Figure 1.--This Springfield, Massachusetts boy wears a Norfolk knickers suit about 1905. Note that his knickers don't blouse out much, that became more common in the 1910s. This boy has fastened his knickers below the knee.

The overlap obscured the fact that the knickers commonly buckled above the knee. Some knickers had enough material that they could be buckled below the knee if the boy so chose. Boys apparently preferred to do this, but some parents objected. There appears to have bben a fabric band that bucked that could be moved up or down. Knickers in the 1920s seem to have been made with less bloucing, but we have not yet found an image showing the bucklng arrangement. A British reader tells us, I used to have to wear plus-fours or knickers occasionally in shows I was in. These were actual vintage trousers, not recently made costumes. Regardless of length, they were buckled above the knee. If they had been buckled below, they would have slipped down within minutes. The kneecap kept the material in place. I remember the buckle straps being of the same material as the trousers, about an inch wide and about four inches long, with the material pointed at the end (but I don't know how standard this was). The material was always of a double thickness. The buckle itself would, of course, have been sewn onto the bottom part of the trouser leg. There were no buckle holes or grips, the strap was simply pushed over and under a thin bar in the buckle and pulled tight to keep it in place."

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[The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s]

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[Jackets] [Long pants suits] [Blazers] [Kilts] [S ailor suits] [Short pants suits]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Eton suits]

Created: 6:39 AM 10/6/2007
Last edited: 6:39 AM 10/6/2007