Figure 1.--Girls did no commonly wear pants before World War II. But se see this bginning to change in the 1930s. Hollywood stars aooeared in glamrtous long pants abd here we see achild star, Jane Whithers, doing the same. The press caption read, "How to make a friend in one lesson is simply shown by Jane Withers, juvenile star of 20th Century-Fox's Helen Wood, feminine lead in 'Champagne Charlie' who took Jane to the zoo." The photograph was taken in 1935.

All of this did not change until the 20th century. It did not begin to change to any extent until after World War I in the 1920s. we are not entirely sure of just what brought this change about after centuries of wearing only skirted garments. The most obvious development was WorLd War with its bringing practicality to the fore and women entering the factory work force in unprecedent numbers. We also note younger children, both boys and girls, being dressed in rompers. The Girl Scouts may have been a factor, especially summer camping. Girls at camp were more likely to wear pants, at first rompers and shorts. For whatever reason, we begin to see girls wearing pants in the 1920s and 30s, especialy the 30s. We believe that the Girl Scouts, summer camps, practicality and Hollywood were all at work. Even high fashion. Of all people, Coco Chanel began pushing pants and we begin to see them in Hollywood films. A leader here was Marlene Dietrich. Another factorbwa World War I and II. Wokmen appeared in factories and because of thevpracticality begam wearing overalls. All of this took time to poercolate throufg the natiinal cinciouness. And we begin to see girls wearing oants in the photographic record. This was at first mostly in casual situations, like playing around the house and at summer camps. A good example is a Washington girl in 1939. We do not see girls commonly wearing pants to school. One might recall Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird set in the 1930s having to wear a dress to school. Before World War II we do not see many girls wearing oants to school, even in rural areas (figure 1). Now it was not all that common for a girl to only wear pants at home, but Scout had a brother and had lost her mother. But it certainly was the case that few girls showed up at school wearing pants. And the few examples we see are a low income rural schools. World War II had an even greater impact on American life. Women again entered the factory work force and in much larger numbers than in World War I. Again practicalitty came into play. You even begin to see Holloywood starlets wearing pants, albeit glamerous ones. Only in the 1960s, however, do we see girls commonly wearing pants. We see girls beginning to wearthem to school, but not yet to church. Here American girls led the way for a trend that would be followed in other countries. Gradually in the 20th century it became popular for girls to wear boys' styles like shorts and jeans. There was no reciprosity here. In sharp contrast to the 19th century, boys' did not wear girls' styles.

Created: 2:41 AM 7/17/2017
Last updated: 2:41 AM 7/17/2017