Figure 1.--This family snapshot is undated, but looks like the 1910s tonus. The children look to be about 2-7 yearsold to us, The boy wears a sailor suit wih standard detailing except for the lack of three stripe detailing. The girls wear white dresses. Note the hair bows. .

Sailor suits were declining in popularity even before World War I in the 1910s. By the 1910s we see increasingly younger boys wearing sailor suits. They were still a popular style, but only pre-school and youger primary/elementary-age boys. We see boys wearing both sailor tunics abd sailor suits. In contrast we see girls of all ages, even teens wearing sailor outfits. The most common outfut for girls was a middy blouse. The fact that youngr boys wore button-on suits and tunics probaly contributed to the style increasingly being seen as a little boys' style we see and even worse, from a boy's point of view, a girl's style. The popularity of sailor styles with girls we believe was a major factor. We mostly see pre-school and younger primary boys wearing sailor suits. After about 8 years of age based on the photographic record, sailor suits become much less common. We only see offerings for younger boys in the mail order catalogs. The same patern emerges from school photography. And here we are just talking about towns and cities. We rarely see sailor suits in rural areas. We see older boys wearing sailor suits in Europe, but not in America. We note 1911 mail order catalogs with sailor suit outfits up to age 12 years.

Other Related Pages:
[Sailor suits][Kilts][Smocks][Pinafores][Sailor Hats][Blouses]
[Ring Bearers][Long hair][Ringlet curls][Hair bows][Bangs][Collars][Bows]
[American mail order catalogs]

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction][Activities][Biographies][Chronology][Clothing styles][Countries]
[Bibliographies][Contributions][FAQs][Glossaries][Images][Registration][Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 1:28 AM 6/20/2023
Last updated: 1:28 AM 6/20/2023