Figure 1.--This American boy about the turn of the 20th century wears a fancy sailor tunic. He was from Cleveland, Ohio. A reader asks, "How old would you guess the child to be? I think (due to face not having lot's of baby fat) he is probably 4 or 5." HBC would agree.

The sailor suit was one of the most popular children's styles of all time. It was a standard style for about a century. It was not the fanciest style, but fitted in whit the historic/literary inspired suits. And some sailor suits were made with fancy styling. We note lace and ruffles bding added to some sailor outfits. This seem particularly common in turn-of-the-20th century sailor-style tunic suits, but we also notice fancy sailor suits as well. These suits diverged considerably from the traditional sailor suits based on actual uniforms. These suits diverged considerably from the traditional sailor suits based on actual uniforms. This was not the main trend in sailor suit design. The basic charm of the sailor suit was a basic, utilitain suit based on an enlisted man's uniform. Even English, German, and Russian princes wore the traditional suits based on the emlisted uniform. Of course for some mothers this was not what they wanted for their son. Thus we see some very fancy suits.