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Lederhosen means leather pants, it means nothing about length. They are made in two basic lengths, short pants and below the knee knickers length. The knickers or Bundhosen length Lederhosen not only extended below the knee, but had closures of some kind, such as buttons. Some shorts pants Lederhosen were quite long, but had no closures. While these are the two basic types of Lederhosen, the short pants type come in many different lengths. Here there seem to be two factors involved. First was the popular fashions of the day. We notice knee-length Lederhosen in the 19th and early 20th century whern short pants were either not commonly worn or very long. We begin to see shorter cut Lederhosen in the 1930s when boys began to wear shoerter-cut shorts. This was much more the case in the 1940s. And in subsequent decades the length of Lederhosen followed the popular length in which other short pants were worn. The second factor is age. Lederhosen are not cheap. Mothers commonly brought a large size. The halters commonly worn with them could hold them up. They had a cuff like arrangment that could be turned down as the boy got taller. As Lederhosen were vurtually indestrutable, boys commonly wore them for years. Thus older boys with Lederhosen bought a few years earlier would be wearing pants much shorter than when they were first purchased.
The first type of Lederhosen are curzen or short pants Lederhosen. Most Lederhosen are short pants. Some shorts pants Lederhosen were quite long,rather like Bundhosen, but had no closures. While these are the two basic types of Lederhosen, the short pants type come in many different lengths. We thus see short, medium, and long Lederhosen. Here there seem to be two factors involved. First was the popular fashions of the day. We notice knee-length Lederhosen in the 19th and early 20th century whern short pants were either not commonly worn or very long. We begin to see shorter cut Lederhosen in the 1930s when boys began to wear shorter-cut shorts. This was much more the case in the 1940s. And in subsequent decades the length of Lederhosen followed the popular length in which other short pants were worn. Short cut Lederhosen, for example, were popular at mid-century. The second factor is age. Lederhosen are not cheap. Mothers commonly brought a large size. The halters commonly worn with them could hold them up. They had a cuff like arrangment that could be turned down as the boy got taller. As Lederhosen were vurtually indestrutable, boys often wore them for years. Thus older boys with Lederhosen bought a few years earlier would be wearing pants much shorter than when they were first purchased.
The second type of Lederhosen are Bundhosen The knickers or Bundhosen length Lederhosen not only extended below the knee, but had closures of some kind, such as buttons. We do not see many boys wearing Bundhosen in the early- and mid-20th century, but by the late-20th century theu had become more common, in part because short pants had declined in popularity. Bundhosen are rather like ski pants and are commonly worn with either knee socks and tights and are suitable for winter wear.
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