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We see various garments done as sailor suits. There seem to still be considerable variability. This is probanly ready made clothing was still just beginning to take hold. We do not yet know much about sailor headwear. Few boys fir some reason were photographed with headwear. We see sailor dresses for younger boys. There were also a few sailor kilt suits, but they were not very common. Tunics were a popular garments in 70s, but we have not found sailor tunics. Most of the outfits we have found in the 1870s photographic record are sailor blouses and knee pants. The blouses were quite varied. We see both pull-over and buttoning middy blouses. The dickies were often white. Neckwear was quite varied. Many boys wore a kind of bow tie or actual bow rather than a scarfe with their sailor suits. Long pants do not seem very popular for sailor suits. Nor do we see many bloomer knickers. The stripe detailing on the blouse was commonly continued on to the side of the knee pahts. The pants were normally knee pants. A good example is the Webb children about 1875. The boys were living in Shanghai, China (presumably the international concession) at the time so their suits may reflect European rather than American styles. The great majority of the sailor suits we have found are suits made with knee pants.
We do not yet know much about sailor headwear in the 1870s. Few boys for some reason were photographed with headwear. Sailor headwear was optional with the sailor suit. We see sailor hedwear, but it is missing in most studio portraits as we see here. Of course that does not mean that the boys did not have sailor headwear. The most common sailor headwear in the 1870s was the saucer cap which was the U.S. Navy uniform headwear. We also see wide brimmed hats. Most we have noted have flat crowns, but we are still working on that.
Tops
We see sailor dresses for younger boys, but they were not very common. We also see a few. There were also a few sailor kilt suits. Tunics were a popular garments in 70s, but we have not found sailor tunics.
We see a lot more sailor bloses in the 1870s. There were sailor blouses in the 60s, but they were not very common. The sailor blouse by the 70s becomes major style for boys. Most of the outfits we have found in the 1870s photographic record are what might be the standard-collar sailor blouses, although they were far from standrdized. We see for the first time what might be called traditional styled blouses at least in the United states. We see the characteristic V-front and three-stripe detailing. This varied quite a bit and we see a huge varietyof different styles. Not all the blouses had the V-front and in some cases the V-fronts were rather small. Some were so small that a small bow or a regular short collar might cover over the V-front. And the buttoning often went right through the V-front including what we now call the dickey area, the part within the V-front. There were pull over blouses, but the button-up blouses see much more common. The blouses were quite varied. Some had shirt like collars rather thn V-collars, altough the V-collars were more common. and we see mixed collars with a kind of added shirt collar mixed in with the V-collar. We see many buttoning middy rather than pull-over blouses. The dickies were often white. Stripes were very common in the blouse detailing but variouly used.
Neckwear was quite varied. Many boys wore a kind of bow tie or actual bow rather than a scarfe with their sailor suits. Some boys wore sailor suits without neckwear. Other boys wore a single bow, usually relatively small. The boy here wearssome kind of bow, but it is difficult to make out (figure 1). Other bpys wore multiple numbers of neckwear items, often two bows. We note Newton Field Waters in 1873 who wears a kind of bow tie and two bows with his sailot\r blouse,
The earliest sailor suits did not always have matching pants, although this was becoming common in the 1870s. We see sailor suits with both knee pants and long pants. We see the styling more on the knee panrs thn the long pants. Thee knee pants in the 70s were cut long generally at the calf and not the knee. Bloomer knickers were less common. At the time knee pants were becoming standard for younger boys, especially city boys. Older boys wearing sailor suits usually wore long pants throughout the 70s.
Many boys wore sailor suits with knee pants which were becoming increaingly popular for younger boys. This probably reflects the age of the boys wearing knee pants. Long pants do not seem very popular for sailor suits, but we do seem some. Nor do we see many bloomer knickers. The stripe detailing on the blouse was commonly continued on to the side of the knee pahts.
The sailor detailing was normally done mostly on the blouse. But in the 70s we seem quite a few examples of sailor detailing on the pants, often continuing the blouse dertailing.
All of the portraits we have found of American boys wearing sailor suits show them wearing long stockings. This wa at leat the case with the boys wearing knee pants. It is less clear what lind of hosiery the noys wearing long pshts are wearing. American boys almost always wore sailor suits with long stockings. Even younger boys commonly wore long stockings. Actually this is a helpful dating indicator. White stockings were very common in the 1860s and dark stockings were common by the 1880s The time lines here are difficult to develop because so many portraits are undated. In particular we see children during the the 1870s wearing dark stockings with with colored bands which we have called striped stikings. We see many different striped paterns and wethink colors, but this is difficult to asss from the black abdcwhite photoigraphy bof thec day. We believe that quite a rabnge of colors wer used and not just the blue abd white commonly used for sailor syuit. One might think that striped tockings were not as common with sailor suits gicen the striping used ion sailor suits, but this does nor seem to have been the case. The striped stockings are useful chonolgical indicator. We believe that they were most cimmon in the 1870s, but were still worn uinto the early-1880s. We rarely see socks. It was considered proper to cover the legs of both boys and girls, even younger children. We see white stocking in the 70s. We believe this was a carry-over from the 60s. They were not very common at the end of the decade for sailor suits or otheroutfits.
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