Figure 1.--The V-front sailor collar is the most destinctive element of the traditional middy blouse. This American boy wears a white middy blouse, probably with a light-blue V-collar and back flap. This portrait was probably taken in the 1900s.

There were several elements or parts to a middy blouse and other shirt-like sailor garments. Sailor styling from the collar was often repeated in these elements. The best known was the "V"-front sailor collar. These middy blouses were commonly made to be worn with dickies, sometines called shields. Some were removeable and others sewn in. They often had emroidered designs. Other had stripes. Less commonly we see more ordinary collars. There was also a back flap on most middy blouses. Most middy blouses had long sleeves, but we see short sleeves by the 1920s. There were often detailing at the wrist cuff. Many slleces also had ran badges. Many middy blouses had pockets, commonly breast pockets. Waist arrangements varied. Many had draw-string arrangements, This is why the garment bloused out, giving rise to the term blouse. There were also button-on arrangements

Collars

There were several elements or parts to a middy blouse and other shirt-like sailor garments. The single most important was the destinctive "V"-front collar. These collars varied in size, but generally dominated the front of the garment. They were most commonly detailed with stripes. This usually was three stripes like actual silor uniforms, but this could vary. Therecwere also some blouses which were plain without the stripe detailing. It is the stripe detailing, hosever, which is most assiciated with the middy blouse andcsailor suits in general. The V-front collar was basically a pull-over style. It was so important, however, that it was also used in the buttoning version of the middy blouse. Sailor styling from the collar was often repeated in these elements. This normally was stripes, but we see other detailing and many middy blouses had no detailing at all. The V-collar night also have contrasting colors. Less commonly we see more ordinary collars. We also note standard collars, even on Navy unifirms, but the V-collar was the standard for enlisted men (ratings) and thus following the standard set by the British Royal family is the style most commonly used for boys' outfits. Thus the best known was the "V"-front sailor collar. The sailor suit was in part popular because it wa a comfortable open collar, although a dickey could be added. Some mothers wee not satisfied with this and added detachable collars.

Figure 2.--These boys wear V-sailor collars with multiple stripes, five or six rather than the traditional three. Note the detiling is picked up on the dickie. .

Dickies

Middy blouses were commonly made to be worn with dickies, sometines called shields. Some were removeable and others sewn in. There were several different ways of doing removable dickies. Many had a back strap and front button holes for buttons on the inside of the middy blouse. Boys might also wear T-shirt like garments, but this approach was more common in Europe than America. Middy blouses with removeable dickies were done to make the garment more flexible seasonally. They could be removed during hot weather and replaced for cold weather. They often had a variety of emroidered designs. Some were just plain, but many had designs. There were a variety of popular designs, most with nautical themes like stars or ancchors. Patriotic emblems were also popular. Other had stripes. But striped dickies seem more popular in some European countries than the United States. The dickies were often destinctive in the various countries where sailor suits were worn. Thus they can be helpful in determining the country of origin for unidentified countries.

Figure 3.--While the most destinctive feature of a middy blouse is the front "V" collar, another important feature was the back flap that went with it. The detailing on the "V" collar was repeated on the back flap.

Back Flaps

There was also a back flap on most middy blouses. It was part of the "V:" front collar. We see these back flaps on the earliest boys' suits. The back flap extending from the "V"-front was another destinctive feature of the middy blouse. They varied in size over time. The back flap like the front V-collar was also derived from naval uniforms. The detailing on the front such as the number of stripes would be repeated or acrtually extended over on the back flap, some times with added details such as stars or abcjors in the corners. Middy blouses which had V-front collars wihout detailing likewise had matching back flaps without detailing. The importance of the middy blouse can be seen in other fancy blouses witn at the turn-of-the 20th century. We see this on blouses that were more like Fauntleroy than sailor blouses. This also affected the front of these fancy blouses with many taking on a basically rectangular shape. After the 1920s we see these back flaps being used less or refuced in size for the sailor-inspired outfits worn by younger boys. The back flap was usually a square or rectangle, but we notice in some fancy outfits that there might be variations such as scalloped edges as some mothers wanted a fancier garment than the srandard sailor suit..

Figure 4.--This Phildelphia boy had his portrait taken with his sister, probably in the 1890s. Notice the sleeve trim at about the firehand. He wears more of a jacket than a blouse.

Sleeves

Most middy blouses had long sleeves. All 19th century and early 20th century middy blouses had long skleeves. And long sleeves comtinued to popular in the 20th century. They were the standard sleeve for middy blouses. Short sleeves in general were most commonly worn in the 19th century. We see short sleeves by the 1920s. We even notice some sleeveless middy blouses, but this was not very common. The great majority of middy blouses were long sleeves. Short sleeves were more common in the 1940s, but by then the middy blouse was going out of style for boys. There were often detailing at the wrist cuff. This varied from blouse to blouse. Some had waist cuff detailing, others did not. Of course the plain collared blouses also had plain wrist cuffs. It was the blouses that had collar stailing that varied. Some repeated the collar detailing or even color on the wrist cuffs. Some times the detailing was not at the wrist cuff, bur at other places such as the forehand. The most common position for the sleeve trim, however, was at the wrist sleeve hem. Short-sleve blouses also might have trim at the hem of the short sleeves. Many sleeves also had rank badges. These were often American naval rank badges, but a varierty of other more fanciful designs were also used. We also notice single stripes sometimes used. Some mothers might add Fauntleroy trim to middy blouses which at times mean lace and ruffles at the wrist cuff.

Figure 5.-- Scarves were very commonly worn with middy blouses. Both boys and girls wore them. This reflected naval uniforms in which sailors wore these scarves. American children primarily wore plain dark blue or black scarves with their sailor suits. These dark scarves were worn with both blue and white middy blouses which was the primary colors used for these garments.

Scarves

Scarves were very commonly worn with middy blouses. Both boys and girls wore them. This reflected naval uniforms in which sailors wore these scarves. American children primarily wore plain dark blue or black scarves with their sailor suits. These dark scarves were worn with both blue and white middy blouses which was the primary colors used for these garments. Dark scarves were used on white blouses, but white blouses were not commonly used with dark blouses. The scarves usually were made in silk. We have seen a few variations. A few had embroidered designs, although this was not very common. We also notice some white and red scarves. We are less sure about other colors. Not all sailor suits were blue or white. Sailor suits were done in grey, brown, pink, and other colors. These colored suits could have had variously colored scarves. We are not sure, however, just what colors were used because almost all of our images are black-and-white photographs. American scarves were usually informally tied in contrast to the very formal knot used for German sacarves.

Pockets

Many middy blouses had pockets, commonly breast pockets. They were often highlighted in the detailing. Some button-up middy blouses had side pockets, but they were not very common. These were button-up garments that took more of the function of a jacket than a blouse or shirt.

Waist Arrangements

Waist arrangements varied. Many had draw-string arrangements, This is why the garment bloused out, giving rise to the term blouse. These blouses are very destinctive because of the way they blouse out at the waist. There were also button-on arrangements. This was also obvious in many cases because of the use of buttons at the waistline. Buttons wre also used on sailor suits for detailing the garment. The waistline buttons, however, were mor pactical, ueful to hold up the pants, The buttons for younger boys could be quite large.

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Created: 2:34 AM 1/28/2008
Last updated: 2:56 PM 6/9/2008