|
We have a great deal of information on sailor suit age trends during the 1900s. Boys began wearing sailor suits at about 3 years of age. Often younger boys wore the sailor-styled tunic suits that were so popular during the decade. We mostly see pre-teen boys wearing sailor suits. We see some younger teens wearing sailor suits in the 1890s, but that was not very common after the turn-of-the 20th century in the 1900s. We are able to follow sailor suit age trends in some detail. There is a huge quantity of studio portaits and now family snapshots. This means we have age information not only on boys dressed up for the photographer, but every day scenes around home. The 1900s is the first decade with huge numbers of damily snapshots. Not only is there a voluminous photographic record, but also many mail order catalogs during the decade with age information that can be consulted. We do not see sailor suits in teen sizes. Many of the sailor suit offere are for boys ages 3-8 years old. We see some up to 10 years. We can also see age trends in school portraits. And this basic trend is confirmed in the photographic record.
We see even very young boys boys wearing sailor suits in the 1900s decade. Earlier there had beem a range of other outfits for such young boys like drsesses, kilt suits, and Fauntlkeroy suits. Sailor suits were more for school-age boys. Of course there were no defitive rules. It was all up to mother. But this was the general trend.
This had begun to change by the turn of the 20th century. We begin tomsee quite young boys waering sailor suits. A good example is Lake Sheary about 1900.
We note an unidentified boy who looks to be about 4 yeats old. His rather rough looking mustachioed grandfather is tenderly holding his hand. The cabinet card portrait is undated, but the new-style mount suggests the 1900s. He wears a saucer-type sailor cap and a jacket sailor top with a white blouse. The jacket is meant to be worn open, but hooks in the front. The pants do not seem to match the jacket. They probably were not meant to go together. We notice quite a few pre-school boys wearing sailor suits in the 1900s.
Age 6 was an important age, it is when most children began school. The portrait here shows two brothers wearing similar but not identical sailor suits in 1901 . The younger brother, Bayard, was 6 years old. We would hace guess he was younger. Bayad wears a stripped suit, but without the traditional stripes on the collar (figure 1). These would have been summer suits.
The older brother, Evert, here in 1901 wears a sailor suit similar to his younger brother (figure 1). He was 9 years old. His suit did not have the traditional stripes on the collar and back flap.
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to the Main American sailor suit 1900s decade trends]
[Return to the Main American sailor suit early 20th century decade trends]
[Return to the Main American sailor suit age page]
[Return to theMain country sailor suit page]
[American]
[English]
[French]
[German]
[Italian]
Other Related 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:
[About Us]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
