Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy with his sister wearng a short pants suit. We are not sure how to date it, perhaps the early 50s. The boy loojks about 7 years old. |
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The ages of boys wearing short pants suits varied over time and by country. Short pants suits for boys of school age were common throughout Europe after World War I. Quite old English boys wore short pants school uniform, but most boys by about 13 began wearing long pants suits. Many English boys wore school uniforms rather than suits. On the Continent the situation was somewhat different. Through the 1950s, boys as old as 15 or 16 might wear short pants suits, although at that age long pants were more common. A good example is a German teenager in 1933. In America short pants suits were less common than in Europe and generally worn by younger boys. Many boys wore knoickers rather than short pants. After World WarII, long pants became incresasingly common, even for younger boys.
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