Figure 1.--This family snapshot shos a mother and son. They are unidentified, but the inscroption on the back reads, "Myelf and my baby boy." He looks to be avout 14 years old. The lady's clothes date the image to the 1920s. The boy wears a lnickers's suit with school knee socks. The suit does, however, not look like a school uniform.

We still quite a few English boys wearing knicker suits at the turn-of-the 20th century. Knee pants suits seen more common, especially for youngerr boys. Knickers were also common for older boys.. The unidentified boy on the previous page is wearig a knickers suit, By the 1910s shorts were beginning to become more important in England, in part we think because of the inluence of Lord Baden Powell's Scout movement. English boys by the 1920s more commonly wore shorts although some older English boys wore knickers. Here the age conventions and choices varied from family to family. The photographic record suggests that shorts were much more prevalent. Most English boys when they outgrew short pants wore long pants. Knickers in the 1920s and 30s were not nearly as popular in England as in America or even the continent for boys. We notice fewer knicker suits in the 20th century, especially after World War I. Knickers were more common as smart casual wear by the affluent class. Some teenagers wore them in the 1920s, but they were not commonly worn by boys. A British reader writes, "I certainly never saw them being worn here and believe they died out even earlier - maybe the 1920s - at which point most boys were wearing short trousers." A few boys may have worn knicker suits in the 930s, but they were not common. We no longer see them after World War II in the 1940s.

The 1900s

We still quite a few English boys wearing knicker suits at the turn-of-the 20th century. Our best source of information for general prevalence are state school portraits. Knee pants suits seen more common than knickers, especially for younger boys. Boys in state schools did not werar inororm, only their regular clothes. You can observe this in school portraits. Knickers were also common for older boys. Here we think that there was a social-class component. The unidentified boy on the previous page is wearig a knickers suit, we think in the 1900s. Most boys left school at about age 13 years. The secondary systtem was not well developed. Few working-class boys attended secondary schools, at the time -- primarily the grammar schools. We also see them in private schools, both the preparatory and public (elite private boarding) schools. The private schools had uniforms.

The 1910s

We see knee pants evolving into short pants during the 1910s. Am=nd se see fatr fewer knickers in the state schools. We are not sure about the priavate schools heet. By the 1910s shorts were beginning to become more important in England, in part we think because of the inluence of Lord Baden Powell's Scout movement. For some reason while shioryts were becoming popular in England and other Europan countries, knickers were bcoming neraly iniversal mfor American boys. They suddenly switched from knee pansd to knickers.

The 1920s

We notice far fewer knicker suits in the 20th century, especially after World War I. English boys by the 1920s more commonly wore shorts although some older English boys wore knickers. The photograph here is undated but looks like the 1920s to us (figure 1). The school socks sugges it was a school uniform (figure 1). Here the age conventions and choices varied from family to family. The photographic record suggests that shorts were much more prevalent. Most English boys when they outgrew short pants wore long pants. Knickers in the 1920s and 30s were not nearly as popular in England as in America or even the continent for boys. Knickers were more common as smart casual wear by the affluent class. We even see the fashionable Prince of Wales and his social set wearing them for golf and other outdoor events--in his case plus fours.

The 1930s

A few boys may have worn knicker suits in the 1930s, but they were not common. The smart set of young adults wire them for outdoor pursuits.

The 1940s

We no longer see them after World War II in the 1940s.

The 1950s

We no longer see kniclers in England by the 1950s. A British reader writes, "I certainly never saw them being worn here and believe they died out even earlier - maybe the 1920s - at which point most boys were wearing short trousers."

Created: 2:03 AM 1/11/2015
Last updated: 1:50 AM 11/5/2021