I was a boy in the '40s. We wore little double breasted coats. Knickers were still being worn. And during the war much militasry inspired stuff. My favorite outfit as a little boy was a sailor suit. Of course, the ubiquitous Navy blue suit. Joel

I remember those knickers also. Awful things, of nasty brown corduroy. I guess they were a casualty of World War II. I hope nobody ever puts up a monument to them.... Tom Parsons

I hated those knickers. Thinking like a 7-year-old. They looked stupid. In fact I still think they look stupid. I didn't like those cut down "jughead" hats with the buttons all over them either. And there's a bunch of stuff out there today that I don't like--starting with Tommy Hilfiger street trash. Joe

Knickers were still being worn.

Mom has pictures of me (I never had a pair I don't think) of me and my little friends and thery're wearing them. Bad news they are back--on the golf course (where all the trendy male dressers hang out). Only now they're just plus fours.

Knickers, knee socks, oxfords, vest sweaters and bow ties with white shirts, floppy caps, suspenders, zoot suits on the west coast for Puerto Rican boys. Thats what we wore in the forties as boys. Check out pictures of Little lord Fauntleroy, he was our poster boy. David Barclay

I have pictures of this chubby little red-headed kid about four or five that I'm told is me. The hat was a dressy World War II period blue wool saucer type with gold printing on the ribbon that banded it. The period featured a lot of patriotic dress for children. Joel

Boys did NOT wear long pants, they wore knickers that were close to the knee and cuffed and buttoned, with long white knitted socks that went up to the pants, or short pants, a little longer than out shorts are these days. For jackets, they generally wore minuature versions of whatever daddy had. Generally, though, they had only one good suit, they were expensive, and hand made, and boys being boys, tended to not only sprout rather quickly, but can be hard on their clothes, as we well know. And they always had a cap, which came off in the house.

Towards the 40's and especially the 50's the styles drastically changed. In the 40's well, think Bogart, and the 50's was when my parents were in their teens and 20's, watch an episode of 'Happy Days' for how they dressed. It's actually pretty representative... Lisa

Last updated: April 21, 1998