Figure 1.--This little German boy is playing out doors on a tricycle wearing a white summer dress. The snapshot is undated, but was probnly taken in the early 1910s. By this time it was becoming less common for even younger boys to wear dresses.

Skirted garments for boys declined in populasrity after the turn of the 20th century. Dresses had begun to decline in populrity durng the 1890s and this trend continued in the 1900s. There are several reasons why this occurred. Far fewer boys wore dresses. We see a few photographs of boys wearing dresses, but they were not very common after the 1900s, except for very youg boys. This was a generalized trend throughout Europe and North America. An exception in Germany and was tunics which were popular in Germany during the 1900s and 10s. We see boys in other countries wearing tunics, but they seem particularly popular in Germany, particularly for pre-school boys. Unlike several countries, German boys did not wear smocks to any extent. We are not entirelty sure why, but fo the most part smocks became widely worn by boys in countries where educational authorities promoted them. World War I was a major divising point between ,ny styles. And skirted garments begin to become unual for boys after the War. The one excedption was the pinafore. We see little boys wearing basic pinafores for play into the 1930s. These pinafores were more like extended bibs. We no longer see German boys wearing skirted garments after World War II.

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Created: 3:43 AM 2/23/2010
Last updated: 3:43 AM 2/23/2010