Figure 1.--The Duke of Windsor is pictured here with his grandfatherthe Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria. He wears a kind of ruffled sailor collar, a reefer jacket, a white kilt skirt, and short white socks. Behind them is Princess Victoria of Wales, one of the Prince of Wales' daughters. Notice the short boyish hair cut, even though he is still wearing skirts.

Edward VIII was known as David in the family and his father King George V had a narrow range of clothing in mind that he thought suitable for children, basically sailor suits and kilts for special occassions. He and his brothers, however, did wear a variety of other clothing. David as a small boy still wore dresses as that custom persisted until the World War. The subsequent Duke of Windsor and his younger brother (George VI) wore lacy dresses, although not at such advanced ages as their father. While still in the nursery the boys and Princess Mary wore tussore smocks. They were not often photographed wearing them, perhaps because the King did not believe they were formal enough. David by age 5 was wearing very smart short panted sailor suits with ankle socks. There are a lot of pictures of the future Edward VIII and his brother in matching sailor suits and broad-brimmed hats, often with their sister Mary wearing a sailor suit (with skirt) or a smock. David and his brother were done up in kilts a great deal. Usually in Higland kilts, but also when they were younger in white kilts worn with their middy blouses. David wore some of his dresses and sailor kilts with short whitevsocks. As a younger boy he appeared in sailor suits with short pants and ankle socks. But this only occurred when he was quite a young boy. David and his brothers wore their kilts with large, stiff Eton collars and bow ties. His fther and uncle wore virtually identical outfits about 30 years earlier.

Skirted Garments

David as a small boy still wore dresses as that custom persisted until the World War. The subsequent Duke of Windsor and his younger brother (George VI) wore lacy dresses, although not at such advanced ages as their father. One picture shows George the VI in a carriage wearing a long lacy dress at 2 years of age. An older boy (Edward VIII), also in a lacy dress, is standing beside him. I am not sure just when the boys stopped wearing these frilly dresses, but as best we can tell, the boys were still wearing them at age years. We notice David all wear kilt suits as a little boy. (Here we are takling about little boy kilt suits and not Highland Kilts which were not a specifically boy garment.) We think the boys may have worn these kilt suits rather than the frilly dresses. We are not ebtirely sure when David and Albert wsere finally breeched, but we believe about age 4 years. We see some of the other boys wearing these garments, but we do not know if breeching continued to ve carried out at the same age.

Smocks

While still in the nursery the boys and Princess Mary wore tussore smocks. They were not often photographed wearing them, perhaps because the King did not believe they were formal enough.

Sailor Suits

David by age 5 was wearing very smart short panted sailor suits with ankle socks. There are a lot of pictures of the future Edward VIII and his brother in matching sailor suits and broad-brimmed hats, often with their sister Mary wearing a sailor suit (with skirt) or a smock. Sailor suits and kilts were the only clothes his father felt appropriate for boys. Note that the sailor suits chosen for the boys are the classic ones looking very much like the uniforms of actual seamen. One exception is that the outfits worn with short pants often have vertical stripes on the shorts. I'm not sure what the origin of this style was. Notably David's uncle, Albert Victor also had vertical stripes on the pants of his kneepants. Sailor suits and kilts were the only clothes his father felt appropriate for boys. David says that he and his brothers and sisters were always "on parade". His father would never let his children forget that. David says, "If we appeared before him with our Navy lanyards afraction of an inch out of place ... there would be an outburst worthy of the quarter-deck of a warship."

Figure 3.--This photgraph shows David and Albert wearing the same Balmoral tartan thatvtheir father and uncle wore a generation earlier. They are pictured with their mother whonat the time was still the Princess of Wales.

Kilts

David and his brother were done up in kilts a great deal. Usually in Higland kilts, but also when they were younger in white kilts worn with their middy blouses. I'm not sure to what extent Scottish boys actually wore kilts. I think it was more of a dress outfit for affluent Scottish and English boys. David had dress kilts, but he also wore kilts on the grounds of the estate when playing with his brothers and sister, much as modern boys might wears shorts or jeans. David's father, at any rate, had very defenite ideas about the boys' kilts. David recalls that his standards in this respect were strict. Just as their father would rebuke them if their sailor suits were not worn correctlty, the same would happen if while wearing kilts "our dirks or sporrans" were awry. David writes in his book Family Album:

"I hope your kilts fit well," he wrote to me once at Balmoral, when Iwas 9 years old. 'Take care and don't spoil them at once as they are new. Wear the Balmoral kilt and grey jacket on weekdays and green kilt and black jacket on Sundays. Do not wear the red kilt till I come."

Kneepants

David wore some of his dresses and sailor kilts with short white socks. As a younger boy he appeared in sailor suits with kneepants and ankle socks. But this only occurred when he was quite a young boy. More commonly he wore kneepants with long stockings. He appears to have begun wearing long pants sailor suit at a fairly young age, about 7 or 8 years. Thus only for a very limited time. As an older boy he never appeared in the increasingly popular new fashion of short pants.

Eton Collars

David and his brothers wore their kilts with large, stiff Eton collars and bow ties. His fther and uncle wore virtually identical outfits about 30 years earlier. David disliked the stiff Eton collars and other rather restrictive clothes:

Constriction was the order of our schoolroom costume.We had a buttoned-up childhood, in every sense of theword. Starched Eton collars invariably encircled ournecks and, when old and frayed, cut into our skin likesaws. The idea of a boy in shirt sleeves and an open-necked collar was unthinkable. If, for some especialexertion, we were permitted to roll up our sleeves, wemust still never loosen our collars and never take ourcoats off. Even with shorts we wore long stockings,right up to our thighs, with never a thought of anythingso indelicate as bare knees except in a kilt.

Swim Suit

David and Bertie were commonly dressed alike and their swimsuits were no excecption. David and his brother Berie wore the same one-piece striped swim suits as boy. This is a style that was quite cimmon at the time. I'm not sure why stripes were so popular as swimwear. This was the same type of suit worn by adults.The legs came down to their knees. Bertie apparently had knock knees and his father insisted that he wear braces at night which were painful.

Created: 4:24 AM 10/11/2004
Last updated: 12:31 AM 5/6/2007