"Royal children in sailor suits- why? " Topic

Hello,
I've been searching through images of 19th cent. European nobility, and there seems to be a nearly universal trend of clothing the children in sailor suits. Any reason why?

Thanks!

Take a close look at Buster Brown; it wasn't just the royalty doing it. For some reason rich sentimentalists of the era found children in sailor outfits unspeakably cute. For that matter, look at Sailor Moon. Modern Japanese culture has a lock on cute.

From wiki:

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 alike. Popular engravings, including the famous portrait done by Winterhalter, spread the idea, and by the 1870s, the sailor suit had become normal dress for both boys and girls all over the world.

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IIRC, Queen Victoria started the fashion with her children. It was the sailor suit that Prince Edward, later Edward VII, wore in 1846 that became the standard uniform for sailors in the 1857

I have some old pictures of my grand dad (future Stuka pilot in the Italian royal air force, but no member of the royal family) and he was in the same suit. It was the fahion in well do families.

Amazing! Thank you for the answers!

And, shame on me for not thinking to type 'sailor suit' on Wikipedia.

I also have pictures of my great grandfather also in sailor suit and that would be late 1880s early 1890s. His family was very well to do Michigan farmers.

From mid 19th century to 1914, yachting was one sign of distinction for the upper class. The European royal dynasties (UK, Germany, Russia, Belgium…) used to gather in UK mainly for regattas, one most famous among many was Cowes ruled by the Royal Yacht society. The RYS is the founder of the oldest sport trophy still disputed: the America cup. Its chairwoman is today no less than the Queen herself.
Those sailing races attracted many aristocratic and rich families (sir Thomas Lipton). This sailor fashion didn't stop to children: consider the dark blue suit blazer, white cotton pants, still in use today…

Looking through the old family albums, thank God they were penniless German farmers in Ohio and Wisconsin – no sailor suits, just black clothes and glum expressions

They all held commissions as Lt. Commanders at birth.

My family was stationed in Greece when I was little.

For some reason (presumably the amusement of everyone who wasn't me), they used to dress me up in the Evzones uniform. I still have the pictures.

Sailor suits are awesome.

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Permission to come aboard!

Victoria's uncle, William IV (1830-37) was the first member of the British royal family to serve in the Royal Navy; hitherto, all royals had served in the Army. "Sailor Bill" was also the first British royal to visit America, when his ship docked in NYC during the AWI.

My friend went on honeymoon in Dublin & his first wife shot into a pub announcing she wanted a drink & she was going to the loo while he got them in. He noticed that it was called the 'Out of the Liffey' & the sign was a muscley sailor-boy in a stripey vest. He then stood in a bar completely surrounded by nice men who were looking gone out at why he had a woman attached.

I passed it several years later on a research trip with Alan Warren & Nigel Pell, & had a good laugh – the sign isn't subtle – I confess we chose a different, less 'masculine' pub down the road for a Guiness!

Hey its not only the bluebloods,George Patton,Douglas Macarthur and sadly Erich Hartmannn all had embarrassing sailor suit photos.

I'm thinking that Ships were seen as cutting-edge technology at the time, and exploring the world was only done by ship. Not too surprising that parents (who could afford it) would dress up their kids in sailor suts.

Many Victorian parents were deviant sadists & hated their offspring. the sailor suits were just part of the malice.