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German boys have worn a variety of sandals. The two basic styles are open and closed-toe sandals. Both boys and girls have worn both of these types in many different styles. The single bar style was the most common. Preferemces and conventions associated with ages and gender have varied greatly over time. Closed-toe styles were most common before World War II, but after the War the open-toe style gradually became more popular.
Before World War II (1939-45), the most common type of sandal worn in Grmany was the English style closed-toe sandal. The popularity declined, however, during the NAZI era (1933-45) as it was not considered sufficiently masucline for Germab boyhood. One never sees, for example, a Hitler Youth boy wearing strap sandals. After the war, sandals swere again worn by German boys, but the closed-toe style was not common. The closed-toe style was more likely to be worn by boys from wealthy families. I think wealthier families orientated themselves on the french style of clothing. In the 1970s children clothes from France were very popular in Germany and French sandals were more commonly the closed-toe style.
German boys wore a wide variety of open toe sandals, nostly in the post World War II era (1950s and 60s). One German HBC contributor reports that the open-toe style became popular after the War because they were cheap and less material were needed for making them. These times raw materials were rare. You needed less leather to fabricate an open toed sandal than for a shie or boot. Some sandals righr after the War were ecen made of old car tyres!
The closed toe sandal was the dominmate style and more popular in Germany than in other European countries. The sandals varied in how open they were. Some had fairly solid arches. Other had "T"-strap stuctures despite the open toe. A German HBC contributor provided an image og a "T"-strap open toed sandal. It came from an East-German movie, an early 1980s release.
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