Figure 1.--The Littlewoods catalog in 1950 offered casual jackets with matching short and long trousers. A reader writes, "The boy on the left is wearing a 'Jerkin' and matching short trousers, an identical suit to one I wore at that time. The material was normally corduroy and the jerkin was probably inspired by the military uniforms of the day. They were popular because of the styling and were very hard wearing. The waistband of my suit was elasticated and the trousers held up with braces until I developed a waistline. Socks were turn over top as in the illustration and shoes were school brogues in the winter and T-bar sandals in the summer. "

English mail order catalogs offer a very useful time line on changing fashion trends. English mail order catalogs and newspaper ads provide great detail on fashion trends. Littlewoods was the principal company selling mailorder clothing in Britain during the 1950s. Their catalog offers a wide range of boys clothing, including suits, coats, shirts, trousers, and hosiery. We notte classic coats for younger boys.

1950

The Littlewoods catalog in 1950 offered gaberdine rain coats and variery of other coats, incliding duffle coats. There were also shorter cold weather jackets. There were both short and long pants suits as well as more casual jackets worn with matching short and long trousers. Kneesocks were offered in different colors with colored bands at the top. Unfortunately the image is not very clear and we do not have the ad copy.

1951

1952

We notice an advertisement by Chilprufe for children's coats. They describe utility and non-utility clothes. I am not sure, but I think that means fabrics suitable for both play and dress clothes. The ad illustration shows a younger boy in a dressy beret and coat.

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Bibliographies] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Satellite sites]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor hats] [Peacked caps] [Sailor suits] [Blazers] [Coats]
[Eton suits] [Rompers] [Tunics] [Smocks] [Short pants] [Kneesocks] [School sandals]

Created: December 5, 2002
Last updated: 6:18 AM 6/24/2005