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Sailor styles were popular in America during the 1910s, but they seem less popular in America than many European countries, especially France and Germany. Sailor styles were popular in America during the 1910s, but they seem less popular in America than many European countries, especially France and Germany. We see fewer boy and younger boys wearing sailior suits in America, mostly biys under 10 yeras of age--especially by the end iof the decade. We see, however, many girls wearuing sailor outfits, including older girls which probably affected the popularity with the boys. We note boys wearing sailor suits throyghout the 1910s. A good example is an unidentified boy with his sisters in 1913. This is notable because the family appears to be a rural family of modest means. World War I broke out during the 1910s. The War began in 1914, but America did not enter the War until 1917. American entry was largely based on a maritime issue--freedom of the seas. The Germans decided to reintroduce unresstricted submarine warfare. I'm not yet sure how this affected the popularity of sailor suits. Sailor suits were popular in the 1910s, but we do not think there were as popular as in the 1900s. We are unsure about the social-class conventions. We note quite a few family images of boys from affluent or at least comfortable families wearing sailor suits. And by the 1910s we have many family snapshots with homes and other settings in the background so we can make some assessment of social class. In the 19th century we have mostly studio portraits to go on. While we think of sailor suits as primarily an urban middle-class style, we do see them, r being worn in rural areas as well. We see many different styles of sailor outfits, including tunic suits, blouses, reefer jackets, and button-on outfits. Sailor blouses were very popular in the 1900s. We see more button-on outfits in the 1910s. Sailor tunics were popular in both decades, but seem to have been most popular in the 1910s. The fact that youngr boys wore button-on suits and tunics probaly contributed to the style increasingly beeing seen as a little boys' style. We tend to see mostly younger boys wearing sailor outfits in school during the 1910s. Sailor styles in the 1910s seem less popular in America than many European countries. We do not note many girls wearing sailor-styled dresses.
Sailor styles were popular in America during the 1910s, but they seem less popular in America than many European countries, especially France and Germany. We see fewer boy and younger boys wearing sailior suits in America, mostly biys under 10 yeras of age--especially by the end iof the decade. We see, however, many girls wearuing sailor outfits, including older girls which probably affected the popularity with the boys.
We note boys wearing sailor suits throyghout the 1910s. World War I broke out during the 1910s. The War began in 1914, but America did not enter the War until 1917. American entry was largely based on a maritime issue--freedom of the seas. The Germans decided to reintroduce unresstricted submarine warfare. We are not yet sure how this affected the popularity of sailor suits. Sailor suits were popular in the 1910s, but we do not think there were as popular as in the 1900s.
We are unsure about the social-class conventions. We note quite a few family images of boys from affluent or at least comfortable families wearing sailor suits. And by the 1910s we have many family snapshots with homes and other settings in the background so we can make some assessment of social class. In the 19th century we have mostly studio portraits to go on. The sailor suits was a largely urban middle-class style. We see them in both cities and small towns. We rarely see them being worn in rural areas. A good example is an unidentified boy with his sisters in 1913. They llook to be a family in a small town and of relatiuvely modest means. We see few working-class boys wearing sailor suits. We are not entirely sure why this was. There were relatively inexpensive summer sailor suits available.
There were different types of sailor suits worn in the 1910s which affected the different garments involved. The standard was a middy blouse and pants. Three-stripe detailing was common for middy blouses. There were also button-on suits where the blouse button on to the pants. Tunics suits were also popular. There were also various coats and jacket-like reefer jackets. Sailor blouses were very popular in the 1900s. We see more button-on outfits in the 1910s. Sailor tunics were popular in both decades, but seem to have been most popular in the 1910s. We see sailor caps worn with sailor suits. Sailor hats were no longer common. Sailor suits were made with different kinds of pants, including straight-leg knee pants, bloomer knickers, and long pants. We see a shift from knee pants to knickers during the decade. There may have been some short pants, but they did not become common until the 1920s. Here it is somewhat difficult to diffrentiate beween knee pants and short pants in many photographs. The hosiery was mostly three-quarter socks and long stockings. We see low-cut shoes, including strap shoes and sandals, often being worn with sailor suits, but weare still working on the subject of footwear. Here a factor was the age of boys wearing sailor suits.
Sailor suits were declining in populoarity 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.
Most of the outfits were done with traditional styling, meaning V-front blouses with three stripe detailing and back flaps. A good example is Ralph Patterson Olmstead in 1912. Some were done as junior U.S. Navy uniforms. Others were done without the detailing in plain suits. The button-on outfits were done in various styles, most commonly employing major features of traditional styling.
We tend to see mostly younger boys wearing sailor outfits in school during the 1910s. We notice quit a few grade 1-3 portraits that have at least one boy wearing a sailor suit in 1910s school portraits. We donot see many in rural school, but we do see them in city and small town schools. They also seem less common among working-class children than middle class children which affects schoolwear.
we notice many boys wearing sailor suits with juvenile styles such as page boy styles with bangs. This was mostly the pre-school boys many boys up to 6 year old, before they began school. After they began school these juvenile cuts become much less common. The brothers here are a good example (figure 1). After boys began chool we still see bangs, but not th longer side hair associated with page boy cuts.
We see quite a number of mothers dressing the boys in identical sailor outfits. The boys here are a good example (figure 1). This was one of the most common outfits used for dressing the children alike. We see this convention in quite a number of family portraits. The limit here was the upper size range for sailor suits. Some mothers varied this a bit by choosing different kinds of sailor outfits, usually on an age basis. One common choice in the 1910s was tunic suits for the younger boys. Once the boys were about 8-10 years old they would commonly shift to regular suits. Sailor suits could be used both for dressing up and for play. Thus younger boys might use the sailor suit when dressing up.
We do not note many girls wearing sailor-styled dresses. Our information, however, is still limited. We do think that middy blouses and skirts were worn. We have yet to find images confirming this. Teen age girls in highschool wore gum uniforms consisting of middy blouses and bloomers.
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