*** French sailor suits: chronology








French Sailor Suits: Chronology

French boys commonly wore sailor suits for more than a century. HBC does not know of French boys wearing sailor suits before the 1840s and Queen Victoria began dresing the princes in sailor suits. It was clearly a British creation, understandavlec given the impact of the Royal Navy. We are not sure just when sailor suit crossed the Channel and began catching on as a boy's fashion. We have not noted French sailor suits and hats in the 1840s and 1850s, but that may be because of the limited available information. Photography was invented in France (1839), but we do not see the explosion of the industry as we do in America. This means we can follow developments in America much more closely than in France. We currently have only limited information on French sailor suit fashions. The sailor suit as a boy's fashion seem to have caught on in France by the 1860s and had become one of the most popular boys' fashions by the 1870s. This we can follow more closely because of the immense popularity of the CDV. French syles do not seem to have followed British styles as closely as in some countries, in part because French naval uniforms varied more from English styles than is the case in many countries. Older French boys wore knickers in the 1920s, but not with sailor suits. Boys commonly wore sailor suits at ages up to 12-13 years, with both short and long pants--some suits came with both. This suggests a somewhat different approach to long and short pants than in England and America. Most French boys stoped wearing sailor suits after World War II, especially in the 1950s. Some younger boys did continue to wear them. Almost always the younger boys wore short pants sailor suits, often with quite short shorts. They are now not commonly worn, but still have not totally disappeared.

French sailor suits
Figure 1.--This portrait was tken t the Berthaud studio in Paris during 1882. The two children wear sailor suits. The younger child is also probably a boy, but we are not positive. Notice the stripe on the boys knee pants. The date on the back helps to assess the use of prize award dates.

The 19th Century

French boys commonly wore sailor suits for more than a century. HBC does not know of French boys wearing sailor suits before the 1840s and Queen Victoria began dresing the princes in sailor suits. It was clearly a British creation, understandable given the impact of the Royal Navy. We have not noted French sailor suits and hats in the 1840s and 1850s, but that may be because of the limited available information. Photography was invented in France (1839), but we do not see the explosion of the industry as we do in America. This means we can follow developments in America much more closely than in France. We currently have only limited information on French sailor suit fashions. The sailor suit as a boy's fashion seem to have caught on in France by the 1860s and had become one of the most popular boys' fashions by the 1870s. This we can follow more closely because of the immense popularity of the CDV. We have not noted French sailor suits and hats in the 1840s and 1850s, but that may be because of the very limited available information. This limits our ability to follow French fashiin trends atr mid-century. The sailor suit as a boy's fashion seem to have caught on in France by the 1860s and had become one of the most popular boys' fashions by the 1870s. We currently have only limited information on 19th century French sailor suit fashions. French syles do not seem to have followed British styles as closely as in some countries, in part because French naval uniforms varied more from English styles than is the case in many countries. But the sanme V-fronht style was adopted. The three stripe detailing was less common than in Britain and America.

French sailor suit
Figure 3.--This image is from a postcard sold in England during the 1910s. It shows a common style for sailor suits. I'm not sure though if the boy pictured is English or French. Notice the all-white collar without the stripes and the unusual white bow--both suggesting a French style.

The 20th Century

The sailor suit at the turn-of-the 20h century was one of the mot popular styles for French boys. It seems to be a style especially popular with middle-class families. The situation in France was a little different thn un many countries. Because so many boys wore smocks to school, we see fewer sailor suits at school than in countries like Germany and the United states. And because there are fewer boys going to privte schools with uniforms than in England, we see older French boys wearing sailor suits than in England. We see sailor blouses suits with increasingly traditional styling. Many French boys wore sailor suit pants done with knee pnts or bloomer knickers, commonly with socks rather thn long stockings. Short pants becane standard after World War I in the 1920s. Older French boys wore knickers in the 1920s, but not with sailor suits. Boys commonly wore sailor suits at ages up to 12-13 years, with both short and long pants--some suits came with both. This suggests a somewhat different approach to long and short pants than in England and America. Most French boys stoped wearing sailor suits after World War II, especially in the 1950s. Some younger boys did continue to wear them. Almost always the younger boys wore short pants sailor suits, often with quite short shorts. They are now not commonly worn, but still have not totally disappeared.

Edwardian Era (1900-1918)

Sailor suits were especially popular for French boys during the Edwardian period. The sailor suit was more popular in the Edwardian era than any other period. The sailor suit was one of he principal French styles for boys. I'm unsure as to just why sailor suits were so popular in France. France had a navy, but of course did not rival the British and unlile the Germans were not planning to buld one to rival the Royal Navy. Despite this, the sailor suit was enormously popular for French boys in the early-20th century. Sailor suits consisted primarily of a middy blouse and pants, but other garments were also involved. There were a variety of headwear in addition to the wide-brimmed hat that is coommonly associated with it. Knee pants were replaced with knickers and shortpants. Younger boys wore sailors suits with lace trim and ruffles in the 1900s, but became much less fancy in the 1910s. The tunic sailor suits style was very popular, but boys also wore suits similar to the tunic style, but with middy blouses rather than tuncs. As with tunics, belts were often an important stylictic feature of these suits. The sailor collars often had non-traditional styling, such as all white rather than with the three decorative stripes. Often the material was not just a solid white or black, but a variety of colors and stripped patterns. In the 1910s suits with more classic styling became more common. Knee pants were replaced with knickers and short pants.


Figure 3.--These sailor suits were advertised in 1936 for boys as old as 12 in both short and long pants styles, some included a pair of both shorts and longs.

Inter-war and War Era (1919-1945)

Older French boys wore knickers in the 1920s, but not with sailor suits. Boys commonly wore sailor suits at ages up to 12-13 years, with both short and long pants--some suits came with both. This suggests a somewhat different approach to long and short pants than in England and America. There boys would be likely to wear either shotrt or long pants, but not both. Once a boy was allowed to wear long pants, most no longer wanted to wear short pants. Sailor suits with two pairs of pants, a pair of shorts and longs suggest that boys' attitudes may have been some what different in France. I'm not sure how both shorts and longs would be worn. Presumably the mother would decide on which days and for what events shorts would be worn and when longs would be more appropriate. Longs might be worn more during the winter, but both blue flannel suits and lighter white summer suits came in both shorts and longs. 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. The most common were pullover middy blouses, but some had buttonup jackets, mostly double breasted styles. Bows were only worn with the middy blouse style. Sailor suits by the 1930s had become a less common outfit for boys who would more commonly wears suits or sweaters to school and for dressup. They were still worn, however, and photographs of French childrem during the 30s will show some boys still outfitted in sailor suits--even boys of 12 and 13 years of age.


Figure 5.--

Post War Era (1945-to date)

Most French boys stoped wearing sailor suits after World War II, especially in the 1950s. Some younger boys did continue to wear them. Almost always the younger boys wore short pants sailor suits, often with quite short shorts. They were mostly worn for dressy occasions. I'm not sure why the sailor suit went out of fashion in France, but today it is no longer routinely worn. French bouys whononce so proudly wore sailor suits now seem to have begun regarding it as only suitable for small boys. The only older boys wearing sailor suits by the 1950s were Sea Scouts. HBC also has reports that some boys still wear sailor suits for First Communion, but does not yet have confirmation of this. A french reader writes, "The sailor suit in France was not very common after World War II. Someyounger boys wore them, boys about 6-10 years old, mostly of especially cultured families. These suits could be have short or long pants. I remember a time about 1950 we were visiting with several others boys at a Navy base in France. We were and dressed in sailor suits. These suits had short pants. We were all about 7-11 years old. The French mothers were prefering much more the suits with button-on ; with bib or with suspenders; or the rompers for the little boys. Sailor suits were still worn for First Cummunion."







HBC







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Created: November 27, 1998
Last updated: 8:14 PM 9/22/2022