Figure 1.--This French boy in a Vatentines Day card from about 1920 wears a classic middy blouse with a black silk scarf.
|
Figure 1.--This French boy in a Vatentines Day card from about 1920 wears a classic middy blouse with a black silk scarf. |
The two basic garments associated with the sailor suit are a middy blouse or jacket type top and pants. French boys wore both classic middy blouses as well as many stlistic variations. French boys have wore long bellbottoms as well as kneepants and short pants. Knickers were also worn, but primarily the bloomer type worn by younger boys. A variety of other garmnetrs such as dickies and black silks scarves were also common. French boys wore many kinds of straw hats with their sailor suits, including the traditional wide-brimmed style with streaming ribbons. They also wore an exclsusively French style, copying the hats of French sailors--soft white caps with red pompoms like the caps worn by French sailors. Footwear also varied. Strap shoes were common until the 1930s. Long stockings were less common than in America. Some boys wore kneesocks, but three-quarter length socks were most common.
The two basic garments associated with the sailor suit are a middy blouse or jacket type top and pants. French boys wore both classic middy blouses as well as many stlistic variations. The middy blouse was a pullover. There were many blouse or jacket styles in the alte 19th century that buttoned up. In addition, many younger boyswore tunics with sailor styling. French boys have wore long bellbottoms as well as kneepants and short pants. Knickers were also worn, but primarily the bloomer type worn by younger boys. A variety of other garmnetrs such as dickies and black silks scarves were also common.
The original sailor outfits in the mid-19th century were sailor suits styled on the middly blouses and trousers worn by actual sailors. Younger boys at the time, however, wore dresses and were not normally breched until 4-6 years of age. This meant that younger boys could not wear the increasingly ppular sailior styling. As a result, skirted sailor outfits appeared so that younger boys coud wear the popular sailor style. HBC has noted sailor kilts or middy blouses and skirts before actual sailor dresses. The firs such outfits we have noted were in the mid-1880s, but this is just a prelininary assessment at this time. This was about the same time that sailor outfits appeared for girls.
Although not always pictured with his sailor suit, the sailor hat or cap was a key part of the outfit. This was particularly true in the 19th and early 20th century when wearing caps and hats was more common. French boys wore many kinds of straw hats with their sailor suits, including the traditional wide-brimmed style with streaming ribbons. They also wore an exclusively French style, copying the hats of French sailors--soft white caps with red pompoms like the caps worn by French sailors.
A boy might also wear a coat with sailor styling. The most common type here was the reefer jacket. Duffle coats wre worn by sailors, but these did not become popular for boys until the sailor suit had largely gone out of style following World War II.
Perhaps more so than many other garments, quote a few accesories went with the sailor suit. As mentioned above, the hat was probavly the most important. Other accesories included a dickey, sacrfe, and tin whistle--an accessory not always approved by quite-loving mothers.
French boys wore some other garments were worn with their sailor suits. Theese were primarily hosiery and shoes and sandals. All diiferent types of hosiery was worn. This varied over time. Three-quarter stockingsere most common in the late 19tyh century, but long stockings were also worn. Long stockings, however, were much less common than in America and some European countries such as Germany. After World War I, kneesocks became more common. Footwear also varied. Strap shoes were worn until the 1930s. Strap shoes are quite commonly depicted in the popular postcards of the era, bit were probably not as commonly worn as suggested by the cards.
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to the Main country sailor suit pages]
[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:
[Return to clothing styles]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Bibliographies]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Contributions]
[Countries]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[French glossary]
[Satellite sites]
[Boys' Clothing Home]