Figure 1.--This English boy, probably in the 1920s, wears a romper suit. He looks to be about 2 years old. The portrait was taken in in Tronbridge, a town south of London..

Rompers in England were mostly worn as play clothes. HBC has little information about English rompers and in fact was not even sure if these outfits are also called rompers in England. An English reader tells us, "In the United Kingdom rompers is the name given to the all in one baby-grow babies are sometimes dressed in. These being a one piece item incorporating arm and legs (including feet) as well as the main body usually fasten using press-studs. I have never seen anyone wear what the unfortunate boys in the French photographs are wearing, although in the late 1950s very young boys would sometimes wear shorts with the same appearance. I can't comment as to whether all in one tops and shorts were available but have never seen them mentioned." We are not sure when they first appeared in England, but we do note then after World War I in the 1920s. 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.

Chronology

We are not sure when rompers first appeared in England, but we do note then after World War I in the 1920s. They might have appeared erlier, but we do not note them any earlier than the 20s in the photographic record. 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 them in the 1950s, but we have very little information. After the 1960s they seem to have been basically an infant outfit.

Teminology

We were not sure if these outfits were also called rompers in England. Our English readers tells us that the term is used. An English reader writes, "In the United Kingdom rompers is the name given to the all in one baby-grow babies are sometimes dressed in. These being a one piece item incorporating arm and legs (including feet) as well as the main body usually fasten using press-studs."

Conventions

As we have so few inages and no catalog information at this time, we have little idea about the conventions involved with English rompers. We are not sure if they were a boys' garment as in France or also worn by girls as in America. We do see some girls wearing them, but the small number of images involves do not make for a definitive statement. . They do seem to have been a kind of play suit. We have not noted the more formal rompers as sometimes seen in France, but our archive here is still very limited. As far as we can tell so far, rompers in England beyond the infant stage were mostly worn as play clothes. They seem to have been particularly popular as beachwear. They were no for swimming, but for children paddling pn the beach amd playing in the sand. We notice an unidentified boy wearing romper pants as beachwear in 1927. Notive he is wearing a blouse or shirt with the rompers. We notice similar images into the 1950s. HBC has little information about English rompers. An English reader tells us, "I have never seen anyone wear what the unfortunate boys in the French photographs are wearing, although in the late 1950s very young boys would sometimes wear shorts with the same appearance. I can't comment as to whether all in one tops and shorts were available but have never seen them mentioned."

Gender

We do not yet have much gender information on rompers. English readers have not commented to any extent on the topic. We have no information on the 19th century. We note some English children wearing rompers in the early-20th century. We think early rompers in England were worn by both boys and girls. These were mostly pre-school children. We note a girl wearing rompers for paddling on the beach in the inte-War era. Older girls might also wear them. We are not yet sure if romper suits were worn for school gym class in Ebgland, but bloomers certainly were. By the 1960s we see school-age girls wearing rompers. A good example is an unidentified girl with a swim club group. We are not sure if she is wearing her eomper suit as a swimsuit or after swiming, but it seens ti be swimsuit. This was appaently a swimsuit, but would not have been very good for competitive swimming. Hopefully our British readers will be able to throw some light on this topic.

Younger Boys: Usage

Rompers do not appear to have been as popular in England as they were in France and many continental countries. We see a lot fewer boys wearing rmpers. We do not notice English boys wearing dressy rompers like French boys. While we have not noted many examples of English boys wearing rompers in the photogrphic record, we do notice a few for ply wear, espcilly for beach wear. Whether this constitutes a good indication of prevalece we are not entrely sure. Many of the rompers we do see were not like short pants like casual wear, but rubberized garments to be worn over a child's clothes for plying on the breach, kind of like a smock-like potective garments only with baloon pants ith elatiied leg closures. These were not swim suits ike the ones worn by some American girls, but beach play outfits. We notice both romper suits and romper pants with bib fronts. We mostly see these rompers in the 1920s and 30s, primarily snap shots. For some reason we don;t see many studio portrait. And we only see boys wearing these romper suits.

Older Children: School Gym and Swim Suits

Romper suits were used as school gym suits throughout Europe. We also notice romper suits biung worn This was of course most common for girls. Rompers were commonly paired with middy blouses for girls gym suits. This was common in Britain ascit was in the continent and America. We are sure about the romper suits also used for gym in America. We have not yet noted them in England. We do notice romper swim suits. They were most common for girls, but we see some younger boys wearing them, much as we see both boys and girls wearing romper play suits. We notice boys in the continent wearing romper pants for gym. This seems to have been modt common in Scandinavia. We have not noted this very commonly in England, but we have found a few examples in thephotographic record. Perhaps our English readers will j=know more about this.

MacIntosh Knickers

A HBC reader noticed that the rompers a boy was wearing on a HBC page seemed to have a peculiar fabric. It is stiff. It doesn't fall into folds, unlike the cotton material of which rompers would usually be made. I think they are made of a rubberised material or have rubberized backing. The fabric is waterproof to allow play on damp sand. Our reader tells us, "I have a dim recollection of seeing such in my early youth, or even wearing them! Pehaps another reader can confirm that such garments were around." He has since found a bit about what were called "MacIntosh knickers". The image is captioned, "If mackintosh knickers with apron front are worn at the seaside, a child may play on the sands and paddle without risk of chill from damp clothes." The entry is from The Every Woman's Encyclopaedia along with a discussion of "mud-pie knickers".