Sailor Suits: American Styles--Individuals


Figure 1.--Sailor suits were one of the most popular outfits for boys and girls in the late 19th and early 20th century. We have archived many American children wearing sailor outfits on HBC. We plan to link them to this page so as to follow trnds over time. Unfortunately many of the images are not unidentified. We would guess this portrait was taken about 1920.

We have archived quite a few boys and girls on HBC wearing sailor suits over the years. The sailor suit was popular in both Europe and America. So we have quite a number of images from America and other countries. Sailor suits were so popular that there are countless images to choose from. Unfortunately the hedadwear is not always include in the photograph. We plan to link some of those pages here to see how sailir syyles and conventions varied over time. This will take some time to do. In some cases we know who the individuals were and something asbout the family. In other cases the children are unidentified and all we have is the image to go on.

Brief Sniptes

We are collecting brief snipets about American boys wearing sailor suits.

Connecticut Boy (1890s)

This American boy wears a flat-top sailor cap with his sailor suit along with a decidedly non-regulation plaid bow. Also notice that the bows hides what seems to be a large white collar--unusual with a sailor suit. He looks to be about 5 years old. The image is undated, but the bow suggests the 1890. HBC is unsure if the younger child is his brother or sister. Notice the smocking on the child's dress or smock and the unusual lacy shoulders. The studio was located in Naugatuk, Connecticut.

New Jersey Boys--the Lowes (1893)

We have some interesting photographs of the Lowe brothers, Howard and William. We don't know anything about them except that they lived in Paterson, New Jersey. William was born January 15, 1884. He had a younger brother named Howard. I have not been able to identify the boys' parents. A portrait taken about 1891 shows the boys in identical sailor suits with dickeys, sailor caps, long black stockings, and hightop shoes. Other portraits show the boys as teen agers wearing suits.

Unidentified Brothers (about 1905-10)

Sailor suits were especially popular for boys in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There were several different styles. These two boys, presumably brothers, are dressed identically, but notice the different way of wearing their caps. A reader writes, "I am uncertain whether I could say the boys are dressed identically. I notice that they both wear white sailor suits but there the similarity seems to end for me. The boy on the right wears straight pants while the one on the left wears bell bottoms. The boy on the right has a sailor collar that goes much further down on his blouse (maybe a size big?) while the boy on the left has a much smaller collar and shorter sleeves (maybe his blouse is small for him?). The way their ties are tied are also different as well as you noted how they wear their caps." HBC would still say the boys are dressed identically, meaning the same garments, not how the hats are worn or the bows tied. Our reader does, however, raise some interesting questions about the sailor suits here which merit discussion.








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Created: 7:13 PM 12/1/2006
Last updated: 7:13 PM 12/1/2006