Figure 1.-- We are not entirely surewhat we have here. I mau be a small rural school, butthe building in the back does not look much like a school and a few f the childen so not look old enough for school. But we are sure when the phoogrph was taken -- 1923-24. And it was near New Haven Commecticut. What ever the group is, it does give is an idea of summer wear for younger children during the 1920s. Boys wore a variety of outfits. Girls still wore mostly dresses, although two of the younger girls dress a little differently, OIne wears pants under her dress. Another wears a blouse and bloomer knockers--ratherr like agym outfit. Here the one-piece outfits seem the most common for the younge boys . The older boys wore shirts and knickers, althouhh we can only see one of vthe older boys clearly. Click on theimage toee the children's names.

Juvenile outfits continued the trend toward informality. We see more play outfits. The tunics worn in the 1900s-10s disappeared in the early-20s, but we see a range of one-pece wash otfits, most done as short pants. Longer cut shorts were commom, especially early inthe decade. We also see a range of button-on outfits for younger boys. This included sailor styling, but there were many different styles. Some were done with the buttons showing, part of the style. Otheres tended to hide or at least make the buttons less noticeable. So you often have to look closely to ee the button syling. The button-on styling solved the problem of how to hold the pants of younger boys up. The Fauntleroy suit with velvet kneepants and lace or ruffled collars that boys had worn since the 1880s also did not survive World War I. Some younger boys in the 1920s might wear fancy collars and bows, but it became increasingly less common. Sailor suits continued to be popular for boys in the 1920s, but mostly for youngr boys. They were worn by boys from about 3 to 10 years old. Knee pants and long stockings were still worn at the beginning of the decade, but after only a few years they were mostly worn with short pants and knee socks. This was especially the case for summer wear.

Fauntleroy Suits

The Fauntleroy suit with velvet knee pants and lace or ruffled collars that boys had worn since the 1880s also did not survive World War I. Some younger boys in the 1920s might wear fancy collars and bows, but it became increasingly less common. The Fauntleroy suit did continue in the form of short pants velvet suits, often in the Eton style. Some short pants early in the 1920s still had the three buttons at the hem. Often the outfit was worn without a fornal jacket, espcially during the summer. The lace collars, however, were rarely worn. Some boys had ruffled collars, but were replaced with other collars, commonly Eton or Peter Pan collars. Some Fauntleroy suits were worn with long stockings, sometimes white ones. White knee socks though were becoming increasingly worn. This style ecentualy evolved into velvet suits with Eton or sinle breasted suits worn by younger boys for the next several decades.

Sailor Suits

Sailor suits continued to be popular for boys in the 1920s, but mostly for youngr boys. . They were worn by boys from about 3 to 10 years old. Knee pants and long stockings were still worn at the beginning of the decade, but after only a few years they were mostly worn with short pants and knee socks. This was especially the case forsummer wear. The shorts were at first knee length, but became shorter by the end of the decade. Wide brimmed sailor hats were no longer worn. Sailor suits continued to be worn as a kind of casual dress outfit and were mostly worn with short pants. By the 1920s the sailor suit was worn by increasingly younger boys and became more of a play suit. This diverged from conventions on Continental Europe where quite old boys were still wearing sailor suits, even short pants sailor suits. Sailor suits were worn with both short and long pants, but not with knickers. As the style became more of a little boy style, long pants sailor suits in the United States became less common.

One-piece Outfits

We see a lot of younger boys wearing a variety of one-piece outfits inclding coveralls. The vtunic suits worn by this agevgroup disappedared after WEorld War and instead we see a lot of these one piece was outfits comfortable to wear and easy for mom to wash. Here we see several examples of one piece outfits (fugure 1). They were mostly play suits. Many of these one-piece outfits were done with short pants, although the cut temnded to be lomg like knee pants which were disappearing. Shorter cut outfits appeared by he end of the decade. Many had basic sailor collars wih are withoiut the striping, but we also see coolar buttoning styles as well as the boxy collarless style. These were commonly short-sleeved play suits, an informal style that was becoming increaingly important for children. We see some sleeveless styles in the 1920s. Girls continued to mostly wear dresses.

Button-on Outfits

We also see a range of button-on outfits for younger boys. This included sailor styling, but there were many different styles. Some were done with the buttons showing, part of the style. Otheres tended to hide or at least make the buttons less noticeable. So you often have to look closely to ee the button syling. The button-on styling solved the problem of how to hold the pants of younger boys up.

Collar-buttoning Suits

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Created: 8:23 AM 12/6/2025
Last updated: 8:51 PM 12/6/2025