*** United States boys first communion suit: 20th century inter-war years garments








United States First Communion Suits: 20th Century Inter-War Years Garments

first communion knickers
Figure 1.--This boy also wore a darkknicker suit for his First Communion in the 1920s. His knickers are buckled right at the knee. Note the double-breasted jacket styling and Eton collar.

Boys mostly wore knicker suits for First Communion. Both dark and white suits werevworn. Some boys wore short pants or long pants suits, but the knicker suits were most common un rhe v1920s. Graduallynwevbegin to see more short and long pants and by theblate 1930s, knickers had began to grow out of style. .

Suit Jacket

American boys commonly wore single breasted suits for First Communion. Some suits, however, were made in the double breasted style. Often a boy received a new dark suit as was common in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Beginning in the late 1920s it became increasingly common to buy a regular suit that could be worn for many other occassions rather than a special First Communion suit. Some of the suits were white to match the white dresses worn by the girls. White kneesocks were worn with the white suits. This was one of the few instances in which American boys wore white kneesocks. While dark suits that could be worn on other occasions continued to be the commoson, some boys like the girls continued to wear all white suits.

Shirts and Collars

Well dressed boys still wore Eton collars in the early 1920s, especially for dress occasins. Some boys even wire floppy bows with their Eton collars which were worn with both white and dark colored suits. The Eton collar was, however, rapidly being replaced by more comfortable modern-looking soft collars. Even in the 1930s Eton colars were still worn. A few boys began wearing open collar shirts. Other wore shirts without jackets. This fore-shadowed the more casual boys' styles for First Communion that appeared after World Wat II (1941-45). This contrasted with the girls' styles which remained quite formal.

Bows

Younger boys continued to wear collar bows in the early 1920s, but much smaller than before World War I. White bows were the most common. Bowties and neckties began to appear in the 1920s. Floppy collar bows were much less common by the mid-1920s and rarely seen by the end of the decade. Boys continued to wear large white bows on their sleeves in the 1920s. The arm bows appear to have become smaller in the 1930s, but some boys continued to commonly wear them. These sleeve bows were also common in France.

Pants

Most First Communion suits during the intr-Wr era had knickers
Knickers: Early in the 1920s, above the knee knickers were often worn, usually with long stockings. Knickers that bloused out were sometimes called "plus fours" (especially in England). This was a particularly common term in Britain. The knickers commonly worn in the 1930s were more tightly styled. By the mid-1920s, knickers buckling below the knee were becoming more common. It was still common in the 1920s to wear long stockings for dress occasions rather than the more casual-looking kneesock. Unlike European boys, American boys did not commonly wear solid color kneesock. Thus often the boys in the early 1920s wearing solid colored dark socks are wearing long stockings rather than knee socks. This was still seen in the 1930s, but was not very common.
Long pants: Some boys had long pants suits, but they were not nearly as common as the knicker suits. The long pants suit were rarely all white, presumably because there would be little use forvan all white long pants suit after the First Communion service. Long pants suits became more common in the 1940s, although gradually after the 1940s boys began wearing more informal outfits for First Communion, white shirts and slacks instead of a suit. Girls continued to wear very formal white dresses. During the inter-war era, however, long pants were not very common for First Communion, especially in the 1920s. They became somewhat more common in the 1930s.
Short pants: Some boys wore short pants suit, but in America the knicker suits were much more common than was the case in Europe The short pants suit were often white suits worn with white kneesocks. The white short pants suits appear to have been more common than white knicker suits. More commonly the knicker suits were dark suits. HBC is not sure wehy this was, but may be because white short pants suits were more commonly purchased specifically for the First Communion service.

First Communion white knickers suit
Figure 2.-- George R. Kuto had his first communion in 1935 when he was almost 10 years of age. Note the white outfit worn with a blouse and no jacket and an unsuual open collar.

Hosiery

American boys largely wore long stockings at the beginning of yjhe onter-war era. We know this because knickers were so common for boys as we can see easily the hosiery boys wore. gradually we see knee socks being worn by the end of the 1920s. And knee socks were appearing by the late-1920s. They were easily destinguisable from long stockings which were mostly solid colors. The knee socks that proved popular for boys had loud patterns. For First Communion, however, we see mostly the muted solid color knee socks and long stockings. We see knee socks being worn with boh knockers and shirt pants. Some younger boys wore long stockings with sort pant, but thius declined substantially, especially in the 1930s. The full assessment is difficult becase we begin to see more boys beginning to wear long pabts, especially by the late-1930s. we believe many of those boys wore ankle socks, but is is impossible to know for sure. We can tell, however, that ankle socks were becoming more common. We see boys wearing ankle socks with both short pants and knickers. For First Communion, however they were generally not worn during the inter-War era.

Footwear

Boys by the 1920s were mostly wearing oxfords with their suits. We have noted some boys still wearing hightop shoes in the early 1929s, but low-cut oxfords became more common even before the mid-20s. They almost always were black oxfords, except with white suits when white shoes would normally be worn. Almost always oxfords were worn with white suits.








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Created: April 7, 2004
Last edited: April 7, 2004