Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified Germany boy with his mother in 1914. He looks to be about 14 years old. Note the family dashund. The boy wears a knickers suit with the pants closed at the hem. Thev knickers are not nearly as baggy (blouced) as those worn by American boys in the 1910s. While we see more knickers suits in the 10s, knee pants suits continued to be worn as well.

We're not sure when kneepants and knicker suits first appeared nor the relative popularity of these two types of suits. We see both knee pants and knickers in the late-19th century. Knee pants were common, but not nearly as dominate as in America. We also see many boys wearing knickers. The fashions in the 19th century seems more like Britain. We think that many German boys like American boys shifted to knickers in the 1910s. But unlike America we do not see knee pants Virtually disappearig in Germany during the 1910s. We do not see the really baggy knickers as were popular in America, We see German boys wearing Little boys tended to still wear knee pants, but we see older boys wearing knickers suits. German boys still commonly wore kneepants and knicker suits in the early 20th century. After World War I (1914-18), short pants suits became increasingly common, gradually replacig kneepants suits. Knicker suits continued to be popular. After World War I, a convention develooped in Germany where younger boys would wear short pants suits and older boys knicker suits. A good example in the HBC personal experiences section is Han J. The age at which this shift occurred varied from family to family and over time. This convention continued after World War II until knicker suits disappeared in the 1950s as suits generally became much less common in the 1960s.

Chronology

We're not sure when kneepants and knicker suits first appeared nor the relative popularity of these two types of suits. We see both knee pants and knickers in the late-19th century. Knee pants were common, but not nearly as dominate as in America. We also see many boys wearing knickers. The fashions in the 19th century seems more like Britain. We think that many German boys like American boys shifted to knickers in the 1910s. But unlike America we do not see knee pants Virtually disappearig in Germany during the 1910s. We do not see the really baggy knickers as were popular in America, We see German boys wearing Little boys tended to still wear knee pants, but we see older boys wearing knickers suits. German boys still commonly wore kneepants and knicker suits in the early 20th century. After World War I (1914-18), short pants suits became increasingly common, gradually replacig kneepants suits. Knicker suits continued to be worn, but became a transitionsl style for teenagers between short pants and long pants. We see boys wearing quite long knicker suits in the 1940s. This may have been the impact of the Hitler Youth which adopted a ski-pants type winter uniform. After World War II (1939-45) knickers continue to be worn, but decline rapidly in popularity. A few German boys wore knickers in the early-50s, but they were not very common as boy began to see them as old fashioned.

Age

Age trends varied over time. After World War I, a convention develooped in Germany where younger boys would wear short pants suits and older boys knicker suits. A good example in the HBC personal experiences section is Han J. The age at which this shift occurred varied from family to family and over time. This convention continued after World War II until knicker suits disappeared in the 1950s as suits generally became much less common in the 1960s.

Length

The length of the knickers worn with suit varied over time, orimarily depending on fashion conventions. We have noted lenths from above the knee to knickers almost reacing the ankles. These longer knickers were mosly seen in the 1940s and vert early-50s.

Hosiery

Black long stockings were very commonly worn with klnicker suits during the early-20th century.

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Created: 7:02 PM 1/11/2010
Last updated: 4:29 AM 3/7/2010