German Boys' Clothes Chronologies: 20th Century


Figure 2.--Sailor-suited German boys going off to school during the 1910s. Notice the wide-brimmed hats the boys are wearing.

HBC has begin to collect considerable information on 20th century boys' fashions. No destinctive German style appeared after the turn of the century. Styles appeared to have followed trends in the rest of Western Europe. Certainly the royal family was an important factor in setting German styles. Sailor suits remained very popular for boys, even some younger teenagers wore them. Slowly knee length pants and long stockings were replaced by shorts, albeit long ones. As in England abd other European countries, the new Boy Scout movement was an important factor in popularizing short pants. Shorts by the 1910s had become more common than kneepants. Fautleroy suits were worn, but I'm not sure how widely. Short pants increasingly replaced kneepants in the 1910s. Shorts had become the dominate fashion for German boys in the 1920s as in the rest of Europe. Quite old boys wore short pants although some also wore knickers. Some younger boys would wear long stockings with shorts during the winter rather than kneesocks. More so than French and British boys, some German boys would have a pair of long pants to wear during the winter. German boys did not generally wear school uniforms. This is somewhat surprising as after the NAZIs seized power in 1933, virtually everyone else in the country wore uniforms. After the World War II, Germany was devestated. There was little money for clothes. Insights into what German boys were wearing after the War can be seen in some of the many images of the Berlin Air Lift. With assistance of the Marshall Plan the Germany economy revived and the economic miracle soon caised a consumer exposion. West German children were among the best dressed in the world. Conditions were more difficult on the other side of the Iron Curtain in East Germany. The division of Germany ended in 1989 and the Berlin Wall was quicjly torn down. Differences between East and West were readily apparent and continued to linger in the 1990s. German boys today dress just like other boys in Western Europe. Short pants are rarely worn except by younger boys for casual summer wear. German like other European boys virtually live in jeans.

Early 20th Century (1900-1918)

No destinctive German style appeared after the turn of the century. Styles appeared to have followed trends in the rest of Western Europe. Certainly the royal family was an important factor in setting German styles. Sailor suits remained very popular for boys, even some younger teenagers wore them. Slowly knee length pants and long stockings were replaced by shorts, albeit long ones. As in England abd other European countries, the new Boy Scout movement was an important factor in popularizing short pants. Shorts by the 1910s had become more common than kneepants. Fautleroy suits were worn, but I'm not sure how widely. While kneepants and short pants were common, long pants were also widely worn, perhaps more commonly than in France or italy. Unfortunately I have little information on German clothes during this period, but would greatly appreciate any information visitors to this web site could offer. World War I broke out in 1914. HBC is not yet positive about the impact on fashion, but certainly it was a factor in developing plainer more practical styles. The German Empire ended in November 1918 whem Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and sought refuge in the neutral Netherlands.


Figure 3.--The sailor suit was one of the most popular boy's style in Germany. Even older German boys between the two wars (1918-39) wore short pants sailor suits.

Between the Wars (1918-1945)

Short pants increasingly replaced kneepants in the 1910s. Shorts had become the dominate fashion for German boys in the 1920s as in the rest of Europe. Quite old boys wore short pants although some also wore knickers. Some younger boys would wear long stockings with shorts during the winter rather than kneesocks. More so than French and British boys, some German boys would have a pair of long pants to wear during the winter. German boys did not generally wear school uniforms. This is somewhat surprising as after the NAZIs seized power in 1933, virtually everyone else in the country wore uniforms. Most primary school boys wore shorts to school, commonly with kneesocks. As in France German boys might wear white ascwell as grey kneesocks. White kneesocks were especially popular for dressy occasions. Shorts were also worn by younger boys in secondary schools as well as some older boys. Knickers and long pants were also worn. Often smaller boys did not have any long trousers. Younger boys might wear long over the knee stockings with shorts as the weather became cooler. Sailor suits were more popular in Germany in the 1920s-30s and were not, as in Britain, just worn by little boys. They declined in popularity, however, after the NAZI takeover. Geman boys while they did not wear school uniforms did join the Hitler Youth. Their uniforms varied somewhat, but generally involved black short pants and white kneesocks. Bavarian boys wore lederhosen, short leather pants, during the summer. They lasted forever and were perfect for rough outdoor wear. They were worn by some boys much as jeans were once worn. The style spread to other areas of Germany as well.


Figure 4.--German boys commonly wore short pants during the 1940s. After the War in 1945, many faniles had a hard time making ends meet. Thus quite old boys might continue wearing their boyish short pants suits. Younger boys often went barefoot as their parents could not afford shoes. Notice the suspender shorts.

Cold War Era (1945-1989)

After the Second World War Germany was devestated. There was little money for clothes. Insights into what German boys were wearing after the War can be seen in some of the many images of the Berlin Air Lift. Children were drawn to the activity at the airports. Pictures of the planes coming into Templehof are often framed with the children watching the flights. American pilots started dropping candy which attracted even more children. Most of the younger boys wears shorts, some suspender shorts. During the warmer months many boys are barefoot or wear ankle socks. Not all boys wear shorts, but most of the younger ones do as well as many older boys. Even some older tenagers can be seen in short pants suits. In the colder months, outfits are more varied. Many boys during the winter wear long pants. There are still many boys in short pants and knee socks, but clearly many mothers decided on warmer long pants for winter wear. Some of the younger boys in shorts during the winter months wear long over the knees stockings. Some boys at the time cleary continued to wear short pants suit until they were older teenagers. Shorts were commonly worn by German boys through the 1950s. In part this was due to the financial dislocations resulting from the war. Many parents simply did not have the money to buy their children new clothes. As a result, some high secondary school boys wore their boyhood short pants suits longer than they might have if their parents had more money. Many younger boys went barefoot. With assistance of the Marshall Plan the Germany economy revived and the economic miracle soon caised a consumer exposion. West German children were among the best dressed in the world. Conditions were more difficult on the other side of the Iron Curtain in East Germany. German boys' clothes began to change in the 1960s. One factor was rising income levels. Another was the development of rebellious teen culture. The trend developed later in Germany than in America and other western European countries, but by the 1960s it had arrived. The change was particularly rapid after the Paris student strike of 1968. By the 1970s shorts had become increasingly rare except on younger boys. Little boys still wearing shorts during the winter might be dressed in long over the knee stockings or in beginning in the 1950s, tights. Some boys would wear them for warmth under long pants. Most German boys like other boys in Western Europe wanted jeans. The change was a slower in Communist Eastern Germany (DDR). But East Germand received West German (BRD) television and fashion easily breeched the Iron Curtain.

Modern Unified Germany (1989-to date)

The division of Germany ended in 1989 and the Berlin Wall was quicjly torn down. Differences between East and West were readily apparent and continued to linger in the 1990s. German boys today dress just like other boys in Western Europe. Short pants are rarely worn except by younger boys for casual summer wear. German like other European boys virtually live in jeans.







HBC






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Created: June 1, 2001
Last updated: 10:19 PM 8/19/2007