Figure 1.--Several of these first year German children in 1967-68 wear lederhosen duringbthe Fall or Winter. As far as e can tell, they are wearing knickers-length lederhosen.

Lederhosen continued to be worn in the 1960s, but their popularity was declining. Jeans were clearluy making inroads. The halter or braces begin to become less popular--especially with older boys wearing them. We notice younger boys still wearing the halters. We note that it was becoming much less common to wear short pants including lederhosen to school during the winter. Younger boys did wear knickers-length ledergosen during the winter. HBC continues to note, however, German boys wearing lederhosen in school photographs. They were also popular with Scouts. Shortpants lederhosen called seppelhose were until the 1960s commonly seen attire on youths in Germany from before World War II until the 1970s. This fashion custom after the 1960s seemingly become anathema.

Usage

Lederhosen continued to be worn in the 1960s, especially the early 1960s. Their popularity was declining, especially by the late 1960s. Jeans were clearluy making inroads. Shortpants lederhosen called seppelhose were until the 1960s commonly seen attire on youths in Germany from before World War II until the 1970s. This fashion custom after the 1960s seemingly become anathema. This was especially true with lederhosen worn with kneesocks. Except for boys foormally dressed or very young boys you rarely see German boys wearing lederhosen with kneesocls after the mid-1960s.

Halters

The halter or braces begin to become less popular--especially with older boys wearing them. We notice younger boys still wearing the halters. Older boys who wore lederhosen less commonly wore the traditional halters.

Seasonality

We note that it was becoming much less common to wear short pants including lederhosen to school during the winter. Younger boys did wear knickers-length ledergosen during the winter. HBC continues to note, however, German boys wearing lederhosen in school photographs.

Scouting

Lederhosen were also popular with Scouts.

Popularity

HBC is not sure why the popularity of lederhosen began to decline. Some have sugested an association with NAZIs. There are images showing Hitler and other NAZIs wearing lederhosen. A HBC reader writes, However, ."There is no association in Germany with the Nazis whatsoever. The Hitlerjugend has been known to discourage the wearing of lederhosen with the uniform. Lederhosen were a popular folk costume for both boys and men in Southern Germany , Austria and South Tyrol long before the NAZIs came to power." HBC tends to believe the declining popularity was part of a genereral decline in the popularity of short pants, especially among teenagers. There is also of course the influence of the American fashion industry. A HBC reader comments, "I don't understand what happened. From my research using Google image search (a wonderful tool!), the period in which you were most likely to see a German boy in lederhosen was from the late 40s to the early 60s. This was certainly after the NAZI era. By the late 50s, lederhosen were so popular that even French boys were wearing them. Then during the 60s German boys exchanged the colorful ethnic dress of their own land for the colorful ethnic dress of my land - blue jeans. By the 70s it was only the rare German boy who would consider lederhosen for everyday wear. Increasingly, lederhosen were worn only by the youngest boys - boys who were too young to have much choice in what they wore. Lederhosen for schoolage boys is now limited to fancy styles for special ocassions. Ask a younger German today about lederhosen and he'll look at you funny. He'll admit that he had a pair when he was 3 years old, but not since. He'll say that they're only worn in the south, not in his part of Germany. He has little idea how popular they were 40 years ago." If anyone else has any insights into what happened to lederhosen, please share your thoughts with HBC.

Jeans

One reason that Lederhosen began to decline in popularity is that German boys began to increasingly wear long pants and short pants began to go out of fashion. This was combined with aew fashion phenomenon--American jeans. We see jeans in the 1950s, but they really did not begin to become popular for boys until the 1960s, especially the late 1960s. It was teenagers who were increasingly making fashion decesions on their own that began wearing jeans. Many mothers and fathers did nokt approve of them. We are not sure here who objected more. And pre-teen and younger teens had much less to say avout their clothing than older teenagers. But by the lste teens we see many boys wearing jeans rather than Lederhosen and other types of short psnts. This fashion shift was much more pronounced in the 1970ds. Short pants were in the 1960s not yet entirely casual summer wear, but boys did begin wearing them mostly in the summer. Jeans were seen as casual wear and thus on a number of levels began replacing Lederhosen.

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Created: December 3, 2003
Last updated: 8:31 AM 6/10/2009