Sailor suits were very popular in America as in Europe. They were, however, more commonly worn by younger boys in America. HBC has not yet fully assessed te ages from available catalogs. but believes that sailor suits in America were rearely made for boys older than 11 or perhaps 12 years of age. we have noted older boys in Europe wearing them. This subject should be relatively easy to research because catalogs like Wards and Sears as well as other companies normally indicated ages. We are working on a catalog section for HBC and will use this to develop this section. Our initial impression is that sailor suits were most common for children about 4-10 years of age. THe vast majority of American boys wearing sailor suits were 10 years old or younger. Sailor suits were one of the most popular styles for boys this age. This of course varied somewhat over time.
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.
Boys this young still generally did not wear sailor suits during the era that sailor suits were most commonly worn. Some young boys did wear sailor dressess. We do note very young boys wearing sailor styled outfits beginning in the 1970s, usually as a dressy style.
|
We see quite a fewe pre-schoolboys wearing sailor suyits, especially in the early-20 century through to mid-century. We note many younger brothers pictured in sailor suitws with older briother wearing standard suits. The boy here is a good example. The sailor suit was seen as an outfit younger boys could wear as a formal suit.
Younger boys close in age might be outfitted in identical sailor suits. A good example is the Scott boys in the 1890s. The boys were 5-7 years old. After World War I (1914-18) the sailor suit came to be worn by younger boys. This was in part because sailor dresses and middy blouses became so popular with girls. The boy on the previous page about 1922 looks to be about 5 years old. He is pictured with his teddy bear. He wears a white sailor suit with dark stiping on the collar and cuffs and a plain middy at the neck. I'm not sure about the color of the cuff and collar detailing. It could be blue, but red is a possibility. He wears long black stockings.
Large numbers of American boys wore sailor suits at age 6 years. In the 100 years or so that sailor suits were worn, age 6 years was almost always commonly included within the age range. American boys began wearing sailor suits in the 1860s, but they were not yet very common so we can not yet develop an age range. We see more boys wearing sailor suits in the 70s and this included 6 year olds. We are not sure about the full range. This continued as the sailor suit became increasingly popular. We see both pre-school and school age boys wearing them. By the 1890s they were one of the most popular outfits for boys. Age 6 years of course is the standard age for beginnng school. And we note boys wearing sailor suits to school. This of course varied over time. We see pre-teen boys wearing them to school.
Sailor suits continued to be populsr in the 1900s and 6-year olds commonly wore them. We notice Harold Fitzroy-Carrington at about age 6 wearing a crisp white sailor tunic in 1904. After World War I this changed. Sailor suits began to decline in popularity, but we still see 6 year olds wearing them. We note a short pants summer suit worn in the 1920s. We still see 6-year olds wearing sailor suits, but few boys after the 3rd grade wore them. We think the popularity of sailor outfits with girls was a factor. We still ee a few 5- and 6-year olds wearing sailor suits in the early-40s, but rarely after that as the sailor suit went out of fashion for boys. We notice 6-year olds wearing sailor suits with dufferent types of pants. This included long pants during times when most 6-year olds did not wear long trousers.
Many American boys at age 7 years wore sailor suits. We notice an unidentified boy who looks to be about 7 year old in the 1870s wearing an early sailor suit.
The sailor suit was a style that the younger boys in elementary (primary) school could wear to school. Thus we continue to see 7-year olds wearing sailor suits in the early-20th century. Younger boys close in age might be outfitted in identical sailor suits. A good example is the Scott boys in the 1890s. The boys were 5-7 years old.
We notice Harold Fitzroy-Carrington at about age 7 wearing a conventional sailor suit for play in 1905. We note a popular style for middy blouses in the early 20th century. Another example is Ralph Patterson Olmstead in 1912.
We see many American 8-year old boys wearing sailor suits from the time sailor suits became a major style into the the inter-War era. It was never the principal style worn by boys, but was a popular style, especially for boys from families in comfortable circuntances. we hace numerous examples archived on HBC. There is a famous portrait of the author Tom Wolfe wearing a dark sailor suit at age 7-8 in the early 1900s. We notice Harold Fitzroy-Carrington at about age 8 wearing a conventional sailor suit for play in 1906. Sailor suits were most common or younger bous, but we do see 8-year olds wering them. We note more boys wearing sailor suits a mud century, but after World Sar I we mostly see younger boys wearing them. During the inter-War era the oldest boys wearing sailor suits are about 8 years of age. We see some catalogs with offerings up tp 10-year olds, but the photographic records shoes that sailor suits were not very common for boys older thn about 8-year olds. We note a button-on short pants suit fora boy about 8-9 years old worn during the 1930s. After World War II we no longer se 8-year olds wearing sailor suits.
Another photograph of Harold Fitzroy-Carrington and the younger boys are all done up in white sailor suits for a birthday party in 1907. Harold was about 9 years old.
The sailor suit in the late-19th and early-20th was a popular school style for boys through about age 10, after this it became less common. After World War I the sailor suit became worn by younger boys usually up to about age 7 or 8 years old. We note a photographic studio portrait here is of Charles Samuel Fix. I'm not sure about his age, but would guess about 10 years old. Charles wears a very smartly done sailor suit about 1890. We rarely see 10-year olds wearing sailor suits in the 20th century, especially after World War I by the 1920s.
About the oldes age we note American boys wearing sailor suits in any numbers is 12-year olds.
We do not see many American teenagers wearin sailor suits. Perhaps some younger teens wore them, but the phtographic record suggests that this was not very common. You can see that in the ages here for which he hav linkedpages. And this was the case at the peak of sailor suit popularity (1890s-1900s). We did not epect to find any older teens weating sailor suits. Sailor outfits were popular for teenage girls, even older teens. But we do not see older boys wearing sailor suits. HBC has an extnsive American photographic archive and the photographic record clear shows thatthe sailor suit was widelky seen as an outfit for school age boys, mostly pre-teens. We were surprised to find a family portrait with an older teen wearing a traditinal sailor suit. We thought ar firt he might bhavevenlisted n the Navy, but we are not sure that that the U.S. Navy had sailor collars with the detailing that the boy here is wearing. There is no information about the name of the family, ages or location. The boy looks to be about 16 years old.
HBC Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to theMain country sailor suit page]
[American]
[English]
[French]
[German]
[Italian]
Other Related HBC Pages:
[Sailor suits]
[Kilts]
[Smocks]
[Pinafores]
[Sailor Hats]
[Blouses]
[Ring Bearers]
[Long hair]
[Ringlet curls]
[Hair bows]
[Bangs]
[Collars]
[Bows]
[American mail order catalogs]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main American sailor suit age page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
