Figure 1.--This German girl in 1927 wears a romper suit. I'm not sure what color it might have been. The little girl's name is Rosmarie and she was 5 years old. We are unsure where in Germany the family lived, but it was probanly Bavaria. We are also not sure how common they were for girls. Images courtesy of Image1900.

Most of the images we have noted with German children wearing rompers depict boys wearing them, although it is often difficult to tell with younger children. We are unsure to what extent German girls also wore them. Here conventions varied from country to country. We note both boys and girls wearing them in America, but only boys in France. We have noted a few images of German girls wearing rompers, but we are not sure how common this was. The little girl here was photographed in her romper suit in 1927. We have noted German boys in similar outfits, but in the late 1930s. We do not yet have any images of German boys in such short puffed pants outfits at such an early date. The same is true of France. We had thought that the rompers we note German boys wearing in the late 1930s was a style imported from France. This image suggests that German children may have been wearing rompers in the 1920s before the style was popular in France. Our information on rompers in Germany during the 1920s, however, is still quite limited. Also note that there is no back bow as was common with a French romper suit ( barboteuse ). We do not note where in Germany this little girl lived, but it was likely Bavaria. We di not a French fashion influence in Bavaria. We do not know what age girls wore romer suits. This girl was 5 years old, but as we have few other images or other information, we do not know if rompers were worn by older girls.

Chronology

We have not yet found images of German children, either boys or girls, wearing rompers before World War I (1914-18). Wecan not yet say that they did not exist, but e are fairly confident that they were not very common. We are not yet sure when they first appeared, but we first see them in the 1920s. This suggests that German children may have been wearing rompers in the 1920s at about the same time Fench boysbeagn to wear the. Rompers in Germany were never as gender specific, however, as in France. Our information on rompers in Germany during the 1920s, however, is still quite limited. Here we see a girl wearing a romper suit (1927). We do not note where in Germany this little girl lived, but it was likely Bavaria where we have noted a French fashion influence. Rompers seem popular for younger children during the 1930s. School age girls commonly wore them for gym abd sports activities. We note German children wearing romprs into the 1950s. We are not yet sure about the 1960s.

Age

Most of the images we have noted with younger German children wearing rompers depict boys wearing them, although it is often difficult to tell with younger children. We are unsure to what extent German girls also wore them, especially older girls. Here conventions varied from country to country. We note both boys and girls wearing them in America, but only boys in France. We have noted a few images of German girls wearing rompers, but we are not sure how common this was. The little girl here was photographed in her romper suit in 1927 (figure 1). We have noted German boys in similar outfits, but in the late 1930s. We do not yet have any images of German boys in such short puffed pants outfits at such an early date. The same is true of France. We had thought that the rompers we note German boys wearing in the late-1930s was a style imported from France. a. We do not know what age girls wore romer suits. This girl was 5 years old, but as we have few other images or other information, we do not know if rompers were worn by older girls. There is a bif exception here. We do note older German girls, especially teenagers, wearing rompers for school althletics and gymnastics, but not as far as w can tell for regular schoolwear.

Styling

Also note that there is no back bow like we common with a French romper suit ( barboteuse ). Notice that there is no back bow here with the romper suit the girl is wearing Figire 1). Here a factor may be that romper suits in Germany were not as common as in France. More commonly we see suspender and bib-front rompers which were not done with back bows.

Usage

There seem to have been two usages for rompers in Germany. The first usage was younger pre-school children wore them for play. We have not yet found any indication tht there were dressy rompers as in Germany. The second usage was a kind of sporty outfit for school-age girls. Here they were both worn at summer camp and for school gym classes. Quite a few youth groups organized summer camps and of course the NAZI Hitler Youth program had a extensive summer camp program. Girls may have also been used as bathing suits. We note quite a few schools using rompers as a girl's gym uniform. We note a few schools in places like Sweden wearing romper pabts for gym. As far as we know, however, German boys did not wear romper pants for gym. The images we have found seem to be mostly inter-war era photographs during the 1920s and 30s. We are not sure if girls wore them after World War II. This is very similar to the pattern in the United States, although American girls did wear them for gym after World War II into the 1960s.

Matching Rompers

We notice some images of German brothers and sisters wearing mtching romper suits. The images we have found so far seem to date from the 1920s and 30s. They are mostly casual play rompers for summerwear. W have not yet found examples of matching dressy rompers. The matching romper suits seem to be usually a younger pre-school brother and older sister. We note quite a few different styles, both the tops and pants. The msatching outfits were mostly one-piece suits. There also two-piece suits, but we do not yet notice children wearing msatching two-piece outfits. We notice outdits both with baloon and straight pants. Here we are rchiving the pants with baloon pants. The straight-leg pants we archive under play suits.

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Created: 5:20 AM 10/31/2004
Last updated: 7:52 AM 5/23/2017