Figure 1.--Here we have an cabinet portrait of unidentified Vienna family. The two children look to be about 5-10 years old. They wear similar sailor suits. Notice that the girls collar is pointed rather than a V. The portait is undated, vut the mount cgarax=cteristics suggest the 1900s decade. The studio was Harmsen in Vienna a long established studio.

We see girls wearing sailor outfits in Britain by the 1870s. We suspect that girls began wearing sailor suits in the German states including Austria at about the same time, although we do not yet have a large enough Austrian archive to defintively date it precisely. Austria at about the same time, although we do not yet have a large enough Austrian archive to defintively date it precisely. Austria-Hungary was a substamtial empire, but Austrai was a small part of it. This affected the size of the photographic record.We see Austrian girls commonly wearing sailor outfits in the late-19th and first half of the 20th century. At this time, all we can confiorm is that the sailor suit was extremely popular for girls at the turn of the 20th century in the 1890s and 1900s. We are not sure about the 1880s yet. We know girls wore sailor outfits in the 1910s and 20s, but they seem especially popular at the turn of the century. We still see girls wearing sailor suits in Austria in the 1930s, but not so much after World War II.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web sailor pages:
[Return to the Main Austrian sailor suit gender page]
[Return to the Main Austrian sailor suit page]
[Return to the Main Austria page]
[Middy blouse] [Sailor suits]
[Reefer jackets] [Sailor dresses] [Other sailor styles]
[Sailor hats] [The Royals] [Ring bearer/page costumes]

Created: 3:23 AM 7/27/2020
Last updated: 3:23 AM 7/27/2020