Figure 1.-- We see a lot of German boys wearing Lederhosen in the 1950s. They seem to have been wore as casual summer wear as this boy is wearing them as well as for more casual occassions.

Lederhosen seem to have been especially populat in the 1950s. I think a factor here is that with the German economic post-War miracle and rising prosperity, more families could afford Lederhosen. Short pants were still very common in Germany. Boys of all ages wore them. We see numerous photographs of Austrian and German boys wearing Lederhosen throughout the 1950s. A good example is three German brothers in the early 1950s. We also note a photograph of Austrian boys wearing Lederhosen from the 1950s. Lederhosen seem more popular in Austria than Germany, but of course Austria is a much smaller country. We see many boys wearing Lederhosen without the haltars which were usully worn erarlier. We see a German boy with Lederhosen and long stockings in 1957. Ankle socks were brecoming more common in the 50s and we also see many boys wearing Lederhosen with ankle socks. Many boys still wore knee socks. We see both plain and patterned knee socks. Here is another image from the German Hosiery Museum showing patterened long stockings worn with Ledehosen--also from the 1950s. We also see boys wearinhg long stockings, especially in the early-50s.

Popularity

Lederhosen seem to have been especially popular in the 1950s. We think a factor here is that with the German economic post-War miracle and rising prosperity, more families could afford Lederhosen. Short pants were still very common in Germany. This was before jeans had become very popular in Germany. We see numerous photographs of Austrian and German boys wearing Lederhosen throughout the 1950s. A good example is three German brothers in the early 1950s.

Ages

Boys of all ages wore them.

Regions

Before World War II, Lederhosen were mostly worn in Alpine areas such as Austria and southern Germany, especially Bavaria. After the War, Ledersosen seem much more common in other areas of Geemany. We are not sure just why Lederhosen became more common in other areas of Germany.

Countries

We also note a photograph of Austrian boys wearing Lederhosen from the 1950s. Lederhosen seem more popular in Austria than Germany, but of course Austria is a much smaller country.

Haltars

We see many boys wearing Lederhosen without the haltars which were usully worn earlier. Haltars did not disappear in the 1950s, but we notice many boys who did not wear them.

Conventions

Lederhosen continued to be worn for a variety of coccassions. Many boys wore them to school, mostly pre-teen boys. Boys of all ages wore them for casual or outdoors wear. Some boys wore them with suit jackets pr Bavarian jackets when dressing up., This was mosly pre-teen boys, but we see some teenagers dressing up with Lederhosen.;

Hosiery

We note German boys wearing Lederhosen with a variety of hosiery in the 1950s. There were major shifts in hosiery trends after World War II in Germany and other European countries during the 1950s. Ankle socks were brecoming more common in the 50s, at first in the summer. We see many boys wearing Lederhosen with ankle socks. This was not very common in the 1940s. Many boys still wore knee socks. We see both plain and patterned knee socks. Here is another image from the German Hosiery Museum showing patterened long stockings worn with Ledehosen--also from the 1950s. We also see boys wearinhg long stockingss, especially in the early-50s. We see a German boy with Lederhosen and long stockings in 1957. We see very few examples of boys wearing long stockings after this.

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Created: 12:12 AM 6/18/2007
Last updated: 7:57 PM 9/8/2010