Figure 1.--This German boy in the 1930s is pictured in his classroom. He is wearing a striped middy blouse. He has a black scarfe, but no dickie. The striped suits were often done as light-weight summer suits as thus worn without dickies. |
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Sailor suits and sailor-styled garments were a popular style worn by German school children, both boys and girls. Quite a few different garments were involved. We notice German boys wearing quite a range of different sailor suits and sailor-styled garments to school. We note various styles of headwear and middy blouses. Boys did not always wear sailor styled headwear with sailor suits. Many did, but school peaked hats were also popular. The main sailor garment was the middy blouse or jacket. Sailor suits were made with matching pants, but the styling was all on the blouse or jacket. Some sailor suits, like the one here, were very traditional, looking somewhat like the actual uniforms worn by German sailors. Notice for example the three white stripes on this boy's "V" collar (figure 1). Other styles were more fanciful. After World War I we mostly see traditionally styled sailor suits. We are not sure how popular they were with the boys, as opposed to the parents, and do not yet have any actual contemporary accounts on this subject. There were other sailor garments such as as sailor styled coats.
We note various styles of headwear worn with sailor suits. There were both sailor hats and caps. We see boys wearing sailor hats and caps. The hats were mostly worn in the 19th century, but we also see them in the early-20th century. After World War I we only see boys wearing sailor caps. The hats went out of style. A major factor here is that sailors no longer wore sailor hats only caps. The caps the boys wore were styled like the caps worn by German sailors. Boys did not always wear sailor styled headwear with sailor suits. Many did, but school peaked hats were also popular. We only see this in Germany and Austria. Elsewhere boys normally wore sailor caps with sailor suits. Sailor caps were still very common in the 1930s, but were rarely seen after World War II when sailor suits also went out of style.
The main sailor garment was the middy blouse or jacket. Some sailor suits (meaning primarily the blouse), like the one here, were very traditional, looking somewhat like the actual uniforms worn by German sailors. Notice for example the three white stripes on this boy's "V" collar (figure 1). Other styles were more fanciful. After World War I we mostly see traditionally styled sailor suits. We are not sure how popular they were with the boys, as opposed to the parents, and do not yet have any actual contemporary accounts on this subject.
Sailor suits were made with matching pants, but the styling was all on the blouse or jacket.styled coats.
There were other sailor-styled garments such as sailor coats.
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