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French mail order catalogs and clothing advertisements offer a very useful time line on changing fashion trends. We have advertisements from several sources providing detailed informzation on a wide range of clothing offered by French stores. Advertisments showed a lot of back to school fashion for the winter of 1935-36. They looked to be primarily for boys going to private schools. Rompers were popular for younger boys who might also wear smocks at home.
Rompers in 1935 still appear to have been made for very young children. They were exclusively for boys. The French term barboteuse was used for a range of tiddler outfits. We see both regular short pants as well as puff short pants.
HBC is not sure of the catalog company offered these clothes, but it is reportedly a large, well known Parisian department store. This unknown company in 1935 offered both ginham and plaid rompers in different styles for little boys. Smocks were added on the same page, again in several different styles.
We notice a range of different sweaters in 1935. Pullovers appear to have been worn by boys. Sweaters for girls appear to have different names.
Here we see several different styles of pull-over sweaters for boys. Interestingly the same styles are offered for boys of all ages from 3/7-16 years of age. The styles are mostly sleeveless, but there is one long-sleeve sweater as well. They are done in various patterns.
Here we see several different styles of sweaters for girls, including blouson, gilet, chemisier, and sweater. Most of the items here are for girls. Included here also are also what look to be a few items for boys, a gilet and barboteuse.
French boys wore a variety of different coats for the winter. Casual styles were increasing popular. Some coats were purcased especially for school, in most I think these were private schools, but our information is admitedly limited.
One company, Réaumur, offered overcoats which they call great coats for the winter of 1935-36 on page 11 of their catalog. Collégiens: Suit jacket for schoolboy, gilded buttons
and palms, 8 to 16 years old and chest 0,78 to 0,84 meters. Blue cheviot wool with long
pants only. Superior quality, with long pants. With short pants, 15 less. Woolen cloth leather, with long pants. With short pants, 25 less. Greatcoat for schoolboys, removable hood, gilded buttons and palms. Navy blue duffle 8 to 16, chest 0,78 to 0,84 meters. Superior quality. Navy blue woolen cloth leather
Here is the translation another page of the Réaumur winter 1935-1936 catalog.
12.35905 :. 1 to 10 years old. 12.35925 : Pea jacket, double -breasted, 2
buttons, collar lapel. Made in woolen fancy cloth or navy blue ratine. 1 to 10
years old. Unfortunatley the image is not suffiently clear to read the original French language text of the catalog as copy.
French children might wear a " porte-culotte ". It was an underwear shirt similar to the underwaist worn by American children. It had buttons on which I think underwear buttoned. I'm not sure about pants. We note this garment advertised in 1935, I think by Gallerias Lafayette. It was called a "corset porte-culotte". They were made in white and pink. Girls wore both white and pink, but boys only wore white. French children did not commonly wear long stockings so the porte-culotte was not for holding upstockings. This garment continued to be wirn by very young children into the 1950s.
Children commonly wore a one-piece swim suit called a nagel. It was a knitted wool garment. They declined rapidly in popularity after the mod-1930s. Au Bon Marche offered a nageur in its 1935 catalog.
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