Figure 1.--These boys in 1956 are all about 12 years old. Several if they were good catechist pupils might have done their first Communion, called ' Communion privée ' 2 or 3 years earlier. Notice that boys in Fance during the 1950s were beginning to wear alb as a First Communion outfit. Even altar boys wore them. These boys attended a private Catholic secondary school. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the group.

The predominately short pants styles for First Communion suits began to change in the 1950s. A French reader tells us, "Beginning about 1950 the way to dress boys for First Communion changed. Until 1950, boys were commonly dressed in a a suit, often a suit bought specially for the occassion. Boys wore suits with both short or long pants. They wore a decorative bow on their left sleeve. The suit was worn during the ceremony and afterwards for parties and special occassions. Aftr World War II, the altar boy and the First communion boy could be dressed in a white alb. (The way to dress was decided by the priest of the church ). So in some cities churches, one could seen altar boy with a alb and at others churche boys wearing the traditional red cassock and surplice. The same was true with boys during First Communion. one could seen some boys at some churches wearing suits done in various styles and or at other churches boys wearing white albs." Some boys still wore very formal tuxedos or Eton suits. These more formal suits were sometimes also worn with short pants and white kneesocks. Available information on 1960s suits suggest mostly black suits. Many of the First Communion suits, while black or dark colors, were worn with white kneesocks. While many Catholic schools required boys to wear short pants, often blue shorts, with white kneesocks, most boys usually wore grey or darker colored kneesocks with short pants suits. Boys continued wearing large bows on their arms during the post-war era. The drawings shown here from the fashion magazine Thiery Sin their Spring-Summer 1956 show mostly double breasted suits. I do not think that double breasted suits were that popular in France that most suits were in that style. Perhaps the double breasted style was considered more formal and thus dominated the styles displayed. Some Catholic schools continued to have the boys dress up in identical cassocks for the First Communion ceremony. This same style was worn by Swiss boys during First Communion and it may well havebeen used in other countries as well. We have found one 1950s portrait, but unsure about the nationality. Many readers believe that it may be European, possibly French. Albs for boys Communion began to be used in the 1950s. The boys wore their albs during the chuch ceremony and then changed it for their suit with a armband during the rest of this great day.

Another French reader writes, "French boys during the 1950s untill 13/14 years old were normaly still wearing short pants. Many boys, especialy at the Catholic schools my brother and I attended. And we normally wore sjorts at hime as well. But for their solenm Communion we wore long pants suits for the first time. I remember wearing this long pants suit from our Communion for several months following the ceremony. Later for the next spring the long pants were becoming notably short because I was griowing so fast. Mothers bought my brother (who was a little younger) and I new suits, both short pants suit. At the time it was still fairky common for boys to wear short pants suits. I was 14 years old and my briother just turned 13 years. We were still wearing short pants to school and we mostly commonly wiore the suits to church. The most common time for boys to get long pants at the time was when a boy finished at his primasry school (if he didn't go on to sdecondary school) or classe de 5 ou 4 ème in secondary school. This trend is quite apparent in the photographic record, although by the end of the decade, long pants were becomiong more common. Personnaly as a boy, I never objected to wearing short pants. Of course that was during the 1940s and early-50s. It might have been different in the 60s. All my friends wore shorts as well. And of course boys primarily want to dress like the other fellows and not stand out. Children especially after starting school tend to be very conservative and resist being dressed differently than their friends. I also remember when I travelled around France (1940 and 1950s) that working class boys were much more likely to wear long pants, even some younger boys. Boys from well-to-do families always worn short pants."

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [French glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Short pants suits] [Blazers] [Jackets] [Kilts]
[Sailor suits] [Sailor hats]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Shortalls]

Created: 6:14 AM 6/16/2011
Last edited: 6:15 AM 6/16/2011