Swiss School Pants: Types

Figure 1.--Here we see a class at Lausanne Collège in 1942. The English translation suggests tht the school was located at Villamont. (We think this is probable Villamont College in Lausanne, a town in one of the Swiss French cantons. The boys look to be about 9-10 years old. Notice the boys wear mostly sweaters and knickers. We rarely see French school portraits with so many boys this age wearing knickers, but it was apparently not uncommon in Switzerland, even in the Frenh cantons. Short pants during the 1940s were more common for boys this afe when the weather was warmer. A few boys here wear short pants and one boy wears a smock. We virtually never see boys wearing smocks with knickers.

Swiss boys wore all the various style of pants and trousers to school. Long pants were very common both in the early-19th century and the late-20th century. Knee pants were also very popular for an extended period from the late-19th go the early- and mid-20th century. We also notice boys wearing knickers, although they seem less commom than knee pants and short pants. Many boys also wore short pants in the 20th century, especially after Workdwar I (1914-18). Short pants were not just worn by boys in primary schools, but the younger boys in elementary school as well. One difference between Germany and Switzerland was that Swiss boys rarely wore Lederhosen, even German-speaking Swiss boys. We do see H-bar shorts, but rarely leather Lederhosen. Some boys switched to knickers during the winter. We see whole clssess, even at the primary-level wearing knickers. Other boys continued wearing shorts even in the winter. Here they were kept warm by wearing long stockings. Older teenagers might wear knickers or eventually long pants. We note some boys wearing romper pants for gym and fresh air outings. One example is an unidentified school in 1929. This continued into the 1950s. Graduall\y long pants became more common. Long pants became more common in the 1960s, even for younger boys. By the 1970s, boys were mostly wearing long pants to school. Short pants became increasing casual, summer wear.

Related HBC Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
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Created: 3:46 AM 4/19/2012
Last updated: 3:46 AM 4/19/2012