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Many Belgian boys at the turn of the 20th century appear to have had a sailor suit and commonly wore it. The sailor suit is commonly seen as a middle-class garment, so it may have been especially common among middle-class boys. The sailor suit was one of the most popular children's styles. Both boys and girls wore them. We notice them being worn both as casual garments and to school. They also might be worn to formal occassions. We note a range of different styles. The styles as well as age conventions varied over time. Sailor suits were still commonly worn to school by boys in the 1920s, but declined in popularity during the 1930s. We also see them being worn for formal occassions such as First Communions. we notice quite a few of these First Communion images through the 1930s.
We see many Belgian boy wearing sailor suits at the turn-of-the 20th century. We see a wide variety of styles. Some boys wore the standard styles based on naval unifoms, but we see many boys weraring styles that varied in different bears from the standard or traditional styles. Not all suits, for example, had the iconic V-front collar. The V-front ollar, howvr, with some tweeks was very common. And stripes were commomly employed. Most of the suits were done as knee pants with which th boys wore both socks and long stockings. On summer suit had shorr slves, but this was not very common. W note both summer and wintersuits. For many boys their sailor suit was theur dressu outfit. They were worn by schoolage boys, includin pre-teens and the youngest teens.
We have acquired two images of Belgian boys wearing sailor suits in 1913, the year before World War I began. Both are younger boys wearing white summer suits. One boy wears striped socks with high-top shoes. Another boy wears white kneesocks with patent leather strap shoes.
This Antwerp boy was photographed in 1914, just before World War I in which his
country was invaded in his First Communion sailor suit. He wears kneepants with long
stockings. Note the white gloves. We do not know his name, but there are many interesting
aspects to his outfit.
This Belgian boy was photographed during World War I in 1915, although there is no sign of the War in the portrait. He looks to be about 14 years old, perhaps even 15. He has a dark presumably blue sailor suit. It has a rather distinctive middy blouse with a double row of buttons and a flap breast pocket. The trim is rather traditional, but there appears to be 4-5 stripes rather than three. His dickey is a plain dark one, looking almost like a turtle-neck sweater. The scarfe is tied into a knot and fans out below the knot.
This Belgian boy and his sister were photographed in 1917. He looks to be about 10 years old. He wears a stripped short pants sailor suit with traditional styling. I'm not sure what color the stripes were. He has white three quarter socks with white strap shoes. His sister wears a fashionable hair bow.
Note the high neck Dickie with insignia. The modified sailor collar. The almost coat like
sailor top.
A tie ribbon and possibly whistle which is in his top breast pocket. Also note the pleat and button on the two top breast pockets. The long sleeves of the jacket which seems to button down the front have ornamental buttons. I cannot make out what is on the cuffs, but I think there is something. Also note the rather large and unusually space ornamental buttons on his kneepants. His black stockings seem to bulge out to just above his ankles suggesting he is wearing long underwear which was not pulled down to his ankles. Here we are not sure, this may be an illusion resulting from image compression. He is also wearing modern looking lace oxford style shoes.
Two boy in a Belgian class in 1926 wore short pants sailor suits. Most of the boys in the class look about 13-14 years old. The other boys all wore short pants suits, only two boys wore sailior suits. They are very traditionally styled sailor suits. After the mid-1920s the non-traditionally styled sailor suits become less common. The boys increasingly wear sailor suits styled just like actual naval uniforms. One of the boys here has an embroidered dickey, acommon faeture on eralier sailor suits. The sailor scarves are hard to make out. Both boys wear matching dark kneesocks. One boy wears high-top shoes while the other boy wears sandals.
A 1928 Belgian school class photograph shows that in a class of what to look to be younger teenagers that there are still two, probably three, boys wearing sailor suits. More boys would have been wearing sailor suits in the 1910s. Most of the other boys are wearing short pants suits.
We have received two images of two Belgian brothers with their grand mother wearing identical white sailor suits. The images have traditional styling. The images are undated but look like post-World War II images, perhaps the late 1940s.
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
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