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Here we see a garment with which we are unfamilar. We do not know what it was called. It appears to be a one-piece combination of singlet/tank top and short pants. We note it being worn by an Italian boy. This image is from the 1970s. Perhaps it was more common in Italy than America. An Italian reader tells us that it was worn in seaside resorts, but not always. He writes, "I don't know what to call this garment. I remember it being worn in the 1970s. I saw children wearing similar ones, but usually younger children than the boy here if my memory is correct. It was commonly clothing worn in seaside resorts, but also as casual clothing in summer time. The latter seems the situation in the photograph here. I never had this garment myself as a boy. The rubber clogs (I'm not sure this is the proper term) were very common at the time as were flip-flops. Many children wore these clogs instead of flip-flop as casual summer footwear. Today clogs are less worn except in seaside resort. In Italy this sort of clogs are usually worn without socks. The photo was taken in Gioiosa Marea, a small coastal village along the northern coast of Sicily. Today it has about 7,000 inhabitants. The photograph is undated, but I think that it was taken in 1970s. The boy was drinking water from a fountain. He is not on the beach, but on the village street."
Here we see a garment with which we are unfamilar. We do not know what it was called. We note wrestlinggarments which were called singlets. So we assume the Englih tern for these garments was singlers. We have, however, never noted them being sold in America except for wrestling. Apparently they were marketed in Europe. We o not know what the European terms were.
The garment appears to be a one-piece combination of singlet/tank top and short pants.
We note it being worn by an Italian boy. Perhaps it was more common in Italy than America. An Italian reader tells us that it was worn in seaside resorts, but not always. He writes, "I don't know what to call this garment. I remember it being worn in the 1970s. I saw children wearing similar ones, but usually younger children than the boy here if my memory is correct. It was commonly clothing worn in seaside resorts, but also as casual clothing in summer time. The latter seems the situation in the photograph here. I never had this garment myself as a boy. The rubber clogs (I'm not sure this is the proper term) were very common at the time as were flip-flops. Many children wore these clogs instead of flip-flop as casual summer footwear. Today clogs are less worn except in seaside resort. In Italy this sort of clogs are usually worn without socks. The photo was taken in Gioiosa Marea, a small coastal village along the northern coast of Sicily. Today it has about 7,000 inhabitants. The photograph is undated, but I think that it was taken in 1970s. The boy was drinking water from a fountain. He is not on the beach, but on the village street."
I have never seen these garmenrs being worn in Amrica, except for wrestling. A Dutch reader reports these garments being worn in parts of Europe occasionally.
This image is from the 1970s.
The only garment HBC has seen like this is the uniforms worn by wrestlers in school sports. We never noted this garment being used as casual clohing in America.
An American reader writes, "Interesting. This garment seems to be the Italian equivalent of a wrestler's "singlet"--a one-piece, form-fitting suit of cotton knit that looks as though it could double as a swim suit but that was apparently worn for lounging around at beaches and summer resorts. I recall seeing similar garments for men and boys in an American exotic "lounge-wear" catalogue of the 1970s, but I never actually saw people wearing them. They were illustrated
and for sale in the catalogue. The catalogue illustration was similar to the
old-style short-legged union suit (this garment had short sleeves rather than
a tank-top upper part) but there were a few buttons down the front so that one
could get in and out of it. There was, however, I recall, no flap in the back
so that it would have been extremely impractical if one had to visit the
bathroom. With the Italian garment, I suppose it would be easier to put on
and take off."
A reader writes, "For what it's worth, the garment looks like an old-style bathing suit, modernized into one-piece instead of two. It seems odd that in Europe where "Speedo" type swimwear
is so popular for men and boys that apparently old-style swim suits are sometimes worn instead of swim trunks." It does look like old time swimwear, but styled a bit differently."
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