Figure 1.--These American brothers were photographed in similar, but not identical sailor suits. We are not positive when the portrait was taken, but believe it was taken about 1920. We have noted the white socks with color bands being worn in the early 1920s. The boys also wear white strap shies. Note how heavily starched the back flap of their middy blouses were. It is likely that these sailor suits are he boys' best summer outfits. Also notice the different hair styles. Click on the image for a fuler discussion of the portrait.

American boys in the 1920s still commonly wore sailor suits. The fashion was not as commom as during the period before World War I (1914-18), but t continued to be a popular fashion for younger boys. Sailor suits now were increasingly worn for play, but some boys still had dressy suits. The dressy suits seemed more popular for summer than winter wear. They were made in a wide variety of styles and available in many materials. They were both play and dressy outfits. They were generally made in sizes up to about 10 years. Older American boys did not wear sailor suits, although older European boys did. Most of the sailor suits came with kneepants or short pants. Knicker sailor suits were rare, but knicker length bloomer style pants had been worn at the turn of the century. This style had disappeared by the 1920s. A few boys wore sailor suits with long pants--mostly bell bottoms keeping with the sailor fashion.

Garments

We notice a wide variety of sailor garments offered in the 1920s, especially during the early 1920s. The caps and hats worn with sailor suits had changed significantly by 1920s. The wide brimmed hat with trailing streemer and elastic chin strap, once a boys stapple is no longer seen. The caps are now smaller and the swabbie-type cap more common. Middy blouses came in a wide range of styles. The pahts were mostlykneepants in the early 1920s, but short and long pants were more common by the late 1920s. Detailing like pockets varied. Knickers were less common. We also notice caps, dickies, and scarves. The dickies in these sailor suits mostly appear to come with various arrangements of stripes. Three narrow stripes appear the most common, but several have bold stripes as well.

Hair Styles

Short hair with parts became increasingly standrdized in the 1920s even for younger boys. And this included the boys wearing sailor suits. American boys no longer wore long hair and curls as ws still seen before Workld War I. Yiunger todkers might have short curls, but this was much less common than was the case before the War. Some of the younger boys had longish hair, but usually not completely covering the ears. Most boys in sailor suits by the 1920s had short boyish hair cuts. A common cut for younger boys were bangs with short hair at the sides like the younger boy here has (figure 1). The bangs themselves were done in various styles at the front. This could be straight across or molded a bit at the sides. This was a style for younger boys but you might see boys up to about 10 years of age wearing bangs and silor suits. Other short hair styles with parts were more common. There ws no special style associated with sailor suits. The bangs hair styles were probably somewhat more common with sailorcsuits than most other outfits. We believe that there were social class conventiins here, especilly with the bangs.

Materials

Quite a wide range of materials were used for boys' sailor suits. This was in part some were dressy outfits, but plain suits were becoming popular. Unfortuntely in most instances we can not tell the fabric from a photograph. The white suits the boys here wear could be done in several different fabrics. Period catalogs, however, often do commonly mention the fabric offered.
Chambray: One suit (S77)has the collar and cuffs made of blue chambray. Another suit for younger boys is made of brown chambray.
Cotton: Most of the blue and white stripped suit were made of cotton.
Drill: Drill wa a popular durable fabric which came in several colors used for sailor uits, white as well as a dark khaki.
Galatea: I'm not sure yet just what galatea is, but am looking into it.
Jean: I believe this means denim. Some suits indicate that they were made from unbleaced jean (S70).
Linnen:
Poplin:
Silk: The sailor ties were usually black silk.

Colors

Sailor suits were made in both white and various shades of blue. They were mostly worn with middy blouse and shorts of the same color. A few were worn with white middy blouse and blue shorts, but never blue middy blouse and white shorts. One suit was made in dark khaki (S72). I think this was uniquely America. I don't know of any European sailor suits that were khaki.

Ages

Little boys by 1920 were now wearing sailor suits as young as age 3. Just a few years, before World War I (1914-18) earlier many of these younger boys would have still been wearing dresses. The custom of keeping little boys in dresses, however, declined sharply in the 1910s--especially after the war. Several of the suits we have noted uin catalogs were made only in sizes to 7 or 8 while others in sizes to 10 years. One of the major characteristic of the suits for younger boys are that they are in the "button-on" style. The suits for younger boys are also the ones that differ the most from regulation styling. Sailor suits were generally made in sizes up to about 10 years. Older American boys did not wear sailor suits, although older European boys did.

Conventions

Some parents like to dress their children in identical or similar outfits. The sailor suit was a popular garment used when coordinating the children's outfits. The two brothers are a good example of this (figure 1). The boys were photographed in similar, but not identical sailor suits. The sailor suit coukd be used as a dress outfit, as is the case here. Note how heavily starched the back flap of their middy blouses were. It is likely that these sailor suits are he boys' best outfits. Sailor suits were also used a play outfit. Sailor sits were also worn to school by boys in primary school up to about age 10.

School Wear

We see many younger boys wearing sailor suits to school in the 1920s. A good example is an unidentified elementary school. Unfortunately, we are mnot sure if this photograph was taken in the late-190s or early 20s.

Catalogs

Useful information about sailor suyits is available in catalogs and newspaper advertusing in the 1920s. These advertisements provideca wide ange of useful information, including styles, sizes, colors, material, ect.

Individual Boys

We have archived quite a number of American boys wearing sailor suits during the 1920s. Not as many as earlier, but still it was a popular style for younger boys. We have not yet linked most of them here, but is a project we hope to eventually address. One example is noted author Ross Lockridge, Jr. in 1922. He was 8 years old. He wears a sailor suit with a white collar and dickey with knee pants. Another boy, E. McKenzie, wears a standard sailor suit with stripe detailing in 1923. It was a short pants sailor suit worn with white knee socks. He was 7 years old.

Created: November 27, 1998
Last updated: 1:16 AM 5/26/2012