*** traditionalm sailor suits : American styles








U.S. Sailor Suits: Styles

American sailor suits
Figure 1.--This boy had his portrait painted in the late 19th century. The portrait is undated , but we would guess was done about 1890. We became to see more tradutionally stuled suits in the 1890s. Notice the non-V collar, the anchors on the shoulder, and the stars on the cuffs.

Few garments were so widely worn by boys and in so many different styles and forms. We are all familiar with the fact that boys began wearing sailor suits in the mid-19th century. Less familiar is the may varied styles of suits that were worn. The styles were inspired by naval uniform styles and traditional suits were based on actual uniforms. There were, however, a wide variety of sailor suits styles, especially in the 1860s and 70s. Some seamstresses used the same imaginination on boys sailor suits as they did with girl's dresses. Some were rather elaborate, varying substantially from actual naval uniforms. Only gradually did the traditional sailor suit with three stripes become an established standard. We are not intirely sure why the traditional suits gradually emerged as the standard style and eventually ecipsed the moreimaginative styles. We suspect that boys themselves preferred the suits more closely based on naval uniforms. The mass production of ready-made clothes also meant that that less diversity emerged because each garment was no longer hand made by seamstresses. Clothing catalogs in the late 19th and early 20th century had pages devoted to sailor suits in a wide variety of styles. A good examples of such variety is the Sears catalog in 1902. After World War I, sailor suits were much more standardized. We also note the appearance of button-on shorts sets, some of which were done as sailor suits. A good example is a portrait of a boy named Jimmy in 1934.

Major Types

We see large numbrs of sailor suits and outfits in many different styles. A problem in assessing these vasuious types and styles is that there was no wideky accepted terminology in contemprary fashion magazines and catalogs. Thus we have had to create our own ternminogy. We believe that these various outfits can be divided into two major styles, traditional and non-traditional styles. The tradituinl style are what Prince Albert abd Queen Victoria came up with, a blouse and pants. This was based on the uniform of enlisted (ratings) sailors in the Royal Navy which at the time was just begunning to become stanndardized. The styuling for the blouse suiys varied, with the V-front and an optional dickey) with a back flap being by far the most common. And three stripe styling became iconic. There were, however, other blouse styles like the American boy here is wearing (figure 1). One of the reasons that the sailor suit prived so sucessful was its simplicity. The other basic type was the jacket suit, often worn with a vest rather than a dickey. We see a lot of these suits in the late-19th and very early 20th century. They wre much more elaborate than the blouse and pants of the traditional suits. This was a basic fahion trend at the time.

Traditional blouse styles

We are all familiar with the fact that boys began wearing sailor suits in the mid-19th century. Less familiar is the many varied styles of suits that were worn. There were, however, only two different types. One is hast we call graduitionl or blouse suirs. The traditionl style are what Prince Albert abd Queen Victoria came up with, a blouse and pants. This was based on the uniform of enlisted (ratings) sailors in the Royal Navy which at the time was just begunning to become stanndardized. The styuling for the blouse suiys varied, with the V-front and an optional dickey) with a back flap being by far the most common. And three stripe styling became iconic. The styles were inspired by naval uniform styles and traditional suits were based on actual uniforms. Subsequent sailorstyles were more imaginative, diverging substasntially from actual uniform styles. Only gradually did the traditional sailor suit with three stripes become an established standard. Almost all of the styling and detailing was on the blouse. We are not intirely sure why the traditional suits gradually emerged as the standard style and eventually eclipsed the more imaginative styles. We suspect that boys themselves preferred the suits more closely based on naval uniforms. The mass production of ready-made clothes also meant that that less diversity emerged because each garment was no longer hand made by seamstresses. Clothing catalogs in the late 19th and early-20th century had pages devoted to sailor suits in a wide variety of styles. A good examples of such variety is the Sears catalog in 1902. After World War I, sailor suits were much more standardized. Most of the styling was on the blouse. We note some 19th century sauits with styling on the pants, but this was quite rare in the 20th century.

Non-traditional jacket styles

The first suits were replicas of actual uniforms, but this soon changed. There were, however, a wide variety of sailor suits styles, especially in the 1860s and 70s. Some seamstresses used the same imaginination on boys sailor suits as they did with girl's dresses. Some were rather elaborate, varying substantially from actual naval uniforms. The suit here is a good example (figure 1). Another good example is the St. Clar boys. We also notice sailor suits done with jackets rather than the traditional middy blouse. While the jackets commonly had sailor detailing they were not based on any actual naval uniforms. As far as we can tell, by the turn of the 20th century these non-traditional styles had largely disappeared.

Prevalence

Sailor suits were done in many different styles. It is a little difficult to establish the most popular and prevalet styles just looking and individual portraits or a scattering of boys wearing sailor suits in school portraits. Over time the traditional styles most closely related actual naval uniforms prevailed, but over time there were many deviations from traditional styling. The boy here is a good example with pointed collars rather tan the V-front style. These different styles have varied over time. And thus prevalent styling has to be considered within a given time frame. We also look for images groups of boys either all wearing sailor suits or at least a subtantal number of wearing sailor suits. A good examle is an unidentified group in 1892-93. The boys were all instructed to wear sailor suits, but mothers were not given instructions on what style of sailor suit. Thus we have agood look of stylistic prevlence at the time.

Sailor Influence Styles

We also note the appearance of button-on shorts sets, some of which were done as sailor suits. A good example is a portrait of a boy named Jimmy in 1934. These suits did not have the standard "V" collar, but have clear sailor styling.







HBC






Sailor Suit Country Related Pages:
[Return to theMain U.S. country sailor suit styling page]
[Austrian] [Belgian] [Danish] [Dutch] [English] [French] [German] [Italian] [Polish] [Swiss] [Ulster]



Other Related Pages:
[Return to the Main sailorv suitb page]
[Sailor hats] [Kilts] [Smocks] [Pinafores] [Blouses] [Pants and trousers]
[Ring Bearers] [Long hair] [Ringlet curls] [Hair bows] [Bangs] [Collars] [Bows]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Clothing style pants]
[About Us]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Girls] [Theatricals]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Index] [Links] [Registration] [Search] [Tools]
[Main HBC Topic page]
[Boys' Historical Clothing Home]




Created: January 1, 2004
Last updated: 12:43 AM 10/28/2022