Figure 1.--This unidentified boy was from Birmingham. He wears an elgant velvet knee pants sailor suit. He looks to be about 8 yeras old. Notice his hat with a wide streamer at the left. The photograph is not dated, but looks like it was taken about 1900.

Sailor suits were made in a range of materials. This reflected the cost, purpose, and seasonality. The middy blouse and pants might be done in different fabrics. This was particularly true of summer suits. Most summer suits were made in various cotton frabics as were play suits. One popular fabric was galatea, a strong twill-weave cotton fabric. It could be striped or plain. It was named after the Rotal Navy man-of-war HMS Galatea It was afabric paryticuilarly noted for use in sailor suits, I think both Royal Navy uniforms and children's sailor suits. A little more expensive sailor suit might be made in linen--especially the blouse. Winter suits were more likely to be made in wool fabrics like serge. More expensive dressy sailor suits might be made in velvet. It is difficult to assess the specific fabric from pohotographic images. An exception here is velvet. Unfortunatly, determining the material is not someting easily done bwith just a photograph. We can usually identify velvelt and desingish between cotton and wool. Linnen is difficult to identigy. And the type of cotton fabric impossible to identify.

Cotton

Most summer suits were made in various cotton frabics as were play suits. The two most important factors here was that cotton was a liht-weifgt favreic commomly use for shirting. It was also an inexpensice material, explaining why it actually launched the industrial erevolution. One popular fabric was galatea, a strong twill-weave cotton fabric. It could be striped or plain. It was named after the Rotal Navy man-of-war HMS Galatea It was a fabric particuilarly noted for use in sailor suits, I think both Royal Navy uniforms and children's sailor suits. And the type of cotton fabric is for the most part impossible to identify One cotton fabric that can often be identified is corduroy, but it was not as common for sailor suits as for standard suits. Corduroy was both inexpemjsice and durable amd commomly used for inexpensived boys' suits.

Linnen

A little more expensive sailor suit might be made in linen--especially the blouse. These were sailor blouses mistly chosen by the affluent classes. Linnen is stronger and smoother than cotton fabric. he weave of linen fibers permits for greater airflow than cotton. This keeps clothing away from the skin. And is a factor in the anti-cling and anti-static characteristics. Linnen fabric tends to billows out away from the body leading to the evaporation of persperation. That helps to explain the modern popularity of linnen. We are notg sure why 19th century others were atracted to linnen sailor blouses. It may be simply because linnen as seen as a higher quality fabric and use for more expensive garments. Linnen is, however, difficult to identify from just the photographic record.

Velvet

Some of the most expenive children's clothes were done in velvet. This was usually, but not always dark-colored suits. Black velvet was the most common, but there were other cors as well. More expensive dressy sailor suits might be made in velvet. They were usually dark colored sailor suits. The unidentified boy here is a good example (figure 1). There were also light-colored velvet, but much less common. Velvet suits including sailor suits were usually done for the younger boys. Velvet was primarily a cotton fabric, but the better grades had silk mixed into the weave. It is usually difficult to assess the specific fabric from photographic images. An exception here is velvet. We can usually identify velvet. Here the sheen of the fabric is often a give away. Most of the velvet sailor suits we have noted were worn by boys during the fauntleroy era (1885-1905). The Fauntelery craze apparently increased the popularity of velvet outfits for boys.

Wool

Winter suits were more likely to be made in wool fabrics like serge. We can usually and destingish between cotton and wool. .

Other Related HBC Pages:
[Sailor suits] [Kilts] [Smocks] [Pinafores] [Sailor Hats] [Blouses]
[Ring Bearers] [Long hair] [Ringlet curls] [Hair bows] [Bangs] [Collars] [Bows]

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Girls]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 12:11 AM 6/12/2008
Last updated: 11:48 AM 9/12/2021