Figure 1.--This French postcard shows a French schoolboy about 1905 wearing a sailor suit. He is wearing to school--notice the book bag. HBC assumes this is French because it reads "The scholar" in French at the upper lefthand corner. However, it could be Belgian. Without the inscriptiomn, we would have guessed German because of the book satchel and lunch case. The way the boys sailor scarfe is tied with a white string is German. Unfortunatel we do not know how to intpret the company mark at the lower left hand corner. Big postcard companies commonly printed insriptions in different language to enter national markets.

Sailor suits were especially popular for French boys during the Edwardian 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 stylistic 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.

Popularity

Sailor suits were popular for French boys during the Edwardian period and early-20th century, especially with midle-class families. 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. We note large numbers of boys wearing them. And in the post cards that were so populr at the time, boys were depicted wearing fashionable clothes. And sailor suits were commonly chosen. The photographic record show French boy commonly wearing sailor suits. The colorized postcard here is a good example (figure 1). As far as we can tell, sailor suits were popular with both parents and boys. The sailor suit was more popular in the Edwardian era than any other period. Again we are not sure precisely why this was. We suspect that rising properity helped many French families enter the middle class or at least improved their economic situation.

Decades

Garments

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. We note both sailor and non-sailor styled headwear. The middy blouse was by far the most important item for a sailor suit. The standard blouse had a :V"-front collar and back flap. This was the standard style adopted by the British Royal Navy and copied by navies aroud the world. Most of the detailing in any sailor suit was on the middy blouse. The most common detailing was stripes on the "V" front collar. The stripes were commonly repeaed on the back flap and sleeve cuff. They were mostly dne in blue and white, but there were other colors. Middy blouses were worn both with and without dickies. Most of the French sailor suits HBC has noted during the Edwardian era have been straight-leg knee pants suits. A few boys wore sailor suits long pants. Younger boys wearing sailor tunics might wear knicker-like bloomer pants. Knee pants were, however, much more common. Shorts pants were less common, appearing mostly after World War I (1914-18). We no longer see stripes on the knee pants as we noted in the late-19th century. Younger boys wearing the sailor tunics might wear them with lace trim and ruffles in the 1900s. Most of these fancy sailor outfits were the tunic suits, These fancy tunic suits declined in popularity during 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 tunics.

Conventions

The conventions for sailor suits in France were somewhat different than in other countries during the early-20th century. We have found no written material on this, but it appears to be the case emerging from the photographic record we have archived. We tend to see sailor suits being worn more for dressing up or a least a smart casual outfit than in other countries. We see relatively few French boys wearing sailor outfit play suits which was becoming popular in America. And we note boys in Germany wearing older sailor suits for play. Another factor affecting sailor suit conventions was school. We see many European and American boys wearing sailor suits to school. This was the case in France as well, but much less commonly thn with many other countries. One factor was that many of the primary-age boys who most commonly wore sailor suits in other countrie, wore smocks to school. Thus sailor suits were not nearly as common for school wear as in many other countries. This was also true to varying degrees in other countries where boys wore smocks to school uch as Italy and Belgium. And in both countries we see similat patterns where the sailor suit was more of a dressy than a play outfit..

Social Class

Trim

Standard sailor suits had "V" neck collars with back flaps. Usually three stripes were used on the collar and on matching cuff trim. The sailor collars often had non-traditional styling, such as all white rather than with the three decorative stripes.

Colors and Material

Sailor suits in many European countries were mostly white or blue/black. HBC has noted a variety of other colors, often used in the trim. Often the material was not just a solid white or black, but a variety of colors and stripped patterns. Stripped sailor suits appear to have been especially common.In the 1910s suits with more classic styling became more common.

Usage

The sailor suit was a multiple purpose garment. We note boiys both playing nd dressing up in sailor suits. French boys common wore sailor suits to school. French boys are well known for wearing smocks during the early 20th century. HBC is unsure just why some boys wore smocks and other boys wore sailor suits and other clothes. Presumably at some schools smocks were not required, but rather parents could select the clothes that the chilodren wore. Other schools are believed to have required smocks. HBC is unsure just how common sailor suits and smocks were.

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Created: 11:18 PM 5/25/2008
Last updated: 7:21 PM 9/12/2016