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Social class was a very imoprtant factor bin fasion during the early-20th century. At the time sailor suits were very popular in America and much of of Europe, but curiously not so much Engkland. Well-to- do boys began their prep schools at about 8 and few wore sailor suits to these schools, most of which had uniforms. Interestingly, sailor suits do not seem to have been nearly as common in England as some continental countries (France and Germany) and America. The Royal Family of course dressed the children in salor suits. Prince George who became king in 1911 believed it was the perfect outfit for children. Everyone has seen the images of the princes wearing sailor suits. This may give, however, a misleading impression about the popularity of sailor suits. A Lancashire reader writes, "I have looked at a large number of photographs showing Lancashire scenes between 1900 and 1920. Many of these pictures show children. I was struck by how few of them wore sailors suits. It does not seem to have been something that was worn for every day wear. Of the photographs I saw there was only one in which a sailor suit can clearly be seen. The photograph was of a class of school children. The second picture shows the type of clothes worn as depicted in the photograph. The only photograph I found of a boy wearing a sailor suit outside of a school situation was taken in Scarborough about 1913. There had been a fire and the boys had stopped to watch the drama." We think socail class is a g=factor here. Sailor suiyts were especially popular with the mioddle-class and no commomnly worn by wotking class boys.
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