Figure 1.-- Lederhosen were popular for vacation wear. This looks like a family outing to a local landmark. The snapshot is undated, but was probably taken in the early-1950s.

We know much more about German Lederhosenm in the 20th century. The introduction of the Kodak Brownie and related cameras significantly expanded the photographic record. At the turn of the century, the additiin of the family snapshot means that we now are able to assess not just what people wore to the photographic studio abn school, but what they wore everyday for a range of activities. They do not seem to have been very common in the early-19th century, at least we have been able to find relatively few examples. And the ones we see tend to be long, knee-length Lederhosen. We have found many more examples after World War I in the 1920s. We are not entirely sure that the photographic record is a valid indicator of actual prevalence, but it certainly is an indicator to be considered. We gradually see more boys wearing Lederhosen in the 1930s and the length began to become shiorter. through the 1950s and this included both boys and teens. And we see boys not inly wearing Lederhosen as casual clothes, but also for a range of dressy occassiions. They were also commonly worn to school, at least by pre-teens and very young teenagers. This changed in the 1960s when German teenagers began wearing jeans. Lederhosen never entirely disappeared, but they become much less common and virtually disappear as school wear except for thev youngest primary boys..

The 1900s

We do not notice many boys wearing Lederhosen in the 1900s, but we do see some boys wearing them. We have some images that could have been taken in the 1900s, but are undated. When children were photographed, girls were costumed in drindles. We are not entirely sure of the conventions, but they seem to be mostly tied up with ethnic costuming and a nostalgic looking back at pre-industrial Germany. As far was we can tell, Lederhosen were mostly worn in Alpine regions, Bavaria and Austria. They were not seen as boyswear as we also see adults wearing them. Some portraits show father and sons wearing Lederhosen. The portraits we have found are of affluent urban children. We are less sure to what extent they were worn by country children.

The 1910s

I do not notice Lederhosen being a distinctively boys' garment in the 1910s. At least we so evidence of this in the photographic record. We do see some portraits of boys wearing Lederhosen as part of folk costumes, byt we see adult men weaung identicak outfits as well. Boys wore lederhosen in the 1910s, but they seem more common with older than younger boys. We do not note many images of younger boys boys wearing them, except as folk costumes. The Lederhosen that we note are commonly cut att knee level and made rather as kneepants. They often had the three buttons at the leg hem. Lederhosen in the 1910s were still largely confined to Bavaria in Germany. We do not see boys commonly wering them outside of Bavaria.

The 1920s

HBC has noted boys quite a number of boys wearing Lederhosen during the 1920s. They still seem mostly confined largely to Bavaria in Germany. Lederhosen seem more common than in the 1910s, at least along younger boys. But HBC does not have sufficent information to confirm this. We note primary children wearing H-bar shorts, but it is often difficult to determine if the boys are wearing lrederhosen. Lederhosen did not have the image as a boys' garment in the 1920s. We see boys, teenagers, and men wearing them. We even see photographs showing Freikorps men and NAZI storm troopers wearing Lederhosen. This changed by the end of the decade, perhaps because Hitler stopped wearing them because he wanted to project a more serious image. (G�ring never did.) Actually the age conventions seem to be that younger pre-school boys did mot wear them. But we see boys of all ages wearing them once reaching school age. They seem ti be mostly worn as a casual or school garment, at least by boys.

The 1930s

German boys in the 1930s commonly wore lederhosen. Lederhosen were not official Hitler Youth uniform atire, but many Hitler Youth boys wore them. Hitler himself wore them, but stopped doing so in the 1920s, because he was advised that they were somewhat undignified and he was attempting to project a statesman-like image. Himmler also wore them. The one NAZI who continued to wear them was G�ring. He had a huge pair to accomodate his sweling girth that he wore at his hunting lodge--Carinhall. Folk costuming had a special place in the Third Reich and thus lederhosen were popular with many ardently nationalistic NAZI parents. We believe that Lederhosen were still a largely regional garment in the 1930s, although their nationalist image may have helped to popularize them somewhat beyond Bavaria. Boys wore Lederhosen for a range of different situations. Some boys may dress up in them, but they seem most common for casual wear and school. We see them being worn casually and to school. Class photographs in the 1930s show many boys wearing lederhosen, especially in Bavaria ans southern Germany. Lederhosen were worn by younger boys, but we see younger teenagers commonly wearing them as well. They were commonly worn with the attached halters. We note that they were not commonly worn with colored check shirts as became popular after World War II. We mostly see white shirts in the 30s. Cost may have been a factor in th 30s. Lederhosen were more expensive than regular pants. And most boys id ot have large wardrobes. In addition we think availbility declined as the NAZI rearnament program expanded. Leather was a critical material. The Wehrmacht was still relied heavily on horse power for logistics. And this meant a great deal of leather was required for the military.

The 1940s

Lederhosen continued to be popular in the 1940s. By the later stages of the World War II, especially by 1944. lederhosen were very difficult to obtain as leather became hard to get. The Allied bombing in 1944-45 devestated German cities creating problems with bith production and transportation. By 1945 lederhosen and other leather products were virtually impossible to obtain. Immediately after World War II, lederhosen were no longer readiably available in Austria and Germany. There was a clothing shortage as the industrial base of Germany had been destoyed. Leather was in especially short supply, notice the number of boys going barefoot in this period. That's why many boys were still wearing the black corduroy shorts that was part of their uniform in the Hitler Jugend until other trousers (including lederhosen) became available. Conditions did not begin to improve signifianly until 1948. Some class photographs show only a few boys wearing lederhosen. Some boys wearing halters were no necesarily wearing lederhosen, especially younger boys.

The 1950s

After World War II, lederhosen were commonly worn by boys. The may have even been more common than before World War II, but we are not positive about that. The wearing of lederhosen by boys as the economy improved spread to Middle and Northern Germany--mainly the short variety called sepplhose- and they were worn by boys of all walks of life in families of all kinds of political opinions. Lederhosen in the 1950s were worn throughout Germany and the increasing prosperity meant that virtually every family could afford them. The popularity of Heimat movies in which they were often featured may have been another factor. They appear to have been very popular with boys in the 1950s. Boys look to have commonly worn them for day to day activities both for play an school. Many boys wore them much as boys now wear jeans. A reader writes, "As these leather pants are virtually indestructable, apart from being very smart, the short type of Lederhosen were a favourite method of dress for their boys by German and Austrian mothers in the past, particularly during the 1950s and 60s, when it was the common practice in Europe for boys to wear shorts until they were well into their teenage years."

The 1960s

Lederhosen continued popular during the 1960s, although jeans were 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.

The 1970s

Lederhosen conventions and popularity varied in the 1970s. Younger boys continued to wear lederhosen in the 1970s. But they were declining in popularity during the decade as boys, especially older boys wanted to wear jeans. Some older boys wore lederhosen but jeans were much more popular, especially as the decade progressed. Lederhosen came to be worn much shorter than knee-length in keeping with the way that boys were wearing other types of shorts. Also, many boys stopped wearing braces,/halters at least over their Scout uniform shirt. Boys still wore colored checked shirts with lederhosen. We note fewer boys wearing kneesocks with their lederhosen.

The 1980s

Lederhosen were less commonly worn in the 1980s, especially in West German. They continuedcpopular in EastvHermany a llittle longer. Most boys, however, wanted to wear jkerans--especially plder boys. They were worn by Scouts and others engaged in outdoor activities. Some boys would wear them with sports jackets for dressy outfits. Zippers were introduced, especially in Northern Germany. Lederhosem declined substanially in popularity during the 1980s by which time they were mostly worn as Scout uniforms or folk events.

Figure 2.--Lederhosen are not a wudely popular garment as they once were in Germany. Now they are mostly worn for Scouting or folk events. They have not, however, entirely disappeared as casual wear.

The 1990s

While less popular than earlier, Lederhosen have not entirely disappeared as casual wear. Hopefully German readers will provide us some insights on the popularity of Lederhosen during the 1990s. HBC's preliminary assessment is that boys also did not generally wear them to school. German boys by the 1990s did not any longer commonly wear boys for leisure wear. Some boys still wear them as casual pants at home. They were also worn for Scouting. Boys also wore Lederhosen for specila occasions and folk events.

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Created: 1:37 AM 8/19/2011
Last updated: 1:02 PM 5/15/2017