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. 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 American 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. File:Edward VII (1841 – 1910).jpg|Prince Albert Edward (the future
Edward VII of the United Kingdom) in a sailor suit.
Portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales by
Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1846 File: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 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2008-0152, Familie Kaiser Wilhelm II..jpg|Families of Kaiser Wilhelm II. ==Asian school uniforms==