Figure 1.--This German boys wears what look to be rompers--although the legs do no appear to be elasticized. The image is undated, but we believe was probably taken in the 1920s. |
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HBC is unclear as to the chronology of rompers in Germany. We do not yet know how common they were in the 1920s and 30s. We do not note rompers being worn in Germany before World War I, but this may reflect our limited archive of German images. We do note images after the War, but they do not seem to be very common. Some images are undated so we can not be speciic as to when they first appeared. We do have some dated images including a commercial postcard. Some seem to be rompers with baloon pants, but without elasticized legs. A reader writes, "Looks to me like a Russian open-collar tunic worn over shorts." This may well be the case. At first it looked to me like a one-piece romper outfit, but on closer examinatinn it looks like it may be a two-piece tunic suit. We notice American catalogs referred to bloomer suits. Other catalogs also used the term rompers, but usually for one-piece suits. Rompers in Germany were not a spcifically boys' garment as in France. The pattern was more like that in America. We do notice a German girl wearing a romper suit in the 1920s. Most of the images we have found show rompers being worn as a play garment. We do not see the dressy garments that French boys sometimes wore. Some of the rompers are smart play suits, but none look like dressy outfits.
HBC is unclear as to the chronology of rompers in Germany. We do not yet know how common rompers were in the 1920s, but we do know that they were worn. We do not note rompers being worn in Germany before World War I, but this may reflect our limited archive of German images. We can not yet say definitively that they first apeared in the 20s. We do note images after the War, but they do not seem to be very common. Some images are undated so we can not be speciic as to when they first appeared. We do have some dated images including a commercial postcard with a definitive date showing that they were an accepted fashion by the 20s.
The styling of both the gops and bottoms varied. The boy here wear a romper suit with a square cut sailor top thst we note boys wearing as a plsy garment in the 1900s and 10s (figure 1). The bottoms, however are different. Some play outfirs in the 1920s seem to be rompers with baloon pants, but without elasticized legs. A reader writes, "Looks to me like a Russian open-collar tunic worn over shorts." This may well be the case. At first it looked to me like a one-piece romper outfit, but on closer examinatinn it looks like it may be a two-piece tunic suit.
We notice American catalogs referred to bloomer suits. Other catalogs also used the term rompers, but usually for one-piece suits.
We only ee pre-school Germn boys wearing rompers. Mist of the avialable impages show todler boys wearing rompers, mostly abour 2-4 years old, perhaps some 5-year olds. We do not see school-age boys wearing them. The age conventions for firls were different. We see both pre-chool girls as well as older girls wore them.
Rompers in Germany were not a spcifically boys' garment as in France. The pattern was more like that in America. We do notice a German girl wearing a romper suit in the 1920s.
Most of the images we have found show rompers being worn as a play garment. We do not see the dressy garments that French boys sometimes wore. Some of the rompers are smart play suits, but none look like dressy outfits.
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