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It was in Europe that the sailor suit was first introduced as a boys' outfit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. it was aconcious effort to popularize the monarchy which had fallen into some direpute with the wider Britih public. And the ideaa proved very sucessful, bith iun populsrizing the monarchy and in launching a new fashion trend. They had no isea that they were launching a major fashion style for children, one that would last a century. The public not only was impressed, but wanted to dress their sons and evenually daughters in sailor suits. And the popularity quickly spread to other countries. Royal families, in many vases with family connections to the British royal family, adopted the syle and the public in those countries soon followed suit. And it was not just the aristocracies that adopted the syle, but the middle-class as well. The middle-class through out Europe began dressing their children in sailor styles. The sailor suit became a fashion strongly associated both with royal familie as well as the middle class.
Sailor suits were extremely popular in Austria just as in Germany, despite the Austro-Hungarian Empire having only a small navy. The sailor suit is today almost associated with Austria, in part because it is the costume of the world-famous Vienna Choir Boys. HBC knows, however, little of the history of the sailor suit in Austria.
Sailor suits were extremely popular in Denmark as they were throughout Scandinavia. Sailor suits have been one of the most popular styles worn by Danish boys. The sailor suit may have been more popuklar in Denmark than any other Scandinavian country, perhaps because Denmark borders Germany where the sailor suit was also very popular. We are not sure when the style became popular in Denmark, but it was a favorite with parents by the 1880s and popular with boys as well. They were mostly worn with knee pants and long stockings, depending on the age of the boy, until the 1910s when short pants became more popular. Some mothers dressed through the 1920s might dressed all of the children in sailor suits, until the boys were well into their teens. We note quite a wide age range among the boys wearing sailor suits. They were not just worn by younger boys. We do noy have a very large Danish archive, but we can see Danish boys wearing sailor suits into their mid-ttens at least boys 16 years old, perhaps older. This tended to be the case on thE cininent, but we note quite a few older Danish boys wearing sailor suits. The boy on the previous page is a good example. He is 15 years old. Boys wore blue and white sailor suits seasonally. We do not know of any distinguishing features of Danish sailor suits. They appear to ave worn the very traditional styles favored by the Germans and not the fancier styles that some French boys wore. HBC has noted several styles. Blue suits were commonly worn with knee pants and long stockings during the winter. Summer suits were often white or stripped in lighter material.
We note many of the same basic garments such as tunics and sailor suits. Sailor suits were mostly worn in the cities by the elite and middle-class boys. They were not as common in the villages and country side. Here the German origins of the country's monarchy must have been a significant factor. Some of the detailing seems destinctly Bulgarian. Note the sailor suit on the previous page. Most European boys had the traditional stripes on their sailor suits for detailing as were worn by actual sailors. We see these sailor suits with these stripes. Many Bulagrain boys wore sailor suits with more elaborate embroidery or even lace trim. Our information is still very limited so we do not yet know how common the various styles were in Bulgaria.
Sailor suits were extremely popular in Denmark as they were throughout Scandinavia. The sailor suit may have been more popuklar in Denmark than any other Scandinavian country, perhaps because Denmark borders Germany where the sailor suit was also very popular. Boys wore blue and white sailor suits seasonally. I do not know of any distinguishing features of Danish sailor suits. They appear to have worn the very traditional styles favored by the Germans and not the fancier styles that some French boys wore. HBC has noted several styles. Blue suits were commonly worn with kneepants and long stockings during the winter. Summer suits were often white or stripped in lighter material.
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Few garments are more associated with boyswear than the sailor suit. While no longer commonly worn, the sailor suit was worn by boys in Europe and America for a century. The origins of the boys' sailor suit or vague. Apparently it was in England during the first quarter of the 19th century when someone had the inspiration that boys should wear sailors' trousers. (Some sources suggest an even earlier appearance of the sailor suit as boys' atire, but as yet I cannot confirm that.) It is not known who first conceived of the idea. It is known with certainty, however, who popularized it--Queen Victoria. It was a clevely designed effort to associate the monarchy which had declined in popularity with the most popular institution in Britain--The Royal Navy. The result was a stunning success for the monarchy and a fashion that dominted boyswear like no other style for a century. The English styles have influenced naval uniforms around the world. Most of the sailor suits worn by boys have been influenced diretly or indirectly by British uniforms. Despite the popularity of the sailor suit with the Royal Navy, as a boys outfit, it was more popular in America, France, Germany, and other countries than in England.
Estonia has for years been part of the Russian empire, both Tsarist and Soviet. Estonia like the other Baltic republics were briefly independent (1919-40) until invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940. With the demise of the Soviet Union in 1992, Estonia once again became an indepedent country. Sailor suits were commonly worn by Estonian boys in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We note boys wearing traditionally styled sailor suits. This included both Russian and German styles. As Estonia was part of Tsarist Russia until the Revolution (1917), the sailor suits worn by Estonian boys were similar to those worn by Russian boys. We are unsure how common sailor suits were in Estonia. They seem to have been popular with middle-clas boys in the late-19th century. We think they were mostly worn by city boys and ethnic-Germans were a major part of the the country's urban population. We are less sure about ethnic Estonian boys in the countryside. Short pants suits were common in the early-20th century. An exception was sailor suits which could be worn with either short or long pants. The popularity of sailor suits declined in the 1920s, but were still worn in the 1930s. The German influence disappeared during World war II when Hitler ordered the Baltic Germans "home to the Reich". After the War, Estonian was again absorbed in a Russian empire and styles were generally the same throughout the Soviet Union. We see Soviet boys wearing sailor suit in the intet-War era. his surprised us as the sailor suit has such a upper-class and middle-class image. After the War, however, we rarely see sailor suits, both in Sovit Estonia and the Soviet Union at large.
We also note some sailor garments, a style that was especially popular throughout Sandinavia and other countries which have influenced Finnish fshions, especilly Russia and Germany. The fact that they were a popular style in Russia and Germany were very important fashion influences. We know that middle-class urban boys wore sailor suits in Finland. We have found examples in both the 19th and 20th centuries. We note a Tampere boy wearing a sailor suit, we believe in the 1890s. Another example is a Finnish boy about 1930. The styles sem very similar to those we see in Saandinavia. Wht we do not know is just how common the sailor suit. We believe it was not all that important in rural areas among the large part of the population involved in farming. This is, however, just our prelinimary assessment which we can not yet cinfirm becaue of our very limited Finnish archive.
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France is one of several countries where sailor suits were quickly adapted for boys wear after first appearing in England. Sailor suits influenced by the English became very popular for French boys by the late-19th century. This was interesting because it was a style begun by royalty, albeit to appeal to the wider public. France until World War I was along with America a rare republic. As un other countries, it becmae popular with the middle class. The popularity of the sailor suit was a Europan-wide development not to mention the United States. We see sailor suits done in many different styles. Some clothing styles have national associations. The sailor suit soon became an international style, but was probably worn more in France and Germany than any other country. As in most countries, the classic English sailor suit was influenced by the uniforms of the national navy. Also in France, designers experimented more with styling inovations than in other countries. In most cases, hoever, it was the classic styling that persisted over time. A popular style was to wear middy blouses with knickers, both above and below the knee styles, with short ankle socks. By the 1920s they were being worn by younger boys, mostly with short and long pants. Sailor suits continued to be popular during the 1930s. French boys wore many kinds of straw hats with their sailor suits, including the wide-brimmed style with streaming ribbons. They also wore them with the soft white caps with red pompoms like the caps worn by French sailors. Sailor suits continued to be popular in the 1930s when they were made in sizes to 12 years in both short pants and long pants styles. This meant French boys through about 13 wore sailor suits. Several different styles were worn. We see far fewer sailor suits and younger boys wearing them after World War II. although we see sone boys wearing them for special occassiins suchn as First Commumion.
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Sailor suits are often associated with England, but it is in Germny that we find large numbers of photogrphs picturing boys wearing sailor suits. Sailor suits were as popular in Germany as in virtually any European country--much more so than in England. The saolor suit seems espeially popular in Germany during the early-20th century. We are not entirely sure why that was. The sailor suit originated in England and arivalry developed between Rngland the primary naval power and Germany the primary land power. But it is the sailor suit based on the English naval uniform that became widely popular in Germany. The sailor suit seems toi have at least in part reflected Germany's infatuation with building a navy, a decission which led Germany and Europe down the path to World War I. We note boys of vituall all ges wearing them. Quite old boys would wear sailor suits in Germany, perhaps older boys than elsewhere in Europe.
The sailor suit was a popular garment in Greece as in much of the rest of Europe. Our information is still limited, but we have begun to collect some basic information. HBC notes a portrait of a boy in a traditionally styled kneepants sailor suit in the 1870s. We are not sure how common these suits were at this time. We suspect that they were mostlt worn by boys from relatively affluent families in the larger cities. Another portrait probablt from the 1910s shows a boy wearing a white sailor suit with bloomer knickers. We suspect by this time that the sailor suit fashion was much more widespread in Greece. We note that it seems less common to wear sailor suits with long stckings than it was in the more northerly European countries. Boys in other European countries commonly wore sailor suits to school. This was also probably the case in Greece, at least in the cities.
HBC has little information on the sailor suits worn by Hungarian boys. Our Hungarian archive is very limited.
We believe that they were commonly worn by boys, but because we have so little information and so few images, we can not say a great deal at this time. Hungary is of course a land-locked country located squarely in the middle of Europe. But before 1918, Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus did not have a sizeable navy. HBC is unsure at this time to what extent there were differences between Austria and Hungay as to the popularity of the sailor suit or the styles of sailor suits worn. We notice one boy in 1911 wearing an all-white kneepants sailor suit, even the neck scarve was white. Only his long stockings were not white. We do see Austrian boys living in Budapest and oyher large cities wearing sailor suits before Workd War I. We are less sure about Hungarian boys, but we susprct it was fairly common among middle-class boys in the cities. We are not sure about the era following the War. We have no information at this time as to sailor suits worn in Hungary after World War I.
Sailor suits were an English creation commonly worn by English boys. Although Irish fashions commonly followed English fashions, we do not yet have information on the popularity of sailor suits in Ireland. We do see a few portraits of Irish boys wearing sailor suits in the 19th century. The suits we see look just like the ones worn in England. The styles and prevalence, however, is difficult to assess because our Itish archive is limited. We do note Irish boys wearing sailor suits. We suspect that the fashion was limited to middle- and upper-class families and was concentrated in the cities. This is suggested by the few images we have archived, but the number of images are too dmall to provide a relible sample. And many rural znd low-income families could not afford to have portrits taken. Ireland was much less urbanized and induyrialized than England and we suspect that sailor suits were less common in Ireland and Britain. And political issues may also be a factor. We suspect that after World war I than the sailor suit may have had an English look to it and thus not very popular in the new Irish Free State. And at the time, the sailor suit was decclining in popularity in Ireland itself.
Sailor suits proved to be one of the most popular fashions for Italian boys. Despite the fact that Italy had no real navy when the country was unified in the 1860s, Italian mothers in droves turned to the sailor suit. This was probably partly due to the widely held notion in late-19th Century Europe that a modetn navy was the expression of the power and prestige of a modern nation. As countries poured millions in the construction of modern battleships, mothers outfitted generatiions of boys in sailor suits. Many boys were even dressed in sailor outfits before breeching as dresses with sailor motifs had appeared in the 1890s. This fashion continued into the 20th Century and did not past out of fashion until after World War II in the 1940s.
We notice some Latvian boys wearing sailor suits. We are unsure about how common it was, because of our limited Latvian archive. As Latvia wedged between Germany and Russia, two countries where the sailor suit was popular, it is understandable that many Latvian boys wore sailor suits. This was the case before World War I. The sailor suit seems to have been commonly worn by the urban middle class. Of course even though Latvia was at the time a Russian province, a substantial portion of the urban population was ethnic Germans. After World War I, the saoilor suit becsause of its bourgoiese image declined in popularity in Russia, but continued yo be worn in Latvia. We are unsure to what extent it was worn in independent Latvia. Right before World War II, ethnic Germans followed instructions from the NAZIs to return to the Reich. After the War, the Soviets regained control of Latvia. By this time, however, the sailor suit had largely declined as a major style for boys.
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The sailor suit was one of the most important Dutch boy's style for perhaps three generations. The authors believe that the sailor suit was an especially popular style in the Netherlands, perhaps in part due to the country's maritime tradition. We still have limited information on Dutch sailor suits, but they appear to have been widely worn by the 1880s. Sailor suits were normally worn with kneepants or knickers. After World War I (1914-18) short pants sailor suits become more important, but were worn by younger boys. HBC has not noted destinctively styled Dutch sailor suits, but rather boys wore common styles developed in other countries. Probably English and German styles were the most important influences.
how common sailor suits were in Norway. We notice the young prince wearing a traditional sailor suit in the early-20th century. we also note a boys' choir wearing sailor suits.
HBC has little information on Poland at this time, but believes that sailor suits were widely worn. This was true even though Poland was not a country until after World War I and even then did not have a cubstantial navy. One glimpse at late 19th century Polish fashions can be found in the movie, Death in Venice, the main character was a Polish boy who wore sailor suits. We notice Polish boys wearing matching sailor tunics in 1921.
Few countries other than Britain have a more fabeled maritime tradition than Portugal. We have very little information on the 19th century, but we see middle-class Portuguese boys wearing sailor suits at the turn-of-the 20th century.
As in other Europen countries, sailor suits were popular for younger boys. Romania was just emerging from Ottoman contro. This we do not see much in the way of Westrern styles until after the Russo-Turkish War (1877). the establishment of an independent Romanian state and a German monarchy meant the introduction of a range of European suits, especially the sailor suit. We see yhe Romanian pribces wearinnGerman-styled sailorv suits. The monarchy thus played a role in popularising the sailor suit wuth the urban middle class. We also do not see any destinctive Romaniabn sailor suits. And unless we can read the tally on sailor caps, there is no way to identify Romaniann sail suits. These suits were worn by the boys in urban areas. Even more than regular suits, we rarely se sailor suits in rural areas.
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The royal family's penchant for sailor suits is well known. The Tasarevitch Alexis was probably the most famous boy ever to war sailor suits. He was more famous than Edward VII, who Queen Victoria dressed in an enlisted sailor suit starting the sailor suit's phenomenal fashion success. Alexis before World War I (1914-18) almost always wore sailor suits. I assume that made them very popular in Russia, at least among wealthy and middleclass boys in the larger cities. Suits carefully followed the style of the Russuian Navy which wore dickeys with horizontal stripes.
We have not found many images of Scottish boys wearing sailor suits. It may have been that the sailor suit was less popular in Scotland than England, but our Scots archive is stull very limited, so we are unable to make any definitive assessments at this time. As uin England, well-to-do boys went to private schools and wore school nuniform veginning avout 8 years of age. This affected the popularity and age conventions for sailor suits. We note an unidentified Scottish boy wearing a sailor suit, probably in the 1890s. It is like the sailor suits worn in England. Ayr is in the Scottish Lowlands where english styles were dominant.
We do not yet have much unformation on suits. One popular style was the sailor suit. Serbia is aand locked country, but the sailor suit seems very population both the 19th and 20th century. We re not sure when they first appeared. Our 19th century Serbian archive is to limited to know when the style reached Serbia, but the 1860s is likely. The Austrian/German influence is likely a factor. We see sailor suits into the mid-20th century. Some families dressed all the children or at least the boys in matching sailor suits (figure 1). We see boys wearing them from very young age unto their early-teens. Traditional styling seems standard, but as in other countries, Serbian mothers often added special touches. The unidentified Belgrade boy on the previous page is a good example. Mother has added a lace collar showing the influence of Fauntleroy styling.
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We see Spanish boys wearing sailor suits like other European boys. Middle-class boys commonly wore sailor suits. Spain was not, however, a wealthy country. And the middle-class was relatively small until Spain joined the Europen Union and began to enter the European mainstream (1980s). We do not know of any particular Spanish styles associated with sailor suits. As in other countries, it was a popular style for mostly middle-class families, although we see the Royal Family adopting sailor suits for the princes. We also notice the royal princes wearing sailor suits. Spain was a staunchly Catholic country, although this has changed in recent years. The sailor suit became one of the styles used for First Communion outfits. While the sailor style has largely disappeared as a boys' style in the 21st century, we do see a number of Spanish boys wearing sailor suits for their First Communiion celebrations.
Sailor suits were popular in Sweden as in the rest of Scandinavia. Perhaps they were not as popular as in Denmark, but the popularity and time line seems relarively similar througout Scandinavia. We have little informnation on the styles of sailor suits. Boys at the turn of the 20th century were wearing kneepants sailor suits with long stockings. Here we see a boy and his sister in 1937. The boy wears a smartly tailored long pants sailor suit.
Sailor suits were a popular style for boys throughout Europe. Unlike many of these countries, however, land-locke Switzerland had no national navy on which to base the style of boys' sailor suits. Even so, we see some Swiss boys wearing sailor suits. They do not seem nearly as common as in many other European countries. Switzerland is a diverse country with German, French, and Italian speaking areas. Fashions in these areas were influenced by fashions in the larger neigboring countries. And sailor suits were very popular in all those three countries. The styles worn in Switzerland probably reflected the styles popular in these three countries, but HBC at this time has few details about such stylistic differences. Actually we do not see all that many Swiss boys wearing sailor suits. As far as we can tell, sailor suits were less common in Switzerland than in most other European countries, although our information is still relatively limited.
Boys in Ulster (northern Ireland) wore English-style sailor suits. HBC knows of no real difference between the sailors suits worn in Ulster and England. One wonders if rather patriotic-looking sailor suits, however, might have been more popular with the Protestant than the Catholic boys.
We notice Welsh boys wearing saiklor suits like those worn by English boys. We do not have a lot of images, but those we have found seen similar to what we see English boys wearing at comparable periods. The earliest Wlsh portrait we have found looks to date from the 1860s. The extent the sailkor suit was worn erarlier we do not know. Thie similarity of the sailor suits worn by Welsh an English boys would seem likely as the basic inspiraion was the same British Royal Navy. We note both traditionally styled sailor suits as well as more imaginaitevely syled suits.
Yugoslavia existed for a realitively short time, about 1920-80. This as an era, expecially the inter-war era (1920-40) in wgich the sailoe suit was a popular style, both for boys and girls. As a result, we see quite a number of children wearing sailior outfits. As in other countris, this was especilly the case for middle-class families. This meant it was mostly urban families, many strongly influenenced by German fashions. Large numbrrs of Yugoslavvs lived in rural areas, still strinly influenced by tradition styles. Here wee rarely see sailor suits, but they were much more common in rural areas.
Sailor suits were popular throughout Europe for a century. There were differences over time and between countries, but only for the major countries. Thus unless identified, it is difficult to determine the nationality of the image. And given that that there are about 45 countries in Europe, it is virtually imposible to identify sailor suits from the many small countries. We have found a few images of boys wearing sailor suits for which we are having trouble identifying the country. We will archive them here, hoping that our reades might have some idea as to the countryn involved. Most of them are Euroopean because the sailor suit wss primarily a European/American syle.
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