Figure 1.--This brother and sister for a portrait wear matching strap shoes and white kneesocks. We are not sure when the portrait was taken, but would estimate the late 1940s.
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Figure 1.--This brother and sister for a portrait wear matching strap shoes and white kneesocks. We are not sure when the portrait was taken, but would estimate the late 1940s. |
This brother and sister for a portrait wear matching strap shoes and white kneesocks. The image here is a family portrait and not a staged postcard. The difference is important. It means this is the children's actual dress clothes and not a staged photograph to sell as postcards. Also notice the boys suspender short pants. Suspender shorts were commonly worn by French boys into the early 1960s. We are not sure when the portrait was taken. Like so many images, our assesment of fashion trends is oftn complicated by the lack of dates on many ld portraits. HBC woul estimate that this portrait was taken in the late 1940s or even the early 50s. A HBC reader writes, "I collect old photographs and was surprised when you estimated the boy and girl picture to be from the late 1940s. I would have thought 1930s." HBC is not at all sure about our dating. The late 1930s is possible, but the overall all image, the stuffed animals , the elegant outfits, the boy's blouse, all look to us like the late 1940s and early 1950s. The outfits like the one pictured here ooks very much like outfits adveized in French catalogs and newspapers durig the late 40s and early 50s. The outfits look much too elegant for the dfficult war-years of the early 1940s. Hopefully our French readers will offer us some insughts as to the dating of this image. A French reader writes, "I am agree with our HBC reader.
I believe this postcard is from 1930s or early 40s. What's sure is that these children look very French and dressed in the French style. Why do I date it the 30s and early 40s? This sort of collar was popular at the time for dressy Sunday clothes. Straps shoes were fashionable after World ar I for boys and girls for Sunday or other dress occassions. About the girl. Her dress is typicl for this period with the collar " surpiqué ". This dress was made in " couture ". The styles after World War II (1939-45) were different for both boys and girls. The boy would have had a blouse ( guimpe in French ). His blouse would
have been a style a rounded Peter Pan collar and very probably with puffed sleeves. This boy would have probably had white, blue, or brown sandalettes with ankle socks. The girl would have worn a dress with a round collar and puffed sleeves and a waist belt with a big
bow in the back and never this sort of socks but rather ankle socks. The dress would have also been slightly shorter. The dress would beem made according to the " confection ".
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