Figure 1--This portrait shows the Kaiser and Kaiserina with three of their grand children in 1910. The children are Wilhelm, Louis Ferdinand, and Hubertus. The princes were frequently photographed in these play suits. Here they would have been 4, 3, and 1 years old. Wilhelm looks like he might have been 5 years old or almost 5.

The children of Crown Prince Frederich Wilhelm outfitted in dresses as babies, but it looks like the boys were breeched at a fairly early age. I'm not sure about the Crown Prince, but photographs of his younger brothers show them wearing short pants by about 3 years of age. Several of the available photographs show the boys wearing identical satin or silk short pants outfits, with matching blouse and short pants. The children appear to have worn this outfit quite a bit. The blouse has an open square cut neck without a collar. It is worn with a matching belt and knee-length shorts. With this outfit the boys wear three-quarter length socks and white strap shoes with little boys. Their mother must have liked this outfit because several pictures show the boys wearing it at different ages.

Dresses

The children of Crown Prince Frederich Wilhelm outfitted in dresses as babies, but it looks like the boys were breeched at a fairly early age. I'm not sure about the Crown Prince, but photographs of his younger brothers show them wearing short pants by about 2 or 3 years of age. Prince Hubertus at age 1 wears a frilly white, presumably the other pronces wore the same type of dress. Prince Louis Ferdinad at about age 3 has already been breeched.

Headwear

The pribces worn babby bonnets and tams when very younger. We do not yet have much information on the boys' headwear. A younger boys they mostly wore sailor caps. One photograph shows them wearing soft sailor caps. Another shows them wearing flat topped sailor caps. They also wore broad-brimmed sailor hats, but cap were more common. During the winter they wore knitted wool caps. They appaear to most commonly wear the white soft sailor cap. I am not sure wehat was writte on the tally. We note images of the boys wearing dlat caps when wornking with horses--at least the older boys. A photograph after the Wars show them wearing flat caps and a Tyroleam-style cap (figure 2).

Blouses

Pants

All of the available images show the boys wearing short pants, except for some informal winter outfits. As boys while Kaiser Wilhelm II ruled the boy appeared to have mostly worn short pants, often identical outfits. They did often wear long pants with their saolor suits. After the War and the Kaiser's abdication, the children appeared in more diverse outfits, including knee pants and knickers. A 1920 photograph shows a younger boy wearing kneepants and long stockings and the older boys and their father wearing knickers.

Play Suits

Several of the available photographs show the boys wearing identical satin or silk short pants outfits, with matching blouse and short pants. The children appear to have worn this outfit quite a bit. The blouse has an open square cut neck without a collar. It is worn with a matching belt and knee-length shorts. With this outfit the boys wear three-quarter length socks and white strap shoes with little boys. Their mother must have liked this outfit because several pictures show the boys wearing it at different ages. The boys began wearing these outfits at age 3 and appear to have worn them until they were about 10 years.

Figure 2--The former Crown Prince and his wife are seen here in 1920 with four of his sons (Wilhelm, Louis Ferdinand, Hubertus, and Federick). The boys wear various outfits with kneeoants and knickers. Their father also wears knickers. Notice the flat caps and Tyrolean cap.

Hosiery

The boys are normally photographed in short socks. This appears to have been their primary hosiery type. I have not noted them wearing kneesocks, but they did wear long stockings--I think primarily during the winter.

Shoes

Some photographs show the boys wearing white strap slipper style shoes. They also wear high-top white shoes. One 1910 photograph shows what seems to be bow on the high-top white shoes worn by the princes. Presumably this was their mother's idea.

Reader Comments

A HBC reader comments, "The outfit in figure 1 looks similar to the B. Altman or Stewart catalogue for tunic suits except the trousers are shorts rather than bloomer styled bottoms. The short sleeves and collarless neck openings are very similar. Also I notice that one of the prince's seems to be wearing ruffled socks." HBC notes that actually the socks are not ruffled. Prince Wilhelm, the older boy, instead of ruffled socks has tiny little bows on his shoes. Prince Louis Ferdinand also probably has identical bows, but his shoes are partially obscured by a chair arm.

Created: June 20, 2001
Last updated: February 14, 2003