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Sailor suits continued to be done in a wide variety of ways. The original boys's sailor suit worn by Prince Albert Edward (Bertie) was a plain white suit like those enlisted sailors (ratings) had begun to wear (1840s). As the sailor suit became popular for boys, most boys do not seem to have worn suits based on these actual Royal Navy uniforms. Rather we see a range of fashion inspired creations. These blouses are notable for the lack of any standard design conventions other than the increasing popularity of a V-front and back flap. We also see boys wearing sailor blouses with knee pants which were becoming increasingly popular for boys. Nor do we see the traditional suits with three-striped styling in the early-1870s, but we do begin to see the use of stripe. This may be a reflection on Royal Navy uniforms which had not yet adopted what we call today traditional suits with the standard three-stripe detailing although we do see more and more stripes as the decade progressed. We are unsure about color. We see outfits that are clearly not white or navy blue. Just what colors they were we are unsure. We are not sure about headwear. We think boater-style hats were worn. There are variously styled blouses. We continue to see the boys wearing both knee pants and long trousers. While the sailor suits by the 1870s were also worn with kneepants, they were also widely availanle in long pants. By the 1870s the sailor suit was a style younger boys might commonly wear with long pants as knee pants were becoming more popular. The ages of the boys wearing sailor suits also varied widely. The boy on the previous page, for example, wearing a long pants sailot outfit looks like a younger teenager. A younger boy from Hastings, Maurice Carmichael Tweedie wears a knee pants sailor suit in 1878. The task of assessing these trends is complicated by the fact that many of the images we have archive are undated, but we can roughly date them. Here we are always open to reader insights.
We continue to see nore boys wearing sailor suits (1870s). And we also see girls wearing sailor suits, as best we can tell for the first time. A factor here may have been the Royals again. The Prince and Princess of Wales began dressing their children in sailor suits, both the princes and princesses. We do not know who took the lead, but it was usually the mother for younger boys and all the girls. The Prince of Wales was a clothes horse. We are not sure to what extent he became involved in how the boys dressed and what he thought of the sailor suit. How important this was we can not tell, but the the photographic record clearly establishes that the sailor suit had clearly become a popular style with not only the well-to-do, but the middle-class as well. We are less sure about the working class.
Sailor suits continued to be done in a wide variety of ways. The original boys' sailor suit worn by Prince Albert Edward (Bertie) was a plain white suit like those enlisted sailors (ratings) had begun to wear (1840s). As the sailor suit became popular for boys, most boys do not seem to have worn suits based on these actual Royal Navy uniforms. Rather we see a range of fashion inspired creationsthat ppenly appeale to mothers. These blouses are notable for the lack of any standard design conventions other than the increasing popularity of a V-front and back flap. We also see boys wearing sailor blouses with knee pants which were becoming increasingly popular for younger boys by the 1870s. We do not see the traditional suits with three-striped styling in the early-1870s, but we do see see the increasing use of stripes. And not just on he collar. We see stripes all over the place. This varied from suit to suit. We see stripes down the front of the blouse, on the sleeve cuffs, highlighting pockets, at the blouse waist, at the sides of the pants, at the hem of the knee pants, as well as other places. This may in part be a reflection on Royal Navy uniforms which had not yet adopted what we call today traditional suits with the standard three-stripe detailing although we do see more and more stripes as the decade progressed.
We are unsure about color. The balck and white photography of the day provide only limited clues. We see outfits that are clearly not white or navy blue. Just what colors they were we are unsure.
We are not sure about headwear. We think boater-style hats were worn. There were also rounded-crow hats of various descriptions. We are not yet sure about caps. Unfortunately, most of the available studio portrais do not not include the headwear. There are variously styled blouses. Most of the often destinctive styling was on the blouse. We see a lot of V-front blouses, but this style was not always used, especially in the early-70s. We continue to see the boys wearing both knee pants and long trousers. While the sailor suits by the 1870s were also worn with knee pants, they were also widely available in long pants. By the 1870s the sailor suit was a style younger boys might commonly wear with long pants as knee pants were becoming more popular. Often the stling used for the blouse was continued on the pants. We see a lot of vertical stripes on the pants, sometimes quite wide stripes. The hosiery and shoes were not part of the suit. Mothers seem to have often coordinated cplors when chosing the hosiery. We mostly see long stockings. We see some boys wearing socks by the end of the decade. A lot of the boys were low-cut shoes. American boys at the time mostly wore high-top shoes.
The ages of the English boys wearing sailor suits in the 1870s also varied widely. We notice boys from pre-schoolers to younger teens wearing them. We note
Richard Mason who looks to be avbout 5 years old in Birmingham wearing a sailor suit in 1872. The boy on the previous page, for example, wearing a long pants sailor outfit looks like a younger teenager. We note a fashomnably dressed London boy, Osborn Richards wearing a sailor suit in 1876. He looks to be about 7 years old. A younger boy from Hastings, Maurice Carmichael Tweedie wears a knee pants sailor suit in 1878. The styling is bcoming increwaingly traditional, meaning like Royal Navby unidforms. The boy on the previous page, for example, wearing a long pants sailot outfit looks like a younger teenager.
The task of assessing these trends is complicated by the fact that many of the images we have archive are undated, but we can roughly date them. Here we are always open to reader insights.
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to the Main English early-Victorian sailor suit chroonolgy page]
[Return to the Main English sailor suit page]
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