Belgian Sailors Suits: Gender


Figure 1.--Here we see a Belgian girl and her little brother in identically styled sailor outfits suits. The boy weaes a blouse and short pnts. His big sister wers a ress. Notice that the bows are done differently. The portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the 1920s.

Both boys and girls wore sailor suits in Belgium. Girls of course wore sailor sits with skirts rather than pants. This was the general pattern throughout Europe. It was boys who first began wearing sailor suits. We do not yet fully understand the chronology of the sailor suit in Belgium as our 19th century archive is limited. And we do not know when girls first began wearing sailor suits as well, although it was clearly in the 19th century. We know that girls were commonly wearing sailor suits at the turn-of-the 20th century. We note that girls wore the styles popular for boys, only with skirts rather than pants. There werealso some special more elaborate styles ust for girls. The common styles were the more tradituinal styles like actual uniforms tjat the boys wore. Belgium did not have a major navy. We are unsure to what extent it affected the styling of children sailor suits as opposed to the British Royal Navy. But the sailor suit was popular throughout Europe both in countries ith and without navies. A factor here were the royal families of Europe, many of which dressed the princess as well as princes in sailor outfits. Some mothers dressed all the children in sailor suits, sometimes with identical styling. Other mother chose different styles for the boys and girls or just chose one gender for the sailor suits. Age was a another factor to be considered. Younger boys were more likely to wear the same sailor suits their big sister wore than older boys the same suits as their little sisters. But such styles were up to individual families there being no set conventions on such matters.

Basic Gender Conventions

Both boys and girls wore sailor suits in Belgium. Girls of course wore sailor sits with skirts rather than pants. This was the general pattern throughout Europe. While younger boys might wear skirted garments. Girls never wore pants, whatever their ages. This did not begin to change to any extent until after World War I in the 1920s. And as regards sailor outfits it never changed. Girls sailor outfits were sailor dresses or middy blouses with skirts.

Chronology

It was boys who first began wearing sailor suits. In fact we even know the first such boy--Prince Bertie, Quewwn Victoria and Prince albert's youngest son. He began wearing aailor suit (1840s). We do not yet fully understand the chronology of the sailor suit in Belgium as our 19th century archive is limited. And we do not know when girls first began wearing sailor suits as well, although it was clearly in the 19th century. Girls in England were wearing sailor suits by the 1870s. We uspect that the chrinology in Belgium was similat, prhaps a little later. We know much more about the 20th century. We know that Belgian girls were commonly wearing sailor suits at the turn-of-the 20th century. The styles seem very similat to French styles and supect that the chronology was also similar. Sailor outfits continued to be popular for boys and girls in the early-20th century. But gradually declined in ppularity after the 1930s. Sailor styles have bevr totally gone out of style for girls, but boy did not commonly wer them to any extent by the 1950s. The one exception was First Communion outfits.

Styling

We note that girls wore the styles popular for boys, only with skirts rather tan pants. There were also some special more elaborate styles ust for girls. The common styles were the more tradituinal styles like actual uniforms tjat the boys wore. Belgium did not have a major navy. We are unsure to what extent it affected the styling of children sailor suits as opposed to the British Royal Navy. But the sailor suit was popular throughout Europe both in countries with and without navies. And the Royal Navy uniforms influenced the styles of other navies around the world. And of of course this mean sailor outfits for both boys and girls.

Influences

A factor here were the royal families of Europe. At the time, the royals had emmense influence on popular fashions. Many royal families began dressing the princess as well as princes in sailor outfits. The remaining families still have some influence, but not remptely like that of the 19th and early-20th centurie. It was the British Royal family that introduced the sailor suit. And then when princess began to appear in sailor outfits, it quickly becamee a popular fashion throughout Europe.

Family Conventions

Some mothers dressed all the children in sailor suits, sometimes with identical styling. Fathers might also be involved, but for young boys and the girls it was usually mother. Other mother chose different styles for the boys and girls or just chose one gender for the sailor suits. Age was a another factor to be considered. Younger boys were more likely to wear the same sailor suits their big sister wore than older boys the same suits as their little sisters. But such styles were up to individual families there being no set conventions on such matters. Sailor styling was a fashion that was fairly consisrent over time, as the traditionally styled outfits. And the age range was fairly wide. Here the boys age range was a little shorter than that for gurls. Thus it was the perfect style for parents who wanted to dress their children in similar outfits. This could incluse just the boys or just the girls or in some cases both the boys and girls. And the outfits could be identica, similar, or just sailor outfirs with different styling. Identical outfits would have been presumably all purchased at the same time. By identical or similar we are talking about the tops, either blouses or for the girls the top of the dress. Both could be styled alike for boys and girls. The tops the children here are wearing are good examples, they are absolutely identical, although the scarves are tied differently (figure 1). The boy's scrved is dine as bow. The basic sailor blouse was not gender specific. And they could be identical or similar. Of course the boys wore pants and the girls skirts or dresses. There was, however, little or no styling on either.

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Created: 11:35 PM 5/11/2009
Last updated: 2:52 PM 12/15/2017