German Sailor Suits: Gender Trends--Chronology


Figure 1.--These unidentified German children had their portrait taken, probably in the early 1910s. The older brither and sister wear very similar middy bloues. The only difference we note is that the girl's bloue has a dickey and the boy's does not.

We note both German boys and girls wearing sailor suits or sailor styled outfits. We begin to see girls wearing sailor outfits in the the 1860s in Britain. We are not yet sure just when German girls began to wear sailor-styled outfits. We believe it was somewhat later than in Britain. We do not yet have German images of girls earing sailor suits from the 1860s and 70s, but surely some German girls had begun wearing sailor outfits by this time. Our failure to find such images is probably related to our rather small archive of 19th century German images. We note some images of girls wearing sailor outfits from the 1890s. We know much more about the 20th century. By the turn of the 20th century, both boys and girls were cpmmonly wearing sailor outfits. In some cases the outfits were similar if not identically. Boys and girls wore identical middy vlouses, of course the boys wore pants and the girls skirts. There were also sailor dresses. The style was very popular for girls in the early 20th century, especially before World War I. Girls continued to wear middy blouses in the 1920s and 30s, but the popularity gradually declined, especially after World War II.

The 19th Century

We note both German boys and girls wearing sailor suits or sailor styled outfits. We begin to see girls wearing sailor outfits in the the 1860s in Britain. We are not yet sure just when German girls began to wear sailor-styled outfits. We believe it was somewhat later than in Britain. We do not yet have German images of girls earing sailor suits from the 1860s and 70s, but surely some German girls had begun wearing sailor outfits by this time. Our failure to find such images is probably related to our rather small archive of 19th century German images. We note some images of girls wearing sailor outfits from the 1890s.

The 20th Century

We know much more about the 20th century. By the turn of the 20th century, sailor outfits were one of the most popular children's styles. Both boys and girls were commonly wearing sailor outfits. In some cases the outfits were similar, often identical. Boys and girls wore identical middy blouses, of course the boys wore pants and the girls skirts. When sailor outfits were popular, girls did not wear pants. There were also sailor dresses. Not all the sailor styles were identical. The kind of sailor button jackets that many boys wore were not commonly won by girls. The style was very popular for girls in the early 20th century, especially before World War I. Girls continued to wear middy blouses in the 1920s. The styles were mostly tradoitional. The middy blouse boys and girls wore in the 1920s were essentially the same. We saa girls wearing middy blouses with nloomers for school gyn. We are not sure when this style first appoeared. We continue to see both boys and girls wesaring identical middy blouses in the 1930s. The same was true in the 1930s. The popularity of sailor styles gradually declined, especially after World War II.







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Created: 10:22 PM 10/8/2007
Last updated: 11:56 PM 2/7/2010