Figure 1.--This little English boy wears a very plain romper which looks like a play romper. The photograph is undated, but we would guess was taken during the 1920s after World War I. The early-30s is also possdible. His older brother wears low-cut sneakers (plimsols) without hosiery, clearly a summer scene although the older boy is wearung a tie and ling sleeves. The boys look to be about 3-8 years old. Click on the image for information about hosiery seasonality.

We are not sure when rompers first appeared in England, but we do note then in the photographic record after World War I in the 1920s. Our English archieve is still very limited, so we are not entirely sure about how common they were. We suspect a few boys may have worn them. The fact that we have found few examples, however, suggest that they were not very common. They might have appeared erlier, but we do not note them any earlier in the photographic record than the 20s. They seem to have been most popular as beachwear. A HBC reader remembers during the post-World War II period that he has dim memories of children (younger than 4 years) wearing a combination garment of blouse and knickers, waistless, these were usually smocked across the upper chest, and with elasticated legs, the seat was wide enough to accomodate a nappy. Boys may have worn French-styled rompers in the 1940s and 50s, but we have very little information. We have found a few images. We do not think they were nearly as common in Britain as they were in France or even Germany. (Large quantities of French consumer goods were shipped to Germany during the World war II occupation. After the 1960s. as bes twe can tell, they seem to have been basically an infant outfit.

The 1900s

We are not sure when rompers first appeared in England, but we do not note themn in the photographic record durug the 19th century and they are not very common before World War I. Our English archieve is still limited, so we are not entirely sure about just when they first appeared and how common they were. We have not yet found any examples at tgheturn-of-the 20th century. We think, however we have found one 1900s image. The photograph is undated, so we hsve to estimate the date. Oy is clearly not the 1890s. It could be the 1910s, but the 1900s seems the more likely, primaly because the ladies still wear dresses that cober the ankles. We think it could be the mid- or late-1990s, but probably not the 1910s. Perhaps readers will have some thoughts on this. The boy looks to be about 5 years old. He has a sun hat whivh he wears with a chin strap. His romper suit is very plain. We are not sure what color it may have been The one pice suit is beltless with no defined waistline. It has half sleeves and extends to the knees. We don't see any any of the other children in the background wearing rompers.

The 1910s

We still do not see English children wearing rompers in the 1910s before or during World War I. That does not mean they have not yet appeared, but we have not yet found photographic evidence that they were being worn by either boys or girls.

The 1920s

We begin to see English children wearing rompers after World War I in the 1920s. The fact that we have found relatively few examples, however, suggest that they were not very common. They might have appeared earlier, but we do not note them any earlier in the photographic record than the 20s. We have only found images which show boys wearing the rather shapeless baggy rompers. The little boy here is a good example (figure 1). At first they commonly came nearly to the knees, but gradually got shorter. We have found shorter-cut rompers being worn by the end of the decade, by both boys and girls. The boys tended to be younger chaps, pre-school ages are early primary ages to about 8-9 years of ages. Much older girls wore rompers than boys. They seem to have been viewed as beachwear to protect clothing on the beach while playing in the sand or paddling in shallow water. Some older girls may have swam in them, we are not entirely sure about that. Many seem to have been done in a heavy material, perhaps water repelent.

The 1930s

We notice French boys beginning to wear rather sylish rompers with Peter Pan collars, baloon sleeves, waist bands thast tied in the back and short cut bloomer pants. We have not yet found examples of that in Britain. A HBC reader remembers during the post-World War II period that he has dim memories of children (younger than 4 years) wearing a combination garment of blouse and knickers, waistless, these were usually smocked across the upper chest, and with elasticated legs, the seat was wide enough to accomodate a nappy. The younger boy here seems to be wearing a romper, we think in the 1930s (figure 1). Notice his big brother's sporty dress. A reader sends us a family snapshot of his brother Graham wearing a romper suit at the beach (1932). A lot of the Englidh photographs we are found show boys wearing them at the beach.

The 1940s

Boys may have worn French-styled rompers in the 1940s and 50s, but we have very little information. We have found a few examples, but not yet the baloon-sleeve romper suits. One example shows a sleeveless romper suit. We have not yet found that in France. We have found only a few images. This is enough to tell us that rompers were worn, but not how commonly or the age conventions. As HBC grows, we hope to find more information on this. We do not think they were nearly as common in Britain as they were in France or even Germany. (Large quantities of French consumer goods like clothing were shipped to Germany during the World War II occupation (1940-44). As far as we can tell, rompers were still only for boys.

The 1950s

We continue to see English boys wearing on the 1950s, bit they do not em to be as ommon ss in the 1940s. We do not have a lot of images yet, but we have a few. They show toddlers wearing rompers. They seem to be for boys up to about 4-years old, a little younger than what we see in the 1940s. We note H-bar rompers. warlier we mostly see romper suits rther than H-bsr or suspender rompers. We are not sure bout girls yet as our archive is still very limited. .

The 1960s

After the 1960s. as best we can tell, rompers in England seem to have been basically an infant outfit.