Figure 1.--Here we see a CDV portrait showing two brothers in identical sailor suits. The younger boy has his hair done in ringlets with something on top. Mother has added modest Eton collars apparently because she did not think sailor styles were formal enough. Sailor styles were actually a comfortable style for boys in an age of satorial overkill. A reader provides another possible explanation. "There is another possible reason, that maybe mother did not have a shield/dickey to go with the sailor suit. I noticed from the catalog collection on sailor suits that not all sailor suits came with the shield and as such, it is possible that thrifty mothers chose to use a blouse rather than pay for a shield." One point here, the boys are not necesarily wearing Eton blouses. The boys could be wearing detachable Eton collars. It is difficuklt to tell, altough the younger boy ceratinly looks like he has a detachedable Eton collar. Notice the striped pants, a popular 1870s style that carried over to the early-80s. This portraiut is undated. We suspect that it was probably taken about 1880. in the late-1870s or early-80s. The boys look to be about 4-7 years old. The studio was operated by a rare lady photographer--Mrs. Williams of Wolverhampton. Click on a the image for a fuller discussion.

It is in the 1880s that the sailor suit becomes a major fashion for boys. We do no longer see a few boys wearing sailor suits, we begin to see realy large numbers of boys wearing sailor suits in the decade. And it as in the 80s taht the traditional mstandard versioon first appeared. In the early 80s, we still see sailor suits looking like the 1879s versiions. The boys here are a good example (figurev 1). By the end of the decde we commonly see the basic styles that woukld opesist for decases. And we begin to see a wider range of boys wearing them. Rather than a smart style for fashionable families, the sailor suit was becoming a standard style for boys. It was no longer a style for the monarchy or even aristocracy. It was a major style adopted by the middle-class. In countries like England and Germany, it was asttement of middle-class support for the monarchy. A good example is the Shepperd brothers. We also note the Gardner brothers during (1888-89). And we see the sailor suit spreading overseas. We see some foreign boys, especially in America, France, Germany, and Russia wearing sailor suits. At least in Europe, royal families were very important in populaizing the style. Not only are more boys wearing sailor suits, but we see girls wearing sailor dreses as well. And of course it was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert that started the sailor suit fashion for boys. Almost all of Europe except republican France at the time was ruled by monarchies. But even in France the sailor suit ws popular. England set the standard and styles just as it did for actul naval uniforms. Each individual countries made some stylistic changes, but the basic Royal Navy uniform was the base for all of them. We do not know of a Navy that did not have uniforms based on the Royal Navy uniform. And we begin to see increasing stabdardization in the sailor suit styles worn by boys. The basics were a middy or sailor top with knee pants or long pants. Girls wore a skirt in place of pants.

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Created: 4:06 AM 8/7/2024
Last updated: 8:33 PM 8/8/2024