Figure 1.--The open-front jacket was a rather fancy, formal style that we note in the 1890s and 1900s. The sailor suit was a very versitile outfit. They could be worn for dressing up, formal occassions, school, and play. This suit was, however, a rather formal style. This one looks to be done in light, inexpesive summer material. Many of these were done in a heavy material. This boy wears a very plain blouse, but witth a wing collar. They were not a real common style, but we notice some swvral portraits of boys wearing them, primarily in the 1890s. I'm not sure to what extent this style was worn in other countries. The boy looks to be about 7 years old. The boy was photographed at the Chase Studio in Earlville, Illinois during 1898.

The sailor open-front jacket was a rather fancy, formal style. This is not a sailor suit style that we see bing worn as a play suit. It was a suit for dressing up. The appeal of the sailor suit was its simplicity. The 19th century was an era of formal dress, especially the late-19th centurty. The suits procided a way that mothers who wanted a degree of formality for their boys with the popular sailor style. We primarily note these formal suits in the 1890s and 1900s. We do not have a lot of examles, but the ines we have found are in this chronological range. The boy here had his portrait taken in 1898 (figure 1). We are still working on the precise chronology. The suits were worn with blouses. Many also had vests. These were were done with jckets, but not really meant to be buttoned. We see buttons as part of the styling, but as best we can tell, they were not meant to be buttoned. Because of the chronology, these suits were usually done with knee pants and in America almost always long stockings. The sailor suit was a very versitile outfit. They could be worn for dressing up, formal occassions, school, and play. This suit was, however, a rather formal style. They were not a real common tyle, but we notice some portraits of boys wearing them. I'm not sure to what extent this style was worn in other countries. So far we have only found them in America. we are not sure yet about the age conventions. The examples we have found suggest that they were mostly worn by boys in the 5-10 year range. We suspect that slight older boys may have worn them. The boy here looks to be about 7 years old (figure 1).

Characteristic

The sailor open-front jacket was a rather fancy, formal style. They all had the classic V-collar detailed with stripes. It was, however, not a joined collar in the front. They were done with buttons, but they seem mostly decorative. We do not see these buttons actually buttoned. Sine do not look like they could be buttoned even if the boy wanted to do so.

Terminology

We have not been able to find a period term for these suits. We justvsee them called 'sailor suits' in period catalogs. This for our purposes we will refer to this style as 'open front sailor suits'. If we find a perid term we will adjust the pages here accordingly.

Utility

The open front suit is not a sailor suit style that we see being worn as a play suit. It was a suit for dressing up. The appeal of the sailor suit was its simplicity. The 19th century was an era of formal dress, especially the late-19th centurty as the Industrial Revolution brought prosperity to America and more and more familes enbtered the prosperous middle class. The suits procided a way that mothers who wanted a degree of formality for their boys with the popular sailor style. The sailor suit in general was a very versitile outfit. They could be worn for dressing up, formal occassions, school, and play. This suit was, however, a rather formal style. Of course older suits might be relegated for play.

Chronology

We are not yet sure about the chronology of these open-front dailor suits. We primarily have notefd these formal open-front sailor suits in the 1890s and early-1900s. We are not yet enirely sure about the 1880s. We do not have a lot of dated examples, but the ones we have found are in this chronological range. Most of the portraits we have are undated portraits, but can be dated to the 1890s or early-90s because of the mounts or other clues in the images. This means we can roughly determine the decade, but not actual year. Thus we are not entirely sure yet if these suits were worn in the early-1890s. We have a few dated images which confirm the 1890s as the decade in which these suits were most prevalent. The boy here had his portrait taken in 1898 (figure 1). And we have found another portait dated in 1899. We are still working on the precise chronology.

Accompanying Garments

These suits were worn with various blouses. Actually we do not see much of the bliyses which were a very important garment at the time. This was because they were often covered by the nests. Many also had vests adding to the formality. We often see neckwear, but commonly not the huge floppy bows so common at the time. These were were done with jackets, but not really meant to be buttoned. We see buttons as part of the styling, but as best we can tell, they were not meant to be buttoned. Because of the chronology, these suits were usually done with knee pants and in America almost always long stockings.

Mail Order Catalogs

We have not yet found any enties for these open-front sailor suits in period mail order catalogs. This is an important source of information because it provides details on styling, color, material, sizes (ages), an chronoilogical trends. These catalogs were important by the 1890s, but we have not yet found an indication of this tyles in our American 1890s mail order catalogs . We believe that this is because our section is stull fairly limited, not necesarily because the suits were not on offer. We see rge same thing in American 1900s mail order catalogs. We do see jacketed sailor suits, but not yet these open front suits.

Prevalence

They were not a real common style, but we notice some portraits of boys wearing them. We see huge number of blouse suits and many jacket suits as well. We see these in the photographic record as well as the mail order catalogs. These dressy open-front suits are less common.

Countries

We are not sure to what extent this style was worn in other countries. So far we have found quite a few American examples. We also see German examples, many dated about the same time, 1890s-1900s.

Age

We are not sure yet about the age conventions. The examples we have found suggest that they were mostly worn by boys in the 5-10 year range. We suspect that slight older boys may have worn them. The boy here looks to be about 7 years old (figure 1). We have another portrait with an 8-year old boy wearing one of these suits. His older brother who was 11 yeats old wears a lapel suit which suggests an approximate age range.

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

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Created: 7:14 AM 1/13/2008
Last updated: 7:55 PM 10/10/2016