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A tectonic shift in boys wear impacted the American market by 1910. The knee pants American boys wore for five decadeds suddenly changed. The straight-leg knee pants which were a huge part of boys wear began to disappear. Knee pants did not entirely disappear, some younger boys still wore them. Knickers as a result of fashion changes beginning about 1908 and especially 1909 suddenly became the most common type of pants worn by American boys. This can clearly be seen in school photography. This shift only occurredv in America. Knickers were not universal, but they were very common and just about as universal as any fashion shift can be. The major exception was rural areas where boys began wearing overalls. We do not see mny boys wearung knickers in rural areas. Knickers were by far the most common type of suit trousers during the 1910s. Knicker suits virtually became a characture of school boys, especially in the 1910s. Knickers even appeared in the school zone road sides which continued into the late-20th century. Norfolk suits were especially popular. They were usually worn with flat caps. We notice an age shift. We saw some older teens wearing them in thec 1900s. This changecin the 1900s with few older teens wearing knickers. We continue to see most school age boys wearing knickers up to about 15 years of age, but this varied from family to family. A good example is a unidentified New York boy wearing a sporty check suit in the 1910s. Knee pants went out of style and short pants appeared after World War I, but knickers were more popular for school-age boys. We see that change in mail order catalog offerings. There were social class and regional differences. We are not yet sure about stylistic differences in the 1910s and 20s. We think knickers in the 1910s tended to have very full cuts. Flat caps complete the outfit. Some were even done in matching suiting fabric. As with knee pants suits in the 1900s, boys usually wore knicker suits with black long stockings. High-top shioes were dtill common.
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