Figure 1.-- This little American boy wears a black and small checked sailor suit. The short trousers, the belt, and the collar are all coordinated. The boy is clearly wearing supporters attached to a waist for the black stockings because we can see the rubber buttons of the double pendant garters at the edge of his shorts on the left side. We know the date of the photo from the source (1919-20) and the place (Globe, Arizona). Note the large black silk bow at the collar. The haircut with bangs is also notable.

Younger boys in the 19th century commonly wore dresses and other skirted garments. We do not see 2-year olds wearing sailor suits, although we do see dresses with sailior features. Of course there may have been exceptions, but there were not very many in the photographic record. . By the turn-of-the 20th century we see boys wearing sailor-style tunic suits. Some were made for boys as young as 2 1/2 years. Gradually sailor suits became increasingly common for very young boys as they no longer were outfitted in dresses and other skirted garments. After World Waer I we see boys as young as 2 years wearing sailior suits as we no longer see older boys wearing them except for the early primary years. We see quite a few younger boys in the photographic records wearing sailir suits, although 3 year olds seem more common than 2 year olds.

Other Related 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]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 8:38 PM 1/3/2011
Last updated: 8:38 PM 1/3/2011