Figure 1.-- Here we see the children of an unidentified Boston family, two boys and a girl. They look to be about 5-11 years old. The younger boy obviously wears a sailor suit, but we see sailor features on the clothing of the other children as well. Notice the vibrant striping on the girl's dress. And look at the oldr boy's blouse. It has Norfolk pleating, but notice the sailor back flap. The cabinet card portrait was taken at the George Rand studio in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

Less obvious is the ways to which sailor styling has influenced and been adopted in a wide range of garments. When the Fauntleroy style burst onto the fashion scene (1885), the sailor suit was already popular. They became choices mothers could make. But mothers with their infinite creativity began to merge the styles. Thus we see some boys wearing outfits with both Fauntleroy and sailor touches. Notice the Kansas boy on the previous page. He has a Fauntleriy lace collar and floppy bow and a jacket with sailor-inspired striping (figure 1). Many boys wore jackets or blouses with a hint of sailor styling. Many boys wore Fauntleroy and other outfits with sailor hats. We see countless Fauntleroy styled blouses with a sailor-like back flap. Other boys wore sailior suits or outfits with sailor styling without sailor caps or hats. The various permutations were especially striking in the 19th century. Sailor dresses became popular with girls, but before that developed we begin to see sailor features on girls dresses.

Other Related Pages:
[Sailor suits][Kilts][Smocks][Pinafores][Sailor Hats][Blouses]
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Created: 6:51 AM 10/22/2018
Last updated: 6:51 AM 10/22/2018