German Schoolwear:  Sailorsuits


Figure 1.--This German boy is pictured in a sailor suit for his first day of school. His cap reads "Deutchland", of course meaning Germany. He wears a middy clouse with a white dickey. Note his rounded-top book satchel. I'm not sure when the portrait was taken, but would guess the 1910s.

Sailor suits and sailor-styled garments were a popular style worn by German school children, both boys and girls. HBC has little information on schoolwear in Germany during the 19th century, at least by the 1890s. We are not sure, however, just when German boys began wearing sailor suits. Kaiser Wilhelm II himself in the 1860s, because of his English mother, may have been one of the first German boys to wear sailor suits. We believe that sailor suits were probably common in the late 19th century as Kaiser Wilhelm after dismissing Chancellor Bismarck, began to build a fleet of highseas battleships--a development of enormous national pride and a pet project of the Kaiser. We note that many younger school boys in the early 20th century wore sailor suits to school. Unfortunately many of these images are undated, making it difficult to track the trends. We notice boys wearing quite a range of different sailorsuits to school. Some, like the one here, were very traditional, looking 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. Many boys, but not all, wore sailor suits for their first day of school. Many older boys wore them as well, but this varied over time. We are not sure how popular they were with the boys and do not yet have any actual contemporary accounts on this subject. Sailor suits declined in popularity during the NAZI era (1933-45). I see no indication that boys after the War wore sailor suits to school any more.

Chronology

HBC has little information on schoolwear in Germany during the 19th century, at least by the 1890s. We are not sure, however, just when German boys began wearing sailor suits. Kaiser Wilhelm II himself in the 1860s, because of his English mother, may have been one of the first German boys to wear sailor suits. We believe that sailor suits were probably common in the late 19th century as Kaiser Wilhelm after dismissing Chancellor Bismarck, began to build a fleet of highseas battleships--a development of enormous national pride and a pet project of the new Kaiser. We note that many younger school boys in the early 20th century wore sailor suits to school. Unfortunately many of these images are undated, making it difficult to track the precise chrnolgical trends. Sailor suits declined in popularity during the NAZI era (1933-45). I see no indication that boys after the War wore sailor suits to school any more.

Age

We note German boys of all age except older teenagers commonly wearing sailor suits to school. We see pre-school boys wearing sailor suits, but we notice school-age boys wearing them most commonly. Many boys began eraring sailot suits from their first day of school. Many boys, but not all, wore sailor suits for their first day of school. They were particulary common with younger boys which is why we see so many first day portraits. Class portaits generally show some of the children at various age levels wearing sailor suits. They were very commom in primary schools and even the early secondaty years. We see many boys over a wide age range wearing them. We eveen note younger teenagers commonly wearing them to about age 14 years. Age trends, however, varied over time in part with the popularity of the sailor suit and varying conventions as to age appropriateness..

Garments

We notice boys wearing quite a range of different sailor suits and sailor-styled garments to school. Some, 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. We are not sure how popular they were with the boys and do not yet have any actual contemporary accounts on this subject. We note various styles of headwear and middy blouses. These were the primary sailor-styled garments. There were other styles such as sailor styled coats.

Gender

Silor outfits were also popular wiyh girls, although done with skirts rather than pants.







HBC






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Created: November 13, 2002
Last updated: 8:40 PM 9/17/2008