American Boy Dresses: Dress Types--Sailor Dresses


Figure 1.--This caninet card had no studio information. The unidentified boy is wearing a checked dress with sailor styling. It is not the tradoitional 'V' collar styling, but definitely sailor styling. He looks to be about 4 years old. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken about the turn of the 20th century. We have no idea wjat the color here would have been.

Sailor styled dresses appear to have been very popular for children. They were of course not exclusively worn by boys. We also notice girls wearing sailor dresses. We have noted portraits of English boys wearing sailor dresses. There were a wide range off styles, both traditional and non-traditional. Our assessment is preliminary, but the traditionally styled sailor dresses seem more popular for the girls than the boys. We seem to see boys mostly wearing non traditional styles. We think this was because by the time traditional styles became popular that the popularity of boys wearing dresses had declined. And there were other options like sailor styled kilt suits and tunic suits. Some sailor dresses look rather like middly blouses worn with skirts/kilts. These might be called kilt suits. Other skirted outfits are clearly one-piece dresses. Here it is not always easy to tell the difference. We notice boys wearing these dresses in the 19th century. We are not sure when they first appeared. We do not even know if the first sailor dress were worn by boys or girls. There may have been dresses with some sailor features before a clearly sailor dress appeared. We have not yet found a sailor dress from the 1860s, but that does not mean that they did not exist. We are constantly looking for examples. We note some sailor dresses in the 1870s, but they seem more popular in the 80s. Some were styled traditionally, but there were other sailor-inspired dresses. Sailor dresses for boys seem popular in the 1890s, but declined sharply in the 1900s. They continued popular with girls for some time. They were a very populr style for American girls as well. They were particularly popular for girls in the early-20th century, but the style has never really disappeared.

Popularity

Sailor styled outfits were very popular for children. Sailor styles are one of the most enduring fashions for children. Sailr suits were one of the most popular styles for boys suring the late-19th and early-20th century. There werw many different typs of outfits. Boys mostly wore sailor suits, but younger boys might wear sailor dresses as well as sailor-styled kilt suits and tunic suits.

Gender

Sailor outfits were exclusively worn by boys. We also notice girls wearing sailor dresses. Sailor suits began as a fashion for boys, but quickly made the transition to girls and became a very popular girls style, of course skirted garments not with pants. .The first sailor outfits were for boys, a standard Royal Navy uniform that Quenn Victoria an Prince Albert made for Prince Bertie (1840s). Gradually we begin to see girls wearing sailor dresses. We note this by the 1870s , but it may have occurred earlier. Sailor suits were primarily worn by boys in the 19th century, but after the turn-of-the 20th centur, sailor styled-dresses began a major style for girls. They continued to be worn inthto the mid-50s. hey have not disappeared, but now are only a minor style.. >br>

Boy Dresses

We have noted a few portraits of American boys wearing sailor dresses. Not very many, but we do notice a few. As best we can tell. it was only a minor dress style for boys. This seems a little inusual given how popular sailor suits were for boys. We have found hundreds of portraits of boys wearing dresses, but very few wearing sailor-styled dresses.

Sailor Styles

There were a wide range of styles for sailor dresses, both traditional and non-traditional. The traditional styles appear primarily at the end of the 19th century. Our assessment is preliminary, but the traditionally styled sailor dresses seem more popular for the girls than the boys. We seem to see boys mostly wearing non traditional styles. We think this was because by the time traditional styles became popular that the popularity of boys wearing dresses had declined. we thus do not see a lot of examples of what people in the 20th century described as sailor dresses. we do see dresses that have clear sailor styling elements. Notice the dectinctive collar design here (figure 1). We do not see the V-front collars, but other collar designs and lots of stripes and back flaps. and to further confuse the matter, thy are often done in patterns, like the check pattern the boy here is wearing (figure 1). Normally sailor suits were done in plain fabri, solid colors ithout patterns.

Other Skirted Options

There were other sailor-styled skirted options for boyslike sailor styled kilt suits and tunic suits. Some sailor dresses look rather like middly blouses worn with skirts/kilts. It is not alays easy to tell the differences. These might be called kilt suits. Other skirted outfits are clearly one-piece dresses. Here it is not always easy to tell the difference with just a photograph. Hre vintage clothing is very helpful as you can easily tell about construction. .

Chronology

We notice boys wearing these dresses in the 19th century. We are not sure when they first appeared. We do not even know if the first sailor dress were worn by boys or girls. There may have been dresses with some sailor features before a clearly sailor dress appeared. We have not yet found a sailor dress from the 1860s, but that does not mean that they did not exist. We are constantly looking for examples. We note some sailor dresses in the 1870s, but they seem more popular in the 80s. Some were styled traditionally, but there were other sailor-inspired dresses. Sailor dresses for boys seem popular in the 1890s, but declined sharply in the 1900s. They continued popular with girls for some time. They were a very populr style for American girls as well. They were particularly popular for girls in the early-20th century, but the style has never really disappeared.

Age

The age of the boys wearing sailor dresses seem comparable to the ages at which other dress styles were worn. This is a lottle difficult to assess as we gave so few examples. We do notice somewhat boys wearinfg sailor kikt suits and tunic suits than wearing sailor dresses.







HBC








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Created: 6:06 AM 6/23/2010
Last updated: 4:54 AM 7/29/2014