Figure 1.--American boys in the 1900s mostly wore straight-leg knee pants suits in the 1900, although we see many knicker suits by the end of the decade. We see boys of all ages wearing them.

At the turn-of-the 20th century, straignt-leg knee pants were the standard pants types for boys. This continued to be the case during the 1900s. We also see knickers, but they were not as popular. We Knickers gradually became more important in the 1900s and by the end of the decade, many boys were wearing them. By the 1910s, most boys were primarily wearing knickers. Younger boys might still wear knee pants. Short pants appeared after World War I, but knickers were more popular and the standard boys' pants type. Short pants appeared after World War I. Shorts were never as popular in America as they were in Europe, but they were worn by younger boys. They were not at first entirely seaonal. Boys might wear shorts with long stockings during the inter-War era. Knee socks were also worn. We are not sure why this dichotomy between America and Europe developed, but it was very pronounced. Climate may have been a factor, but was clearly not the only reason. We do see younger boys wearing Eton and other short pants suits. Here there was a social class factor at play. Knickers were still the primary pants tyype worn by boys in the early-30s. We see fewer older boys wearing knickers and long pants increased in popularity during the decade. Knickers were rapidly replaced knickers in the late-30s and early-40s. We rarely see them by the late-40s. Younger boys might wear short psnts suits in the 1940s, but gradualy declined in popularity, especialy by the 1970s. Boys even younger boys almost always wore long pants suits by the 1980s, except perhaps for formal events like weddings. Younger boys might wear short pants Eton suits. Even these became less common in the 1990s. At the same time suits in general declined in popularity for boys, especially by the 1970s.

The 1900s

Srraight leg knee pants were commonly worn by American boys, especially in the late-1890s. At the turn-of-the 20th century, leg knee pants were the standard pants types for boys. Boys wore all kinfs of caps wiuth these suits. Terminology varied somewhat, but we mostly noptice knee pants during the 1900s.They even became common in rural areas. We see boys of all ages wearing them, including teenagers. The knee pants commonly had buttons for attaching suspenders. Belt loops were not very common. The cut was fairly standard at knee length. There were various styles of jackets, but the knee pants were fairly standard. We do notvyet have muvh information on pockets. Buttons were used at the fly. Most knee pants had the three button trim at the leg hem. The photographic record is somewhat varied because boys tended to grow, especially teenagers. The age boys switched to long pants varied from family to family. Most older teens wore long pants suits, but we even see some older teens wearing knee pants. Virtually all pre-teens wore knee pants suits. This continued to be the case throughout the decade. We also see knickers, but they were not as popular, especially at the beginning oand mid-decade. This began to change by the end of the decade. Knickers gradually became more important in the 1900s and by the end of the decade, many boys were knickers rather than knee pants. Boys almost always wore both knee pants and knickers with long stockings. Most boys wore black long stockings, regardless of suit color, but there was some variation. Some boys during the summer went barefoot evenwhen wearing suits. This was most common in the South.

Figure 2.--Knee pants whichg were commonly worn by boys for decades rapidly went out of style in the 1910s. While some \yonger boys did wear knee pants suits, nost boys wore knicker suits.

The 1910s

American boys by the 1910s were primarily wearing knickers. This was a major shift from the 1910s when knee pants dominated, We see this shiftv developing in the late-1900s. The shift from knee pants to kniockers was very marked as shows up very definitelyb in the photographic record. We see some boys wearing knee pants in the 1910s, but this was most common in juvenile outfits like Oliver Twist suits. Most dchool age boys wore knickers. This was almost universal in primsry dchools, but we alsi see knickers in secondary schools. They were commonly referred to as knickerbockers at first, but during the decade, knickers became common parlance. We are not sure just what brought anout such a rapid change. Mothers and boys began tosee straight-leg knee pants as old fashioned. Most wanted the newcknickers style. Knickers suits existed before the 1910s, but were axrealtively small part of the boys' suits worn. In the 1910s, most boys wore knickers suits. Older teenagers were increasingly likely to wear long psjts suits, but younger teenagers commonly wore knickers suits. This varied from family to family. We notice boys with smart looking creases in their knickers. Suits were still a very important part of a boys's wardrobe. Boys commonly wore jknickers suits to school. Flat caps became strongly associstyed with knickerts suits. Younger boys might still wear knee pants. Short pants appeared after World War I, but knickers were more popular and the standard boys' pants type. As with knee pajts, American boys modtly wore knickers suits with long stocklings. We see a few boys wearing knee socks by the end of the decade, but dark long stockings were much more common.

Figure 3.--Knicker suits continued to be very common in America during the 1920s. We see, however, the age of the boys wearing them gradually decline. More and mmore older boys wore long pants suits. Here we see a family snapshot in 1928 with the younger biother wearing knickers and the older brother wearing long pants. The photograph was taken in April and the family seems to be wearing their Easter outfits.

The 1920s

We see American boys wearing knicker, short psnts, and long psnts suits during the 1920s. We see a few knee pants suits during the early-20s, but they quuickly disappeared during the decade. Short pants appeared after World War I. Shorts were never as popular in America as they were in Europe, but they were worn by younger boys and pre-teens during the summer as casual wear. Short pants suits were more for younger boys. We do see younger boys wearing Eton and other short pants suits. Here there was a social class factor at play. Short pants were not at first entirely seaonal. Boys might wear shorts with long stockings during the inter-War era, but this was less common with suits. Knee socks were also worn. We are not sure why this dichotomy between America and Europe developed, but it was very pronounced. Climate may have been a factor, but was clearly not the only reason. The primarty type of suit pants were knickers. Knicker suits were standard for American boys during the 20s. They were primarily worn with long stockings, but we begon to see knee socks by the end of the decade. We see fewer older boys wearing knicker suits in the 1920s, but many boys wore them to their early teens. We see more boys wearin long pants suits. Almost all older teens wore long pants suits, but we see somne younger boys wearing thrm as well. We see the mail order companies over suits with two psirs of pants, often a pair of knickers and a pair of longies.

The 1930s

Knickers were still the primary pants type worn by boys in the early-30s. We see fewer older boys wearing knickers and long pants increased in popularity during the decade. We mostly see knickers in primary schools and even in primary schools many boys wore long pants, especially by the end of the decade. Knickers wete commonly wore with bodly patterenrd knee socks. But a factgor here is that boys were much less likely tob wear suits to school in the 1930s. Most Knickers were rapidly replaced by long pants during in the late-30s and early-40s.

The 1940s

We rarely see them by the late-40s. Younger boys might wear short psnts suits in the 1940s, but gradualy declined in popularity.

The 1970s

We rarely see boys wearing anything but long pants suits by the 1970s. At the same time suits in general declined in popularity for boys, especially by the 1970s. Boys idea of dressing up became wearing a collared shirt.

The 1880s

Boys even younger boys almost always wore long pants suits by the 1980s, except perhaps for formal events like weddings. Younger boys might wear short pants Eton suits.

The 1990s

Even short pants Eton suits became less common in the 1990s.

Created: 8:19 AM 8/6/2010
Last updated: 8:01 AM 10/7/2010