years old."
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Dutch pages:
[Return to the Main Dutch boy's sailor suit page]
[Return to the Main national sailor suit page]
[Maiken Island]
[Dutch choirs]
[Dutch royalty]
[Dutch scouts]
[Dutch school uniform]
[Dutch boys bangs]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main countries page]
[Australia]
[Belgium]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[Korea]
[Mexico]
[Netherlands]
[Scotland]
[United States]
