Swiss Boys' Garments: Pants and Trousers--Types


Figure 1.-- This unidentified Swiss boy seems to be about 14-15 years old. He is wearing an open-collar shirt under a variegated woolen pullover with short trousers and heavy ribbed woolen long stockings (probably supported by a Strapsgurtel or boy's garter belt). Teenage boys in Germany tended to support long stockings with a garter belt similar to what hockey players wear, but these were sometimes homemade affairs. Bodices or Strapsleibchen with supporters attached were made for younger children. At least this is what our correspondents from Germany tell us. This is obviously a detail from a larger class photo. The class was obviously from an all-boys class at an upper school (Gymnasium, High School) in Meilen, Switzerland, taken on March 24, 1933. I don't think we have the town of Meilen represented among our individual Swiss schools. It was a rather affluent place, apparently.

Swiss boys wore all the standard types of pants worn in neighboring countries, especially Germany. Swiss fashions were strongly incluenced by Germany, both the large German clothing industry and cultural ties. The only exception seems to be Lederhosen. This is curious given that Lederhosen were an Alpine style. Most of our information comes from the German part of Switzerland. We suspect that pants styles were similar in the French-speaking areas of Switzerland, although there mustr have been a French influence there as well. Knickers seem to have been a little more popular in Switzerland than Germany, at least we see them into the 1950s when they were no longer common in Germany. Knee pants abd short psnts, often worn with long stockings, were very common for Swiss boys through the 1950s, even during the winter. Only in the 1960s did short pants begin to be less common for Swiss boys. This was the beginning of the development of the American influenced pan-European styles that now dominate European fashion.

Long Pants

Long pants were common through much of the 19th century. We do not know a great deal about the early-19th century, but as far as we can trell, vurtually all boys once breeched wore long trousers. At nid-century, shortened-length pants appeared, but long pants were mostly worn until the 1890s when knee pants becamne popular. Most boys in the first half of the 20th century wore knee psants, knickers, or short pants. Boys began weaing long pants in their teens. Families varied somewhat as to age conventions. After World War II in the 1950s long pants gradually became increasingly popular. Like knickers we see quite a number of younger boys wearing long pants in Switzerland, at least during the winter, before it became common in the rest of Europe.

Knee Pants

We begin to see knee pants and other shortened-length pants like bloomer knickers in the mid-19th century for younger boys. Older boys began wearing them later in the century. Our 19th century archive, however, is still very limited. Knee pants were very common in the early-20th century. We see many boys wearing short pants after World War I (1914-18). Even so we also see knee pants. Actually there was not a lot of difference between knee pants and short pants because shorts were very long when they first appeared. The basic difference is that knee psnts had the ornamental buttons at the knee hem. In Germany we mostly see knee pants as suit pants rather than standalone pants. They seem to have been seen as more of a formal style, suitable for suits. And of course, short pants began to get shorter in the 1930s and knee pants were usually kept long. Thus we still see knee pants in the 1930s, but they were clearly becoming less common. We no longer see them in the 1940s, especially after World War II (1939-45). Knee pants were commonly, but not exclusively worn with long stockings. Many boys woire knee pnts year round. The long stockings were somewhat more seasonal.

Bloomer Knickers

We believe that bloomer knickers were worn in the 19th century, but our Swiss 19th century archive is very limited. We know more about the 20th century. We see bloomer knickers worn with tunic suits at the turn-of-the 20th century.

Knickers

Knickers were commonly worn by Swiss boys. Mostly older boys wore them as younger boys commonly wore short pants. Often boys wore knickers rather than long pants after graduating from short pants. Some younger boys who mostly wore shorts did have knickers for the colder winter months. During the summer knickers were often worn with ankle socks. Knickers were commonly worn through the 1940s and into the 1950s. Afterward they became associated with cold weather clothes. Knickers seem to have been a little more popular in Switzerland than Germany, at least we see them into the 1950s when they were no longer common in Germany.

Short Pants

We see Swiss boys commonly wearing short pants after World War I. Boys wore themn both during the summer and winter. Many boys wore long stockings with dshort pants during the winter. Short pants were very common after World War II, but gradually we see more boys wearing long pants. Short pants gradually became casual summer wear.

Lederhosen

One European readers tells HBC that lederhosen were not worn in Switzerland. Unlike other Alpine countries, lederhosen were not commonly worn in Switzerland. Some readers, however, tell us that some Swiss boys did wear lederhosen. This appears to have been especially true among Swiss boys of German ancestry. They were less popular among French Swiss boys. I think that some Swiss Scouts wore them. They were worn by some boys as casual wear until boys in the late began to more commonly wear jeans in the 1970s.

Rompers

We do not see many Swiss boys wearing rompers. We do believe that younger boys wore them, perhaps morecin the French-speaking than the German speaking cantons. As in France, they woukd have been mostlyvwirn by younger, pre-school boys. We do notice some school-age boys wearing romper pants as a kind of gym suit or outfit for fresh aor activities. An exmple is an unidentified rural school in 1929.







HBC






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Created: 11:25 PM 1/8/2011
Last updated: 4:39 AM 4/9/2012