Sailor suit

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A Royal Naval rating in 1A uniform (a modern sailor suit). RN ratings number one uniform.JPG
A Royal Naval rating in 1A uniform (a modern sailor suit).

A sailor suit is a uniform traditionally worn by enlisted seamen in a navy or other governmental sea services. It later developed into a popular clothing style for children, especially as dress clothes.

Contents

Origins and history

In the Royal Navy, the sailor suit, also called naval rig, [1] is known as Number One dress and is worn by able rates and leading hands. It is primarily ceremonial, although it dates from the old working rig of Royal Navy sailors which has continuously evolved since its first introduction in 1857. [2] [3] Versions have been adopted by many navies from around the world.

The flap collar is perhaps the most recognizable item of the sailor suit. It is often considered lucky to touch a sailor's collar. [4] The bell-bottomed trousers were designed so that they could be rolled up easily when scrubbing the decks.

As children's clothing

Prince Albert Edward (the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom) in a sailor suit, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1846 Edward VII (1841 - 1910).jpg
Prince Albert Edward (the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom) in a sailor suit, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1846
Photograph of a boy on Oxford Street, Sydney, Australia, wearing a sailor suit, with a sennit straw hat at his feet Sailor Suit - Oxford St Sydney - John Hubert Newman.jpg
Photograph of a boy on Oxford Street, Sydney, Australia, wearing a sailor suit, with a sennit straw hat at his feet

In 1846, the four-year-old Albert Edward, Prince of Wales was given a scaled-down version of the uniform worn by ratings on the Royal Yacht. He wore his miniature sailor suit during a cruise off the Channel Islands that September, delighting his mother and the public.[ citation needed ] Popular engravings, including the famous portrait done by Winterhalter, spread the idea, and by the 1870s the sailor suit had become a fashionable dress for both boys and girls in many countries. Some Western cartoon and comic characters use a sailor suit as their trademarks; examples include Popeye, Donald Duck, and Fiddler Pig. Sailor suits have been worn by the members of the Vienna Boys' Choir on their international tours.

A female version of the sailor suit, the sailor dress, was popularly known in early 20th century America as a Peter Thomson dress after a naval tailor with outlets in New York and Philadelphia. [5]

Asian school uniforms

Many schools in some Asian countries, including Japan, the Philippines, [6] [ better source needed ] Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand, have adopted sailor outfits as a school uniform. [7] [ better source needed ]

Japan

Sailor suits are especially common in Japanese girls' schools, known as sailor fuku by the Japanese. They are so common that the image of the outfit has evolved to be strongly associated with youth and female adolescence in popular culture. As a result, sailor uniforms are seen very frequently in Japanese dramas, movies, anime, manga, music videos and concert performances of pop teen idol groups.

Philippines

Just like in Japan, sailor uniforms are also common in Philippine schools, particularly in high schools. Most public schools adopted the sailor uniform as the official uniform for the girls and some of them adopted with derivatives.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School uniforms in Japan</span> School uniforms used in Japan

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<i>Cheongsam</i> Fitted dress in Chinese culture

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A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, with the front of the skirt cut away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blouse</span> Garment for the upper body

A blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that may be worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children. It is typically gathered at the waist or hips so that it hangs loosely ("blouses") over the wearer's body. Today, the word most commonly refers to a girl's or woman's dress shirt, although there is considerable confusion between a true blouse and a women's shirt. It can also refer to a man's shirt if it is a loose-fitting style, though it rarely is. Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to a shirt which blouses out or has an unmistakably feminine appearance, although even many "standard" shirts today have a somewhat blousy fit, and the numbers of men wearing such shirts may match that of women wearing actual blouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formal wear</span> Class of clothing for special occasions or events

Formal wear or full dress is the Western dress code category applicable for the most formal occasions, such as weddings, christenings, confirmations, funerals, Easter and Christmas traditions, in addition to certain state dinners, audiences, balls, and horse racing events. Generally permitted other alternatives, though, are the most formal versions of ceremonial dresses, full dress uniforms, religious clothing, national costumes, and most rarely frock coats. In addition, formal wear is often instructed to be worn with official full size orders and medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military uniform</span> Standardised military dress

A military uniform is a standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mess dress uniform</span> Formal evening dress worn by military personnel

Mess dress uniform is the most formal type of evening-wear uniform used by military personnel, police personnel, and other uniformed services members. It frequently consists of a mess jacket, trousers, white dress shirt and a black bow tie, along with orders and medals insignia. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In modern Western dress codes, mess dress uniform is the supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian black tie for evening wear. Mess dress uniforms are typically less formal than full dress uniform, but more formal than service dress uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frock coat</span> Mens formal knee-length coat

A frock coat is a formal men's coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back and some features unusual in post-Victorian dress. These include the reverse collar and lapels, where the outer edge of the lapel is often cut from a separate piece of cloth from the main body and also a high degree of waist suppression around the waistcoat, where the coat's diameter round the waist is less than round the chest. This is achieved by a high horizontal waist seam with side bodies, which are extra panels of fabric above the waist used to pull in the naturally cylindrical drape. As was usual with all coats in the 19th century, shoulder padding was rare or minimal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blazer</span> Striped or bright, solid-color informal jacket

A blazer is a type of jacket resembling a suit jacket, but cut more casually. A blazer is generally distinguished from a sport coat as a more formal garment and tailored from solid colour fabrics. Blazers often have naval-style metal buttons to reflect their origin as jackets worn by boating club members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full dress uniform</span> Uniform for wear on formal occasions

Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, including private ones such as marriages and funerals. Full dress uniforms typically include full-size orders and medals insignia. Styles tend to originate from 19th century uniforms, although the 20th century saw the adoption of mess dress-styled full-dress uniforms. Designs may depend on regiment or service branch. In Western dress codes, full dress uniform is a permitted supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian white tie for evening wear or morning dress for day wear – sometimes collectively called full dress – although military uniforms are the same for day and evening wear. As such, full dress uniform is the most formal uniform, followed by the mess dress uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniforms of the United States Navy</span> Clothes worn by members of the United States Navy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lapel</span> Two flaps of material turned back on the chest, especially a continuation of a coat collar

A lapel is a folded flap of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat below the collar. It is most commonly found on formal clothing and suit jackets. Usually it is formed by folding over the front edge of the jacket or coat and sewing it to the collar, an extra piece of fabric around the back of the neck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telnyashka</span> Distinctively striped undershirt, part of uniform of Russian forces.

The telnyashka is a horizontally striped undershirt worn as uniform by Russian military personnel. It has stripes in white and in a color that varies according to the unit's affiliation. The most common second color is blue, but a number of other colors are also in use. The garment comes in varying thicknesses and may be sleeved or sleeveless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workwear</span> Clothing that is worn in the exercise of a service profession, a craft or an engineering profession

Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the decade 1900–1909

Fashion in the period 1900–1909 in the Western world continued the severe, long and elegant lines of the late 1890s. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl" hairstyles. A new, columnar silhouette introduced by the couturiers of Paris late in the decade signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset as an indispensable garment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniforms of the Royal Navy</span> Clothes worn by the Royal Navy

The uniforms of the Royal Navy have evolved gradually since the first uniform regulations for officers were issued in 1748. The predominant colours of Royal Navy uniforms are navy blue and white. Since reforms in 1997 male and female ratings have worn the same ceremonial uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailor cap</span> Hat worn by enlisted Naval personnel

A sailor cap is a round, flat visorless hat worn by sailors in many of the world's navies. A tally, an inscribed black silk ribbon, is tied around the base which usually bears the name of a ship or a navy. Many navies tie the tally at the rear of the cap and let the two ends hang down to the shoulders as decorative streamers. In the Royal Navy the tally is tied off in a bow over the left ear and in the early 20th century it was customary when going on shore leave to tie a small coin in the bow to make it stand out. In wartime, as a security measure, many navies replace the name of the ship with a generic title. The cap may be further embellished with a badge, cockade or other accessory. Visorless caps of this kind began to be worn in the mid 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shalwar kameez</span> Trousers and tunic worn in South Asia

Shalwar kameez is a traditional combination dress worn by women, and in some regions by men, in South Asia, and Central Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailor dress</span>

A sailor dress is a child's or woman's dress that follows the styling of the sailor suit, particularly the bodice and collar treatment. A sailor-collared blouse is called a middy blouse. In early 20th-century America, sailor dresses were very popularly known as Peter Thomson dresses after the former naval tailor credited with creating the style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese clothing during the Meiji period</span> History of Japanese clothing throughout the Meiji period

Japanese clothing during the Meiji period (1867–1912) saw a marked change from the preceding Edo period (1603–1867), following the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate between 1853 and 1867, the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854 – which, led by Matthew C. Perry, forcibly opened Japanese ports to American vessels, thus ending Japan's centuries-long policy of isolation – and the Meiji Restoration in 1868, which saw the feudal shogunate dismantled in favour of a Western-style modern empire.

References

  1. "R". britishempire.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  2. "The History of Rating Uniforms". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2006-04-18.
  3. "Uniform Dress for Petty Officers, Seamen and Boys - 1857". Admiralty Circular No. 283. Secretary of the Admiralty. 30 January 1857. Retrieved 17 March 2024 via RootsWeb.
  4. Radford, Edwin; Radford, Mona A. (2004). Encyclopedia of Superstitions 1949. Kessinger Publishing. p. 208. ISBN   978-1-4179-7655-3.
  5. Brooks Picken, Mary (1923). Textiles and Sewing Materials: Textiles, Laces, Embroideries and Findings, Shopping Hints, Mending, Household Sewing, Trade and Sewing Terms. Scranton, Pennsylvania: International Textbook Company. p. 250. A kind of dress worn by young girls, the waist of which is made in exact imitation of a sailor's blouse. This style of dress derives its name from its creator, Peter Thomson, who was a tailor in the navy...
  6. "Anime Uniform Same as Your School Uniform". Crunchyroll (Forum thread). 2009. Archived from the original on 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  7. "Five Best-Looking School Uniforms in Singapore". Low Kay Hwa. Archived from the original on 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2015-08-28.