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The sailor suit as a boy's fashion seem to have begun to catch on in America during the 1870s. But it was not until the 1880s that the sailor suit emerged as a principal boys' fashion. I am not sure just why the sailor suit became so popular in the 1880s, but several factors appear to have been important. The enormous popularity of sailor suits was due
in part to the importance of English fashion trends. A new generation of royals was dressed in sailor suits and advances in publishing and reproducing images made it much easier for the general public to follow royal dress. Victoria's grand children wore sailor suits, but her great grand children, especially the children of George VI in the 1890s, wore virtually nothing but sailor suits. The emergence of the United States as a major naval power during the late 19th Century was another key factor. The Navy published details on naval uniforms in the 1880s. Vast improvements in naval engineering were being achieved in the late-19th century. Ships were being armored and steam engines were repacing sails. The growing power of the American nation was project abroad by the increasingly powerful, American Navy. It thus seemed to many parents the perfect outfit for their sons and daughters. Sukits based on actual British and American naval uniforms were the most popular, but quite a range of different styles appeared.
The sailor suit as a boy's fashion was first popularized by Queen Victoria in England during the 1840s. It seems to have begun to catch on in America after the Civil war during the 1870s. But it was not until the 1880s that the sailor suit emerged as a principal boys' fashion. We note both traditional and non-traditional styles. We see boys wearing traditionally styled sailor suits during the 1880s. A good example is Michael Carmichael Carr in 1880. A wide range of non-traditional styles seem to have been even more common. And many suits in the 1880s seem to have diverged substantially from tradtional styling. Pants with side stripes seemed particularly popular through the 1880s, bur went out of style in the 90s. The salor suit became a standard boys' fashion by the 1890s. Even through the Fauntleroy craze of the late 1880s and 1890s, it was the sailor suit that most boys wore. A good example is Percy Brown in 1891. Clothing catlogs by the 1890s had whole pages devoted to different styles of sailor suits tht could be selected. We not only the suits with blouses and pants, but there was also a jacket suit. These seem most common in the 1890s. An example is the Wards 1895 catalog.
Fashion is a complicated phenomenon. There are often reasonswhy certain fashions become popular. at oher times it seems totally incomprehensible. I am not sure just why the sailor suit became so popular in the 1880s, but several factors appear to have been involved. This would have varied from country to country, but factors in America probably included:
English fashion: The enormous popularity of sailor suits was due
in part to the importance of English fashion trends.
Royal family: A new generation of royals was dressed in sailor suits and advances in publishing and
reproducing images made it much easier for the general public to follow royal dress. Victoria's grand children wore sailor suits, but her great grand children, especially the children of George VI in the 1890s, wore virtually nothing but sailor suits.
U.S. Navy:: but the emergence of the United
States as a major naval power during the late 19th Century was another key factor. The Navy published details on naval uniforms in the 1880s. ast improvements in naval engineering were being achieved in the late 19th century. Ships were being armored and steam engines were repacing sails. The growing power of the American nation was project abroad by the increasingly powerful, American Navy. It thus seemed to many parents the perfect outfit for their sons and daughters.
The sailor suit for the next 40 years would be the single most important boys' fashion. Unlike some other fashions such as the more elaborate Fauntleroy suit, the sailor suit was popular with both mothers AND their sons. The style reached its peak popularity in the 1890s, but such was its poularity that it continued to be worn for decades.
We notice sailor suits in a a variety colors and patterns. The sailor suits were available primarily lue and white, but there were other colors. Color of course is difficult to discern ftom the black-and-white phoographic record. The blue suits were serge and other heavy wool fabrics for cool weather. The white suits were linnen and other light fabrics for warm weather. Various combinations were sometimes worn, but by the 1890s it was generally white sailor blouses with blue pants. The most common pattern was stripes, often blue stripes on white. This was odten done for summer suits.
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The styles seemed to follow British styles modified to reflect U.S. naval uniforms. There were, however, many similarities between American and Britis naval uniforms--so it is difficult to assess the actual inspiration on the boys' suit styles. Some mothers liked the sailor suit style that the bought dresses for their boys with sailor styling before brreeching. Little boys wore sailor dresses. At first boys wore sailor suits with long bellbottom trousers like the ones worn
by sailors. As the 1870s progressed and knee pants became more common, the sailor suit in America was mostly worn with knee pants and long dark
stockings. Some suits, however, were made with long pants in the English style. Often sailor suits
were the only long pants suits that a boy might have. While long bell-bottom sailor suits continued to be made well into the 20th Century, by the 1880s it was the kneepants suits that most boys wore. Most sailor suits were made in knee pants styles. This is confired by the pervasiveness of these suits in clothing catalogs and the large number of images surviving showing boys in knee pants sailor suits.
The sailor suit was generally deemed appropriate for boys from about 5or 6 to about 12 years old. Younger boys beginning in the late 1890s might wear sailor tunics. But proper sailir suts with kneepants or long pants were frarely worn by children younger than 5 or 6 years old. Interestingly, while mostvboys wore their sailor suits with kneepants and long stockings, some boys wore them with long pants--usually theur first long pants outfit.
American boys wore their sailor suits with many different hair styles. Because the sailor suit was so popular, it was worn with a wide variety of hair styles. As sailor suits were worn by boys from about 5 to 12, their hair styles might vary from juvenile ringlets to adult-looking short hair cuts.
Quite a few American boys wearing sailor suits during the late 19th century are archived on HBC. We have not yet linked many of them here but is one of the many projects we need to do. One very famous boy was Franklin Roosevelt who commonly wore sailor suits as a boy. We also notice a tintype of American boy, probably taken in the late 1870s or early 1880s at a fair or carnival wearing a striped sailor suit with knicker pants.
Fashion article: 1920s
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