Figure 1.-- A reader forwarded us this photograph aith the following comment, "I thought this boy's striped blouse was quite interesting. It looks to me like a sailor blouse with obvious heaving striping and wide collar. He obviously wears knee trousers and long black stockings. No date but I think perhaps 1906-10. I would guess the boy to be about 10 or 11 years old."

British boys mostly wore long stockings during the late 19th century, in part because of the climate. Mew Zealand was a British colony and children fashions in New Zealand generally followed Britoish fashions. There was one major exception. A lot of New Zealand boys and girls went barefoot, primarily because the climate was so mild. When dressing up, boys were more likely to wear stockings and shoes for formal occasions as was the case in Britain. For every day wear, howecer, going barefopot was very common. The same pattern continued in the early 20th century. By the 1910s when bous began wearing short pants instead of kneepants. They would still commonly go barefoot, but would wear shoes and long stockings and later kneesocks when dressing up. After World war II, knee socks began to decline in popularity, except for school uniforms and youth groups. American fashions becme influential after the War. And hosiery trends except for school were essentially the same as in America and now common patterns throughout Europe and North America. The only major difference is that going barefoot is still common in New Zealand.

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Created: 9:41 PM 1/23/2010
Last updated: 9:41 PM 1/23/2010