|
The popularity of the sailor suit continued to grow in the 1890s. We mostly see younger boys wearing them. We see much older boys wearing sailor suits on the continent. A good example is the boy here (figure 1). Another godd example is an unidentified Weymouth boy, we believe about 1895. While very popular in Britain we note a subtantial difference from other European countries. English boys from affluent families tended to go to private boarding schools. By the 1890s preparatoty schools for the youngr children were well established. And many of these schools by the 1890s were requirng uniforms. And in the 19th century it was the affluent that set fashion trends even for boys. The schools varied but by the 1890s, age 8 years was becoming increasingly common as the entry age. As a result, we see fewer Engish boys older than 8 years wearing sailor suits as was the case in France, Germany, and Italy. And in the 1890s we increasingly see the classic traditional styling, sailor suits that look like Royal Navy uniform. The children�s sailor suits might have additions to the basic naval uniform such as embroidered stars, anchors, and eagles. Styles in the 1870s and 80s were similsr with a trend for increasingly tradition (Royal Navy styling) styles in the 1890s. We continue to see sailor its with both long pants and knee pants. We seem to note kneepnts becoming more commo in thee 90s, but our acive is still limited so we cannot make any defnitive statement yet. A notable development in the 1890s is that we begin to see boys wearing short pants and knee socks rather than knee pants with long stockings. Before the 1890s, almost all of the boys wearing sailor suits either wore long pants or knee pants and long stockings that covered their knees. Now we see boys wearing knee socks. Knee socks were not new, but until the 1890s were mostly worn with kilts rather than knee pants, although this is a little complicated to follow because until the 1890s, knee pants tended to be cut long covering the knee, often at calf level. Sailor suits are often associated with the middle-class. We note two London brothers wearing identicual knee pants sailor suits in the mid-1890s. We also see the Knowle Board School in 1898 with half the clas wearing sailor lass. These would be largely working-clss boys. Most of the imges we have found are younger boys. We see only a few boys even in their early teens wearing sailor suits. Onn example of a boy in his early teems wearing a sailor suit during the 1890s comes from a Surbiton family in 1890.
Navigate the HBC Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to theMain English 1890s century sailor suit page]
[Return to theMain English late-19th century sailor suit page]
[Return to theMain English sailor suit page]
[American]
[English]
[French]
[German]
[Italian]
[Polish]
Other Related 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:
[About Us]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Girls]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossary]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
