Figure 1.--This tin-type photograph is a rare example of an outside shot. The boy wears a checked sailor suit. Patterned slor suits were not very common, but we do see a few. While the photograph is undated, the clothes clealy point to the 1910s. The knicker pants, black long stockings, hair bow, and rompers all suggest American chilkdren's styles. This tin-type came in a paper sleeve as was common in the 19th century. Click on the image to see the sleeve.

We do not have enough images to establish any chronlogical timeline yet. Most of these images we have found so far, however, for some reason come from the early-20th century. We have a fairly large 19th century archive, but have not yet found examples of patterned sailor suits. We see that as a very good indicator that patterned sailorsuits were not very common, but that does not mean that none existed. We have found a few patterned suits in the 1910s and early-1920s. The boy here looks to have been photographed in the 1910s (figure 1). The boy on the previous page was probbky ohotograohed in the 1920s. While we have found afew examplswith patterns, the vast majority of suits were made with flat material. We suspect that most of the patterned sits were the result of home sewing. We believe thtreadt nade suits in npattens were rare. By the 30s we no no longer see examples, but by this time, the sailor suit was declining in popularity.

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]

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Created: 1:54 PM 8/18/2022
Last updated: 1:54 PM 8/18/2022