Figure 1.--This is a trade card from the late-19th century, a common form of advertising. In this case the company was a candy wholesaler. It seems to be an accurate depiction of a late-19th century sailor suit and shows the blue and white coloring commonly used for these suits. Note the traditional three-stripe styling.

The classic middy blouse was the standard shirt-like garment done with sailor styling. These blouses were made in many different forms and styles. The classic middy blouse had the destinctive sailor sytling and blouse at the waist with a draw string. Many were also made with button-on styling. We also notice shirts with with sailor styling, but these were generally for younger boys after the sailor outfits had largely passed out of style. The basic middy blouse had a V-neck front, often with stripe detailing, and a flap back with the detailing repeated. Many middy blouses had traditionally styling, meaning styled like naval uniforms. The U.S. Navy of course set the standard, but like other navies in the late-19th and early 20th centuries, the basic styles were set by the British Royal Navy. Clothing designers, however, game up with a wide range of styles and varied detailing. They were usually blue or white or a combination blue and white, but many other colors were also used. The traditional styling with three stripes on the middy blouse was a widely followed standard. There were both pull-over and button-up styles. Middy blouses were often worn as part of a suit, but they were also worn by themselves without matching pants.

Terminology

We have tended to use the term 'middy blouse' for sailor-styled blouses. Middy refers to midshipmen. And the naval cadets qt Anapolis were called middies. A reader writes, "I must have the wrong impression, but I thought Middies were when girls wore them. I thought boys wore "sailor blouses'. Please correct me on this point, and do you have ads for boys that say 'middies'?" Well it is certainly true that girls sailor blouses were called 'middy blouses', although we do not know the time line here. We checked the HBC catalog section and the few examples we found were indeed called 'sailor blouses'. Our archive, however, is too limited to draw any firm conclusiions at this point. It my be that the term 'middy' blouse was reserved for the girls, but this requires futher investigation.

Types

There were two basic types of sailor blouses. as sailor blouses were a style tht developed aftr theinvenbtion of photography. There is a vast photographic record show casing these garments and trends over time. We see both pull-over (draw-string) and button-up sailor blouse styles. Only the pull-over blousess could have the draw-string hem feature that caused the blouse to blouse- or billow-out. Tge boy here wears the pull-over style (figure 1). While the garment got its name from this feature, the real characteristic of a blouse is that it does not have shirt-tails. Thus many if not most blouses buttoned up rather than have the draw-string blouse feature. We certainly see many draw-string blouses, but the blouses that buttoned up seem even more common. Both were done in many different style and we see both both before and after the turn-of-the 20th century. We are still working on both the chronology and the gender trends involved with both these types of sailor blouses. Both were still very common before World War I (1914-18), but after the early-1920s rapidly declined in popularity, especially for boys. They comtinued to be popular for girls for a while older, especially the pull-pver draw-string style. We also notice button- sailor blouses, but these were usually done with front buttons.

Chronology

The styles of American sailor blouses have changed over time. This is a topic that we have neflected, but hope to address in more detail.

Styling

The basic middy blouse had a sharp V-neck front, often with stripe detailing, and a flap back with the detailing repeated. Many middy blouses had traditionally styling, meaning styled like Royal Naval uniforms. Irionically, the boy's sailor suit appeared in Britain just at the time that the Royal Navy was for the first time instituting a uniform for enlisted men (ratings). The U.S. Navy of course set the standard for American sailor suits, but like other navies in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the basic styles were set by the British Royal Navy and adopted by other navies. Clothing designers, however, came up with a wide range of variations in the 19th century. We even see some in the 1900s. Only by the 1910s is the classic V collar firmly established as the definitive sailor style. Some were major departures. Mothers at first were not wed to the traditional designs and fancy creations appealed to some fashion conscious mothers. Not all sailor suits had the "V" front. Some even had ordinary neck collars. Others were variations on the basic-V neck. We see collars that have the basic, V, but not necesarily the sharp intersection of the two V lines at the bottom. The great majority of sailor suits were done with the standard V collars, but the photographic record shows many boys wearing the many variations.

Detailing

Sailor suit detailing depends on the style of the sailor or middy blouse. The standard sailor blouse was the V-front middy blouse with a striped detailing on the collar and back flaps. There were blouses that were done in other styles, but they were less common. There were middy blouses that did not have the standard V-collar. These normally did not use stripe detailing. The V-front middy b;ouses were much more common. Detailing elements of middy blouses varied. Some blouses did not have stripes. The basic three stripes were, however, by far the most common, but the number of stripes could vary. Traditional suits, meaning the outfits most closely following naval uniforms, had three stripes. The three-stripe stripe detailing is a Royal Navy style adopted by the U.S. Navy. Some American blouses had stars added to the corners back flap. This was a specificically Amerivan innobvation. Often the collar stripes were repeated on the cuffs. Thuis might be done with contrasting cuff colors. White suits normally had dark blue detailing and colored (mostly blue suits) white stripes. Sometimes the stripes were repeated on the dickey, but this varied. Some dickies were solid colors or had embroidered designs. Blouses also sometimes had rank insignia. We also notice a thin horizontal stripe on the left sleevce. We are not sure yet what that signified.

Elements

There were several elements or parts to a middy blouse and other shirt-like sailor garments. Sailor styling from the collar was often repeated in these elements. The best known was the "V"-front sailor collar. These middy blouses were commonly made to be worn with dickies, sometines called shields. Some were removeable and others sewn in. They often had emroidered designs. Other had stripes. Less commonly we see more ordinary collars. There was also a back flap on most middy blouses. Most middy blouses had long sleeves, but we see short sleeves by the 1920s. There were often detailing at the wrist cuff. Many slleces also had ran badges. Many middy blouses had pockets, commonly breast pockets. Waist arrangements varied. Many had draw-string arrangements, This is why the garment bloused out, giving rise to the term blouse. There were also button-on arrangements.

Accessories

Middy blouses were worn with seceral accessories. They were often worn with scarves--usually black. There were, however, other colors. Another popular accessory was a lanyard, commonly attached to a whistle.

Colors

Most middy blouses were either blue or white. The black and white photography of the day complicates any assessment if color. The blouse illustrated in the color lithograph seen here is a good example (figure 1). The traditional styling with three stripes on the middy blouse was a widely followed standard. The stripes were both blue on whilte and white on blue. They were usually blue or white or a combination blue and white, but many other colors were also used, although not nearly as popular.

Usage

Middy blouses were often worn as part of a suit, but they were also worn by themselves without matching pants.

Gender

Boys were the first children to wear sailor blouses. We are not sure when girls began wearing sailor-styled blouses. We see Frances Wells Quintin wearing a sailor-styled blouse anbout 1880. It disd mot have the striped detailing.

Fabric

A variety of shirting fabrics were used for middy blouses. This varied substantially on a seasonal basis. Blue blouses for winter wear were made out of heavy warm materialn like surge. White blouses were made out of light-weight mterial, variouis cotton or linnen fabrics. Lawn was a popular fabric. The collar might be done in a different slightly stiffer material. We note some of the collars done in duck. A good example is a Best & Co. sailor blouse in the 1900s.

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Created: 1:28 AM 1/28/2008
Last updated: 12:41 PM 6/29/2019