Swiss Boys' Clothes: Hosiery--Socks


Figure 1.--Here we see two Zurich boys at school in 1931. Both knee socks and long stockings were commonly worn during the inter-war era. Most boys wore long stockings duringthe winter, but many switched to knee socks when it got warmer. Notice that the boy on the left wears socks with his long stockings. I think they were folded over knee socks. The boys look to be abour 13-14 years old.

We note Swiss boys wearing a variety of hosiery with trends changing over time. Boys mostly wore long stockings and knee socks in the early 20th century. We note some children wearing three-quter socks. The choiceshere were to sime extent seasonal. I'm not sure if there were differences among German and French speakers. Swiss boys like German boys also continued wearing long stockings in the 1920s, especially during the winter. We see many boys wearing knee socks during the summer. During the inter-War period children mostly wore either knee socks or long stockings. We do note shorter socks being worn along with long stockings. Swiss reader from a French-speaking family reports that going to primary school in the 1940s that boys mostly wore short pants under their smocks. commonly with knee socks. Ankle socks began to become more common after World War II in the 1950s. We still see knee socks in the 60s, but by the 70s most boys were wearing ankle socks. There continued to be seasonal differenes with some children wearing knee socks or tights during the winter. A reader writes, "This is a revealing photo. Note that the boy on the left with the black ribbed long stockings is wearing a Strapsleibchen (sometimes referred to as a "garter shirt"), or maybe even a German garter belt for boys (Strumpfhaltergurtel) with two garter clasps on each leg. This is obvious from the uneven way the stockings are attached at the edge of his shorts. I get the impression that these two boys, one with long stockings and the other with knee socks, wouldn't care very much which style their mother had chosen for them on a particular day. If the long stockings and Leibchen were being washed, Mother might just substitute knee socks, or vice versa. We have various accounts (in Germany) of mothers collecting their sons' soiled laundry at bath time and then putting out clean clothes on a chair near the bath tub, so boys wore whatever their mothers selected on a given occasion without much choice. I think many Swiss boys wore both long stockings and knee socks in somewhat the way modern college students swtich back and forth from cargo shorts to blue jeans."







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Created: 6:59 PM 6/2/2010
Last updated: 1:47 AM 6/4/2010