Boys' Clothes for Outings to the Park: The Inter-War Years(1918-1945)



Figure 1.--.

Park Outings

Massive social change followed World War I. Primarily this was due to the enormous cost of the War and destruction resulting from the fighting. The War was fought outside Germany and Austria, but the cost of waging the war had bankrupted both countries and the repriations demanded by the victorious allies resulted in a runious inflation that destoyed the savings of the middle-class. Even the allies, except the United States, had bleed their treasurries dry. The War also destroyed the social certanties of the Victorian-Edwardian era. All of this impacted fashion.

Clothing

After the War many modern clothing styles emerge. No modern boy would want to wear Victorian-Edwardian children's clothes. But after the War modern styles such as comfortable short open knecked collars and short pants pants emerge as standard children's wear. The styles signal a move toward more casual clothes--although 1920s-30s clothes probably seem very formal to today's children. Sailor suits were still popular for little boys. British boys would probably be outfitted in short pants and knee socks, often with "T" strap sandals. Younger boys might wear white kneesocks with Mary Jane single-bar red shoes. American boys might still wear sailor suits in the 1920s. British style short pants and knee socks might be the choice of fashion-concious mothers, but knickers were more popular with the boys. French boys might still be outfitted inn smocks or short pants, generally shorter than those worn by British boys.

At this time I have no images of park visits during the inter-War period, but I am sure many exist and hope to add some to this page.

Figure 2.--.





Christopher Wagner

histclo@lycosmail.com

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Created: July 10, 1998
Last updated: July 10, 1998