Figure 1.--This cabient card portrait shows two Richmond brothers about 3-9 years old. The children are not identified, but rifle means that the younger child is also a boy. The little boys wears a velvet dress wiyh match white collar and cuffs. I am not sure how to decribe his cap which looks rather like a stocking cap. His older brother wears a traditional sailor suit. It is undated, but we would guess it was taken in the 1880s. Notice the cap tally--HMS Valiant. There were many Royal Navy ships with that name. This HMS Valiant was a Hector-class ironclad battleship, launched in 1863 but not commisioned until 1868. The mount and clothing suggests to us that the portrait was taken in the 1880s, but the late-70s is certainly a possibility.

We are collecting information on English sailor suits in the late-19th century and because of the growing size of the photographic record. A great deal of informtion is availble. We begin to see boys in the late-19th century wearung the soft caps like the boy here is wearing (figure 2). We do not see these caps commonly in the mid-19th century (figure 1). They were very common in the late-19th century. We believe this reflect a change in Royal Navy uniforms. We are not sure just they were introduced. We find more information about officers' caps than ratings' caps. Most of the styling associated with sailor suits was done on the blouse. Sailor blouses in the late Victorian era were often quite accurate copies of Royal Navy uniforms. Sailor suits by the turn-of-the century had begun to become more fanciful, especially as they were worn by increasingly younger boys. The suits worn in the late-19th century, however, were often quite faithful reporoductions of actual Royal Navy uniforms. The English helped set the principle that a boys' sailor suit was an enlisted man's uniform, not an officers' uniform. As a result future kings of England not to mention Czars' of Russia would wear a boys enlisted uniforms. The original sailor suits, like the uniforms worn by English sailors, had long bell bottom trousers. Gradually as boys began wearing knee pznts in the 1860s, knee pants sailor suits appeared. English boys wore sailor suits with both knee pants and long pants. Both were common. We believe boys also wore bloomer knickers with sailor suits. We are not sure which was more common, but I think knee pants became increasingly common in the 1880s. While royal children and perhaps children from titled families might wear the suits with long bell-bottomed trousers like the Prince of Wales in the famous Winterhalter painting, we see ordinary boys, however, were increasingly wearing knee pants suits.

Headwear

We note English boys wearing both hat and caps with sailor suits in the late-19th century. The caps followed the tyles worn by he Royal Navy. At first we see the saucer caps. Than at the end of the cebtury we begin to see soft caps. We begin to see boys in the late-19th century wearing round soft caps like the boy here is wearing (figure 1). We do not see these caps commonly in the mid-19th century. They were very common in the late-19th century. We believe this reflect a change in Royal Navy uniforms. We are not sure just they were introduced. We find more information about officers' caps than ratings' caps. The tally seems to comport with regulations adopted to formalize the tallies (1879). Many caps were already using the style. This change when side bows began to be worn (1893). We are not sure just what the name for these caps were. We just note them being referred to as sailor caps. These were in keeping with the idea of an enlisted (ratings) uniform because officers had different styles. Younger boys might wear broad-brimmed sailor hats. The fashion ditim followed y many monthers was the younger the boy the larger the hat. Unlike the caps, these were not headwer actually worn in the Rotal Navy.

Blouses

Most of the styling associated with sailor suits was done on the blouse. Sailor blouses in the late Victorian era were often quite accurate copies of Royal Navy uniforms. Sailor suits by the turn-of-the century had begun to become more fanciful, especially as they were worn by increasingly younger boys. The suits worn in the late-19th century, however, were often quite faithful reporoductions of actual Royal Navy uniforms. The English helped set the principle that a boys' sailor suit was an enlisted man's uniform, not an officers' uniform. As a result future kings of England not to mention Czars' of Russia would wear a boys enlisted uniforms. This was virtually always the case in England, but we notice that not all countries ahered to this image. We notice, for example, a lot of Spanish boys wear commodore blouses.

Pants

The original sailor suits, like the uniforms worn by English sailors, had long bell bottom trousers. Gradually as boys began wearing knee pznts in the 1860s, knee pants sailor suits appeared. English boys wore sailor suits with both knee pants and long pants. Both were common. We believe boys also wore bloomer knickers with sailor suits. We are not sure which was more common, but I think knee pants became increasingly common in the 1880s. While royal children and perhaps children from titled families might wear the suits with long bell-bottomed trousers like the Prince of Wales in the famous Winterhalter painting, we see ordinary boys, however, were increasingly wearing kneepants suits. Most of the images we have seen show boys wearing long stocks with knee pants sailor suits, but I believe socks were alo worn during the summer.

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Created: 6:05 AM 1/6/2008
Last updated: 4:55 AM 1/21/2018