< United States boys clothes: headwear sailor caps styles soft caps
United States Sailor Cap Styles: Soft Caps
Figure 1.-- This cabinet card portrait shows an unidentified American boy about 1900-05. He is sitting on a stool/table. He wears a soft sailor cap with a Fauntleroy blouse and knee pants. His hair is done in ringlet curls. Usually children with ringlets wre not posed with caps or hats. The boy is holding an open book or magazine. There appear to be copies of photo postcards on the book/magazine pages. This photographic portrait was taken by the Schneidt Studio in St. Louis, Missouri. George Gustav Schneidt (1887-1965) and his son operated the studio until 1965.
We note various styles of soft sailor caps worn at the turn of the 20th century. They were somewhat similar to the saucer caps in that they had a kind of a band as a base, often with a tally,, but instead of the saucer, there was a soft top, looking almost like a tam in some versions. We mostly see these caps done in white. We are unsure just what they were called at time. We believe they were seen as a sailor style for younger boys. They were, however, worn with many different uniforms and not just sailor suits. They were worn with Fauntleroy suits and blouses as well as Bustern Brown suits and other tunic outfits. We see these caps mostly at the turn-of-the 20th century in the late-1890s and 1900s, into the 1910s. We are still working on a precise chronology. It was kind of a dressy style and not generally worn for play or school.
