Figure 1.--Here we see an English boy from Ramsgate wearing a traditional sailor suit about 1901. The portrait is undated but the studio was named the "Diamond Jubilee Studio" which dates it to 1897 or shortly after. The unidentified boy blooks to be about 4 years old. Botice the wide-brimmed sailor hat and white cord. The cord probablyheld a brass whistle--if mum allowed it.

The sailor suit appears to have been the most popular outfit for boys by the 1890s and this popularity contunued in the 1900s. Sailor suits do not, however, appear as popular in England as in many other countries. Which is interesting given the importance and prestige of the Royal Navy. The sailor suit was a mainstay for the royal family. Sailor suits seem to have been particularly popular for boy until age 8 when boys from affluent fanilies would be sent to boarding schools. These boys thus began wearing their school uniforms and more mature suits. We see younger boys at a few prep schools without uniforms wearing them. On their summer vacations, however, they might wear sailor suits on outings to beach resorts. We are less sure about how common they were for working-class boys. A Lancashire reader writes, "I have looked at a large number of photographs showing Lancashire scenes between 1900 and 1914. Many of these pictures show children. I was struck by how few of them wore sailors suits. It does not seem to have been something that was worn for every day wear. Of the photographs I saw there was only one in which a sailor suit can clearly be seen. The only photograph I found of a boy wearing a sailor suit outside of a school situation was taken in Scarborough about 1913. There had been a fire and the boys had stopped to watch the drama." HBC thinks that these photographs taken in parks and on the street primarily show how working-class boys dressed. I think middle-class boys were generally more supervised. And in the photographic record we do see studio portraits of mostly middle-class boys in sailor suits, mostly boys about 8 years old and younger before they went off to school. Our reader thinks that actually more boys had sailor suits, but they were reserved for best wear. He writes, "I expected to see children caught on film wearing these types of clothes but I found there were very few images that had children wearing them. These were photographs taken by an an amature who had a passion for photography then and went about photographing scenes from where ever they lived. In the process giving a good historic documentation of how life was lived between 1900 and 1914. I expect sailor suits were more likely to be worn on special occasions that he could not photograph because they were private family events."

Popularity

The sailor suit appears to have been the most popular outfit for boys by the 1890s and this popularity continued in the 1900s. Sailor suits do not, however, appear as popular in England as in many other countries. Which is interesting given the importance and prestige of the Royal Navy. The sailor suit was a mainstay for the royal family.

Age Trends

Sailor suits seem to have been particularly popular for boys after breeching. The practice of outfitting younger boy in dresses was rapidlt declinng. English boys commonly wore sailor suits until about age 8 years. We no longer see many English boys wearing sailor by bout 10 yers of age. This was very different from the Continent. We think what made Britain different was the importance of private schools which had school uniforms. It was very common for boys from affluent fanilies to attend boarding schools. The schools for younger boys were called prep schools mny of which had uniforms like the punblic (private secondary boarding school). This began at an erly sge. It at first varied, but by the 1900s was fairly firmly set at about 8 years of age, Some boys might joined ythe schools a little later. These prep school boys thus began wearing their school uniforms and more mature suits. This did not occur on the continent where prep school age boys still commonly wore sailor suits. We see younger boys at a few prep schools without uniforms wearing them. On their summer vacations, however, older boys might wear sailor suits on outings to beach resorts.

Social Class

The Royal Family helped popularize the sailor suit for upper- and middle-class boys. We are less sure about how common they were for working-class boys. A Lancashire reader writes, "I have looked at a large number of photographs showing Lancashire scenes between 1900 and 1914. Many of these pictures show children. I was struck by how few of them wore sailors suits. It does not seem to have been something that was worn for every day wear. Of the photographs I saw there was only one in which a sailor suit can clearly be seen. The only photograph I found of a boy wearing a sailor suit outside of a school situation was taken in Scarborough about 1913. There had been a fire and the boys had stopped to watch the drama." HBC thinks that these photographs taken in parks and on the street primarily show how working-class boys dressed. I think middle-class boys were generally more supervised. And in the photographic record we do see studio portraits of mostly middle-class boys in sailor suits, mostly boys about 8 years old and younger before they went off to school. Our reader thinks that actually more boys had sailor suits, but they were reserved for best wear. He writes, "I expected to see children caught on film wearing these types of clothes but I found there were very few images that had children wearing them. These were photographs taken by an an amature who had a passion for photography then and went about photographing scenes from where ever they lived. In the process giving a good historic documentation of how life was lived between 1900 and 1914. I expect sailor suits were more likely to be worn on special occasions that he could not photograph because they were private family events."

Outfits

We see English boys wearing mostly sailor outfirs with th traditional three stripe styling. The outfit the boy here is wearing is a good example (figure 1). The principal sailor suit garmets were a blouse with the classic V collar and pants. The blouses were fairly standard. There were some accesspries like white cords and brass whistles. The blouse could be white or dark (usually dark blue or black). The pants were usually dark, There were white suits with white pants. Dark pants were worn with both white and dark pants. White pants were never worn with dark blouses. There were different kinds of pants, including short pants, knee pants, and long pants. Here age was a factor, but only to a degree as we only see younger boys wearing sailor suits in England. Bloomer knicketrs popular in the 19th century were no longer very common, although thos is just our initial assessment. In addition to the main items there were also sailor headwear (caps and hats). sailor headwear was usually worn with sailor dsuits, but not exlisively. We see sailor headwear with manu other outfits. Other sailor garments were jacket suits and reefer coats. Reefer coats were worn with both sailor suits and non-sailor outfits. Hosiery and shoes were the same as used for other outfits. we see three-qiaterand knee socks as well as long stockings. Younger boys might er strap shoes. We see somewht older boys wearing low-cut and high-top shoes.

Gender

Families

There were of course no wrutten rules about the ages boys wore what different outfits. A major factore was the clothing companies and what sizes various garments were made to fit. But within those constraints, it was up to the family to decide. Thus there were differences on how the children were dressed. Family potraits with chilkdren of different ages thus provide useful information about popular conventions that individual portaits do not offer. The family portaits poivide an indication as to when children moved from one style to another. In the 1900s decade it was still very common to age grade children's clothes, especially boys clothing. And these decisions show up very clearly in family portatits, although we usually have to estimate the children's ages. These images ckearly show that sailor suits in England were clearly for younger boys than was the case for the Continent.

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Created: 8:49 PM 2/28/2007
Last updated: 3:46 PM 7/16/2020