Figure 1.--Here we see a young family out for an outing in the 1920s. Click on the image to compare how much fashion trends had changed since the early-1900s. The boys wear short pants and white socks. The stidio was Walking Pictures, meaning photographers who took photigraphs on the stree, commonly places that families went on days off. A reader writes, "It is hard to tell but it appears the boys are wearing knit shorts which were popular for younger children at the time. They are probably button-on garments, although I can't see the buttons. You can see how they hang on the two children. It shows how difficult suspension of clothing was for children in the 3 to 6 age range was back in the 1920s. And in the earlier related image linked here the 2 or 3 year old boy is wearing a tunic as suspension and toileting was too difficult then."

Our information on English hosiery color is still very limited. The black and white photography until modern times limits our assessment. One color that is easily identifiable is white. We see white stockings in the 18th and 19th century. We have very little unfirmation on hosiery during the early-19th century. The oprobklem of course is that we do not have photograohy. Some art works suggests that white stockings were common. We see them being worn with the skeleton suits that were popular at the time. Skeleton suits were worn with long pants so we don't get to see much of the hosiery. But because of the strap shoes we do see that the hisiery were was sometimes white. We do not ger=t tosee much of the hosiery in the first half of the 19tyh centyury because long pnts were so oprevalent. We do begion to see white hosiery at mid-century, but the images are relatively rare. Only with the advent of the CDV do we see any nunber of images (1860s). At the same time we begin go see shortened-length pants becoming prevalent. As a result, unlike the 1850s we begin to see more of hosiery than in the early-19th century. And we see many boys wearing white long stockings. In the 20th century, white socks were mostly worn by girls, but an exception was made for younger boys. This varied from the continent where we see boys commonly wearing white socks in several countries. We are not sure why this difference developed. Perhaps the uniforms adopted at private schools were a factor. White became a standard color for hosiery at many schools. We see a boy wearing three-quater socks, very close, to knee sock height on the previous page. At the turn of the 20th century into the 1920s we see a lot of children wearing white three-quater socks, both boys and girls. This is the last time ee see many English boys wearing white socks to any extent--except for cricket. In contrast, white became the standard color for girls' hosiery, long stockings, tights, and socks.

The 19th Century

We have very little unfirmation on hosiery during the early-19th century. The oprobklem of course is that we do not have photograohy. Some art works suggests that white stockings were common. We see them being worn with the skeleton suits that were popular at the time. Skeleton suits were worn with long pants so we don't get to see much of the hosiery. But because of the strap shoes we do see that the hisiery were was sometimes white. We do not ger=t tosee much of the hosiery in the first half of the 19tyh centyury because long pnts were so oprevalent. We do begion to see white hosiery at mid-century, but the images are relatively rare. Only with the advent of the CDV do we see any nunber of images (1860s). At the same time we begin go see shortened-length pants becoming prevalent. As a result, unlike the 1850s we begin to see more of hosiery than in the early-19th century. And we see many boys wearing white long stockings. This cintunued into the early-70s, but declined somewhat after that. Shorter-cut pants, both knee pants and knickers became increasingly popular in the late-19h century. Thus unlike the early-19h century, we know a great deal about hosiery during this period.

The 20th Century

In the 20th century, white socks were mostly worn by girls, but an exception was made for younger boys. This varied from the continent where we see boys commonly wearing white socks in several countries. We are not sure why this difference developed. Perhaps the uniforms adopted at private schools were a factor. White became a standard color for hosiery when dressing up. On the previous page we see a boy wearing three-quater socks, very close to knee sock height. At the turn of the 20th century into the 1920s we see a lot of children wearing white three-quater socks, both boys and girls. This is the last time we see many English boys wearing white socks to any extent--except for cricket. Grey became the standard color for both both boys' pants and hosiery. In contrast, white becane the standard color for girls' hosiery, long stockings, tights, and socks. This included ankle, three-quarter, and knee socks. The major exception was as we see here for younger boy (figure 1). This convention continued into the modern era. These color conventions are all especially notable for schoolwear, but we also see it in everyday clothing as well.

Created: 12:54 AM 8/7/2018
Last updated: 10:12 PM 10/10/2023