Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait shows two unidentified brothers wearing identical traditional sailor suits. The boys look to be about 7-9 years old. They have white blouses with three-strioe detailing and dark knee pants. The studio was Frederick J. Bright in Bournemouth on the Arcade. This is wear holiday makers would have had portraits taken. The portrait is not dated, but we would guess as taken in the late 1880s or 90s.

We still see quite a number of English boys wearing sailor suits at age 9 years. It does not seen to have been the major outfit worn by English boys, but we still see quite a number. This was especially the case in the 19th century. Preparatory schools had just begun to become well established by the late-19th century. And the entry lvel began to become standardized at bout 8 years of age. And unlike the public (private boarding schools), many did not yet have uniforms. So some boys might wear sailor suits at these schools. This began to change around the turn-of-the 20th century. As these schools adopted uniforms. At the same time we see quite a number of boys wearing sailot suits at the turn of the century, but 9 years old was close to the uppr range of the boys we see wearung sailot suits at the time. It also seems to have beebn popular outfits for seaside outings.

Other Related HBC 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:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Girls]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 12:34 PM 5/21/2018
Last updated: 12:34 PM 5/21/2018