Figure 1.--Au Bon Marché offered a variety of rompers and smocks for boys. There was both a classic back-buttonin romer suit and suspender rompers with a coordinate dress for a girl. Some of the smocks, but not the rompers were done in plaid. The smocks seem more stylish than the ones we commonly see boys wearing in availavle photographs. There were also garments for girls, but these seem more like little dresses than smocks. |
Au Bon Marché offered a variety of rompers and smocks for boys. There was both a classic back-buttonin romer suit and suspender rompers with a coordinate dress for a girl. Some of the smocks, but not the rompers were done in plaid. The smocks seem more stylish than the ones we commonly see boys wearing in availavle photographs. There were also garments for girls, but these seem more like little dresses than smocks.
Au Bon Marché was a large Paris Department store. The store was one of the most popular in Paris. It still is a major Paris landmark. Most historians claim the Magasin au Bon Marché in Paris was the world's first true department store (1852). Au bon Marché is still a large Paris department store. HBC has acquired some Au Bon Marché advertisments for boys clothing from the early 20th century. It is considered by some to be the oldest and the classiest department store in Paris. Gustave Eiffel had a hand in its design. Womenswear (first floor) carries avant-garde as well as classic designers and a sophisticated lingerie department. Elsewhere you'll find a glossy menswear department, kitchen and household items, bedlinens, curtain fabrics, furniture, stationery, a large bookshop, children's toys and clothes. Shop 2 contains an excellent food hall, bar and restaurant, as well as an antiques arcade.
Rompers were garments for younger boys, primarily pre school boys. They were often worn for play, but there were also more formal dressy rompers as well. We ghave noted these dressy rompers made up to size 7.
French boys primarily wore smocks as school garments. We think the ones shown here are primarily for school. We note the ones here done in differebt lengths. I'm nit sure if that actually reflected the styling or was just different artists rendering the style as they saw fit.
The garments are sized in centimenters depending on the height of the garment. We will work with our French readers to convert this in to age in years. The sizes here are for French boys before 1950. Modern boys would be a little larger. Smock, rompers, and dresses had the same length until about 6 years old. One measured the hight of the child and then divided by two. This would give the parent the size of their garment that would fit the child. The approximate age equivalencies are: Lenght 0.38 meters = 12 mounths;
0.40 meters = 18 mounths;
0.45 meters = 2-3 years old;
0.48 meters = 4 years old;
0.50 meters = 5 years old;
0.55 meters = 6 years old;
0.60 meters = 7 years old;
0.65 meters = 8 years old;
0.70 meters = ? years old;
0.75 meters = ? years old;
0.80 meters = ? years old;
Au Bon Marche offered several styles of rompers and shorts. A French reader has transcribed the text for us. The text does not identify the gender appropriatness of these garments. The models are clearly boys and girls, we are guessing that this indicates which gender for which the garments are appropriate. There appear to have been destinctive styles for boys and girls. What we find interesting is that the smocks we see here are rather stylish. Yet the actual photographs we have found of French boys wearing smocks show much plainrwr smocks. Also note that the sizes begin at ages 2-3 years. This is pre-school ages, suggesting that smocks were worn by younger boys at home as well as school children. We have arranged the entries here as the garments appear left to right.
The store identifies this garment as a smock, but it looks somewhat like a dress to us. The model is a girl so we assume that this was a smock specifically for girls. There was also a matching boy's romper, although it is not illustrated. The ad copy read, "TABLIER Zéphyr rayures multicolores 0m45 ... 25. Plus 2 par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m65. La BARBOTEUSE assortie 0m45 ... 29. Plus 2. par 0,05 jusqu'à 0m60." That translates as, "SMOCK Zéphir multi-colored striped material 0,45 meter ... 25 francs added 2 francs per 5 cm more untill 0,60 meter. The ROMPER suit 0.45 meter ... 25 francs
added 2 francs per 5 cm more until 0.60 meter." This means that they were made in sizes beigonning about age 2-3 years through age 7 years.
Here we have a boys smock. The ad copy reads, "TABLIER très beau Vichy écru grand teint, col bleu ou rouge. 0m45 ... 22 Francs plus 1Franc par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m75" This would translate as "SMOCK very nice Vichy unbleached colorfast material, blue or red collar. Length : 0.45 meter = 22 Francs added 1 franc by 5 cm untill 0.75 meter." That would be ages 2/3-? years.
This looks to be a boy's smock done in tartan. The ad copy uses the term "blouse". The garment is clearly a smock. We are not sure why the term "blouse" is used rather than a tablier. As far as I can tell it is a smock like the other smocks pictured here. The ad copy reads, "BLOUSE Vichy écossais grand tient, bleu ou rose, 0m55 ... 19.75 plus 1.75 jusqu'à 0m85." That translates as, "SMOCK Vichy plaid colorfast material, bleu or pink, length 0,55 meter. 19,75 francs added 1.75 franc by 5 cm untill 0,85 meter." That would be ages 6-? years. The sizing suggests that this was a school smock. As illustrated it is much longer than the other smocks. We are not sure if this is an accurate reflection of the garment length or just the vageries of the illustration process. The length seems longer than the smocks we have noted French boys actually wearing. We asked a French reader why this smock was called a blouse. She tells us, "TABLIER and BLOUSE have the same meaning in French. The word Tablier sounds more childish than blouse A blouse can mean a shirt-like garment, but it can also mean a smock. Tablier : is a school garment for girl , boys (under 10 years old) or women. It is commonly used for smocks with a juvenile look. Blouse : is a garment for boy (over 10 years old), women, and men. It nrmally had more mature syling. During 1940-50 The tablier could be worn by boys until 12 years of age. One could find description such smock in magazines. The 12 years model often had the buttoning at front or at the left side. This is why item 250 is cut longer tghan the ither smocks. To be smart a tablier should be cut well above the knee. A blouse with an older look was often cut at knee length. This was the convention for both boys and girls through the 1950s.
This is a romper suit done in ginham. It was for a boy. Rompers at the time were a boy's garment. The ad copy reads, "BARBOTEUSE Vichy uni bleu ou écru. 0m45 ... 13.90 Plus 1. par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m60." This translates as, "ROMPER ginham solid-colored bleu or unbleached. Length 0,45 meter ... 13.90 francs added 1 franc by 5 cm untill 0,60 meter." This would mean for boys age 2/3-7 years.
Here we have another boy's smock done in tartan gingham. The ad cooy read, "TABLIER Vichy écossais grand tient bleu ou rose.
0m45 16.50 Plus 1.50 par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m75. En bon Vichy écossais
0m45 10.75 Plus 1.25 par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m75." That translates as, "SMOCK Vichy plaid colorfast material bleu or pink: Length 0,45 meter ... 16.50 francs Added 1.50 franc by 5 cm more , untill 0,75 meter In good Vichy plaid material: 0,45 meter = 10.75 francs
added 1.25 franc by 5 cm more untill 0,75 meter."
The coordinated outfits for brothers and sisters were labeled, "Joli ENSEMBLE en Zéphyr, rayures multicolores." That would translate as something like, "Jolly outfit in Zéphyr. multi-colored striped material." Here note that the boy wears a romper and the girl a little dress although it is referred to as a smock, showing the gender conventions of these garments.
IR-263 Romper: This was a boys sun suit type rompers. The ad copy read, "La BARBOTEUSE " Bain de soleil ". 0m45 ... 35. Plus 2. par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m60." That would translate as, "The ROMPER
length 0,45 meter ... 35 francs added 2 francs by 5 cm more untill 0,65 meter."
IR-262 Smock: The ad copy read, "LE TABLIER 0m45 ... 33. Plus 2. par 0m05 jusqu'à 0m65." That would translate as, "The SMOCK length 0,45 meter ...33 francs added 2 francs by 5 cm more untill 0,65 meter
A reader tells us, "The three smock models shwon in the image here (figure 1)-were the most popular styles. In many school classes photos show boys with these smocks. It was the principal model made by my parents during the late 1940s and 50s."
Our French reader reports, "What one must know is that three of the smocks shown here (figure 1) were exclusivitly for boys and these styles were never worn by girls. Boys smocks were pleated as we see in the image here. For us boys there was never any confusion. The smocks for girls were not pleated. Rather they had gathered waists. An exception here was very young boys (under 3 years) who did wear smocks with gathered waists. Rompers were different. Rompers had gathered waists and were more and more puffed after 1940. I was a sign of smartess , and in this case were a well dessed garment and could be worn during most of the year.
A French reader tells us, "Notice that the boy' smock could be proposed in pink color; as well it was the base color of the material and finaly the aspect was not too pink. The base pink color was quite curret about the boys smock specialy for the young boy, even in the 1950s. While pink was used, it was much less common than blue."
It seems to HBC that the smocks shown here are more sylish than we have noted in actual photographs of French school children. Many of the smocks we have seen French children wearing in the 1930s and early 40s seem to be plain dark smocks. A good example is the Ecole St Vincent Ardent in 1937. This was a village school. We suspect that these more stylish smocks seen here were more common in Paris and other French cities. A French reader tells us, "These smocks were classic model and were the most commonly worn by boys from 1938 untill end 1950. They are many school photos with boys wearing these smock styles. During the early 1900s the smock in Fra,ce were normaly in dark colors, both grey and black. After World War I in the 1920s the little children adopted
stylish model with lighter juvenile colors. These more stylish smocks became popular for school children as well. After World War II both boys and girls under 10 years old wore these classic styles. They were very popular. Often they were made at home by mothers. Actually school photographs can be misleading. At some schools the children took their smocks off for the class portraits.
Conventions varied from school to school. At certain schools practicly all the boys wore smocks at other schools they were not very common. Myself I practicly never wore a smock at school. My brother and sister did so regulary, but only at school. They took their smocks off after school when they got home."
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