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German boys continued to wear sailor suits in the inter-war era. One noteable change in the 1920s was that the great variety of styles noted before the War generally disappeared. Increasingly we see the traditional style (meaning suits styled like actual uniforms) being worn by boys. Quite a number of boys wore sailor suits in the 1920s. This is clearly observable in contemporary school portraits. In some portaits a substantial number of the boys are wearing sailor suits. The popularity of the sailor suit in Germany changed significantly in the 1930s. The sailor suit did not disaapear in the 1930s, but we see only a small number of boys wearing them in each class. There was also a change in the age of the boys wearing them. Especially after the NAZIs seized power, we see fewer older boys wearing them.
The style declined in popularity after World War I as it did in other countries, but even so sailor suits continued to be popular in the 1920s. Even younger teenagers them during the 1920s. The military had been a revered institution before World I. This changed with the tragedy of the War. Even so, the sailor suit as a fashion for boys continued to be very popular. A HBC reader has provided us a remarkable series of photographs showing how Herbert and Kurt Hender were dressed at different ages in the 1920s. Their mother clealy liked sailor suits, although they were not always dressed in them. We note an unidentified German boy wearing a sailor suit in the 1920s. It is a good example of how entrenched the saolor suit had become with the German middleclass. One noteable change in the 1920s was that the great variety of styles noted before the War generally disappeared. Increasingly we see the traditional style (meaning suits styled like actual uniforms) being worn by boys. Wesee the sailor suit being worn by a wide age range. Even some teenagers wore them.
The popularity of the sailor suit in Germany changed significantly in the 1930s, especially after the mid30s. We still see German boys commonly wearing sailor suits in the early 30s. Even teenagers wore them, especially younger teenagers. A good example is an unidentified boy in a middle-class family. The sailor suit did not disaapear in the 1930s, but became much less common. Again school portraits are a good reflection of popular styles. We still see sailor suits, in school photographs, but we genrally ee only a small number of boys wearing them in each class--especially by the mid-30s. There was also a change in the age of the boys wearing them. Especially after the NAZIs seized power, we see fewer older boys wearung them.We see German boys commonly wearng sailor suits to dress up and to school in the early 30s. A good example is two German boys in a family grouping. We think with the coming of the NAZI era in 1933 that the sailor suit declined in popularity. I don't think that this had anything to do with official or adult criticisms of the navy. Rather boys and probably many parents seemed to have found the Hitler Youth uniform more appropriate in the New Germany of the Third Reich. Perhaps some did not see the sailor suit fashion as the proper image for tough NAZI youth. Perhaps the NAZI Government set guidlines for styles of clothes produced and may have encouraged private companies producing boys' clothes to deemphasize production.
The sailor suit's association with artistocracy and the middleclass made it unpopular with the NAZIs in the 1930s because the Party was trying to break down the prevailing class structure to create a more unified Volk and Reich. Hopefully German visitors to this page can provide some insights. For whatever reason,
sailor suits, at least for older boys, seemed to have gradually declined in popularity during the 1930s and were even less common during the War years (1939-45)
By the War years we no longer commonly see German boys as commonly wearing sailor suits. An exception here was very young pre-school boys. Sailor suits are much less common in German schools during the War. We are not sure if this was changing consumer tastes or the Government mandated changes.
Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
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