French School Garments: Rompers


Figure 1.--Rompers are a garment we have noted being worn primarily by French boys before they began school. We have noted, however, boys commonly wearing rompers in kindergarten. These children are at a French school in Algeria during 1953-54. 

Rompers are a garment we have noted being worn primarily by French boys before they began school. We have noted, however, boys commonly wearing rompers in kindergarten. Apparently, some boys in the CP class (1st Grade) also occassionally wore romper suits, although this was much less common. French boys had play rompers and also dressy rompers. These dressy rompers were for Sundays and hollidays, but appareltly they were also worn for special days at school. A French reader tells us, "I was with my Uncle one day. He and some associates were making an officil visit at a primary school (about 1953). I don't remember in which school it was. All the pupils were in class and a little pupil about 6 years old came with us for a while. He was dressed in traditional romper. I believe also that this same day several other little boys in class CP (comparable to 1st grade) wore a romper too. Probably a lot of children were dressed in Sunday clothe in raison of this visit. I was quite young myself. Thus my memory of this is quite vague."

Extent

French boys did not commonly wear rompers to school. It was, however, not forbidden. You occassionally see very young children wearing them to nursery school, but I have not noted them in school portraits once the children began primary school. An exceoption here is the end of year special school occassion for which children often dressed up. There are numerous photogrsphs from nursery school showing a few boys wearing romper dsuits during the 1940s and 50s. One complication here is that many French children at this time wore smocks to school. Most boys wore short pants under their smocks, but surely a few boys wore romers, especially in nuresery school.

Chronology

Many of the images we have found showing French boys wearing rompers to school were taken mostly in the 1940s and 50s. This appears to have been the time when rompetrs were most popular in France, although they were also widely worn in the 1930s. We have not yet found examples from schools from 1930s or 60s, although we would guess that they were not unknown in nursery schools. Rompers appear very commonly in the 1940s. A good example is a French Algerian school in 1949. The school photographs here is from the mid-1950s (figure 1). Rompers was not a major school garment , but we do see some boys wearing them. This was mostly boys in nursery school during mid-century. We do see some beginning primary boys, but not very many.

School Level

Rompers are a garment we have noted being worn primarily by French boys before they began school. We have noted, however, boys commonly wearing rompers in nursery school or kindergarten. There are quite a few school photographs showing that this was relatively common. As there was no school uniform this is presumably a reflection of how popular rompers were during this period. Of course many of ythese boys were wearing smovks. While most such boys wore short pants under their smocks, surely some must have also worn rompers. It is not posible at this tome to fully assess this. Apparently, some boys in the CP class (1st Grade) also occassionally wore romper suits. Although this was much less common, school photographs show that it was not unknown.

Romper Types

French boys had play rompers and also dressy rompers. These dressy rompers were for Sundays and hollidays, but appareltly they were also worn for special days at school. Some younger boys might wear play rompers to school.

Special Occassions at School

A French reader tells us, "I was with my Uncle one day. He and some associates were making an officil visit at a primary school (about 1953). I don't remember in which school it was. All the pupils were in class and a little pupil about 6 years old came with us for a while. He was dressed in traditional romper. I believe also that this same day several other little boys in class CP (comparable to 1st grade) wore a romper too. Probably a lot of children were dressed in Sunday clothe as a result of this visit. I was quite young myself. Thus my memory of this is quite vague." During the school party some younger boys came dressed in rompers. An example of such a specual occassion is the end of the year party.We note rompers being used at another French school, the Ecole Jean Mace, in 1949. We note one of these events at a school in French Algeria in 1958. We believe that rompers were chosen for the costume because they were considered a stylish formal style for younger boys. We notice quite a few images if boys dressed up in romper outfits for Christmas pagents.







HBC





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Created: February 18, 2004
Last updated: 4:45 PM 10/10/2015