|
An entegral part of the sailor suit and middy blouse was the sailor scarfe The scarfe is a variously shaped cloth worn around the neck or over the head. Sailor scarves were worn around the neck, under the back flap and "V" collar and tied at the apex of the V front. Scarves were worn for both wamth and style, it it case of the sailor suit it was or style. Both boys and girls wore them. Many sailor blouses came with scarves. This was more the case with the pull-over middy blouses than the button-up jackets. We notice quite a few photograohs of boys wearing sailor blouses with scarves. Not all boys wore their sailor suits with a scarfe. but quite a number did. This was especially the case in formal studio portrait, but we also notice scarves in the more informal snapshots taken by parents. They were tied with a simple knot. Very different than the more elaborately tied German knot. The scarves were mostly navy blue or black silk scarves. This is what actual U.S. Navy sailors wore. We have also noted white and colored scarves, espcially red. We even notice patterened scarves such as plaid scarves While most were plain dark scarves, there was some variety. Quite a number of the better suits had embroidered designs like the ones done on the middy blouse dickies. Some mothers were not satisfied with the standard middy blouse scarfe and replaced them or even added the floppy bows that were popular in the late 19th century.
An entegral part of the sailor suit and middy blouse was the sailor scarfe The scarfe is a variously shaped cloth worn around the neck or over the head. Sailor scarves were worn around the neck, under the back flap and "V" collar and tied at the apex of the V front. Scarves were worn for both wamth and style, it it case of the sailor suit it was for style.
Both boys and girls wore them. Many sailor blouses came with scarves. There were no gender commotations, presumably because actual sailors wore these scarves as part of their uniform.
Scarves were primarily worn with the pull-over middy blouses. They were less common with the button-up jackets.
We notice quite a few photograohs of boys wearing sailor blouses with scarves. Not all boys wore their sailor suits with a scarfe. but quite a number did. This was especially the case in formal studio portrait. They were less common with play suits. Even so, we also notice scarves in the more informal snapshots taken by parents.
American sailor scarves were tied with a simple knot. This was very different than the more elaborately tied German knot. And this is useful to differentiate unidentified portraits.
The scarves were mostly navy blue or black silk scarves. This is what actual U.S. Navy sailors wore. We have also noted white and colored scarves, espcially red. We even notice patterened scarves such as plaid scarves (figure 1). While most of the scarves Amerucan boys and girls wore were plain dark scarves, the photographic record shows that there were some variety.
Quite a number of the better suits had embroidered designs like the ones done on the middy blouse dickies.
Floppy bows were very popular for American boys in the late-19th and very early-20th centuries. It was a popiular addition to Fauntleroy nd other outfits. The bows were so popular that Some mothers were not satisfied with the standard middy blouse scarfe with sailor outfirs and replaced them or even added the floppy bows that were so popular at the time. This helps to date the images. Sailor outfits worn with floppy bows rather than sarves were mostly see during the Fauntleroy craze, about 1885-1905. This rather defeated one of the purpses of the sailor suit, a comfortable plain suit a boy could wear. The sailor suit stood it stark contrast to the fancy Little Lord Fauntleroy suits of the late-19th century. In addition the open collar made the sailor suit much more comfortable to wear. adding a floppy bow created the same restrictive closed collar outfits as the Fauntleroy suit. Perhaps this is why mothers varies as to where they positioined the bows. Rather than af the collar covering over the V-front and dickie, we see mothers positioining the floppy bows at the bottom apex of the sailor V-collar. This is where the sailor scarve was tied in a small bow. The flopy bow looks out of place here, but some mothers liked the look. We don't see a lot of boys wearing sailor suits with floppy bows, but as the floppy bow was so populr, it certainly was not unheard of.
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to theMain U.S. individual sailor suit garment page]
[Return to theMain U.S. sailor suit garment 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]
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]
