Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified Welsh brother and sister, we think in the 1910s. The boy wears a sailor suit with a white collar. But notice the bottom half of the sailor V collar is cut off and there is no stripe detaailing. The studio is Wickens' in Bangor in northern Wales.

Sailor suits came in many different styles. We note both traditionally styled sailor suits as well as more imaginatively syled suits or at least suits with only dome sailor element. By traditionally styled suits, we mean suits that closely followed Royal Nany uniforrm styles. This mean a V-front, dickey, and back flap and three stripe detailing. We see more of the traditional styles in Britain than in the United States where there was more of a variety of suits until well into the 20th century. Early sailor suits were diverse because thary were not yet mass produced, but soon we see mostly fairly standard traditionally styled suits. In the previous page we see a sailor suit with the V-front collar. The boy instead of a simple dicky is wearing a vest and a blouse. Herevwevsee a much simpler outfit (figure 1). At least we can see what looks like a button-up garment and white blouse where the dicky normally is. From this point on, expecially by the 1860s we begin to see mostly traditioinal sailor suits. The charm of the sailor suit was that it was an enlisted (for ratings rather than officers) uniform. And it appealed to boys because of the military connction and the simplicity. But mothers being mothers, some insisted on adding fancy fashion elenents like the sailor suit the boy on the previous page is wearing. Traditional suits dominated. There were many other styles, but the traditiional styles predominated. It was the general pattern. We see various styles into the early-20th century, but the traditiinal styles dominated.

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
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Created: 9:35 PM 4/4/2020
Last updated: 9:35 PM 4/4/2020