Figure 1.--This unidentified boys looks rther French with is beret, but is in fact German. The smpshit is undated, bit would have been takn in the 930s. The beret and the rest if his outit suggests that he came from an affluent middle-class family. He seems to be wearing a romper suit under his overcoat, but this is difficult to tell.

There are a range of factors besides fashion involved in the choice of headwear, including age, gender, and social-class. Berets seem to have been worn by younger boys, perhaps a middle-class rather than a working-clas style. Gurls nay have also worn them. Stocking caps were worn by both boys and girls. They were a seasonal style worn across social-class lines. School caps were only for boys. They were also more of a middle ckass style as working class boys did not normally go on to secondary school. Sailor styles were worn by both boy ahd girls, although the caps were mostly worn by boys, This was nother style most common with middle-class children. The same was true of boaters. The Schirmmütze and other militry styles were only for boys. Flat caps were not very common in Germany, but were onlky for boys. They may have had something of a working-class image.

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Created: 5:09 PM 3/30/2015
Last updated: 5:09 PM 3/30/2015