Figure 1.--This illustration from "La Mode Illustée" showed a sailor kilt for a boy 3-5 years of age from Mlle de la Torchère, rue de Rennes. Note the frilled cuffs and tam that he is wearing with his sailor kilt along with what looks like kneepants and long stockings. |
HBC has noted sailor kilts or middy blouses and skirts before actual sailor dresses. We are not positive that sailor dresses did not also exist at this time, but we can conform that sailor kilts did exist. The first such outfits we have that noted were in the mid-1880s, in France. This is just a prelininary assessment at this time, they could have well existed earlier. Sailor outfits for both girls and boys appeared in France at about the same time. Availiable information for these outfits suggest that they were most popular for boys 5-7 years of age. We do not yet know about the chronological trends in other countries. There were two popular headwear to be worn with these sailor kilts. Both wide brimmed sailor hats woth streamers and tam o'shanters (referred to as "berets" in France) were popular.
HBC has noted sailor kilts or middy blouses and skirts before actual sailor dresses. We are not positive that sailor dresses did not also exist at this time, but we can conform that sailor kilts did exist. The first such outfits we have that noted were in the mid-1880s, in France. This is just a prelininary assessment at this time, they could have well existed earlier.
Skirted sailor outfits for both girls and boys appeared in France at about the same time. The informatiin we have at present suggests the 1880s, but we have noted a somewhat earlier appearance in some other countries.
Availiable information for these outfits in France suggest that they were most popular for boys 5-7 years of age.
Much of the information HBC has collected on sailor kilts from the United style. These had become particularly popular by the 1870s. They were often called kilt-suits, but they were not really plaid as the skirt, almost always white or blue, usually matching the middy blouse. Proper plaid kilts were never worn with middy blouses. As a result, it was not quite accurate to refer to the skirts as kilts, but it was generally done as the term kilt was considered more appropriate for boys. One advantage of this style was that after the boy was
breeched, he could continue wearing his middy blouse, simply replacing the kilt skirt with kneepants.
There were two popular headwear to be worn with these sailor kilts. Both wide brimmed sailor hats woth streamers and tam o'shanters (referred to as "berets" in France) were popular.
This illustration from "La Mode Illustée" showed a sailor kilt for a boy 3-5 years of age from Mlle de la Torchère, rue de Rennes (figure 1). Note the frilled wrist cuffs and tam with stramer that he is wearing with his sailor kilt along with what looks like kneepants and long stockings. The skirt is pleated with a white band trim at hem. It is shorter than the kilt suits and sailor kilts worn by American boys. Note that the kneepants, one button is notable below the hem of the kilt/skirt. One observer thought that these kneepants were plain pantalettes, but HBC has never noted dark-colored pantalettes or pantalettes with kneepants-like button trim at the hem. This does seem rather unusual. HBC has noted that boys wearing kilt suits and sailor kilts did often wear panrtalettes, but HBC has never noted the sailor kilt paired with kneepants before. This illustratin also shows the boy wearing boots with his sailoe kilt, an unusual combination.
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