Figure 1.--Knickers appeared in the late 19th century, but did not become widely worn until after the turn of the 20th century. We see many boys wearing knickers in the late-1900s and they were almost universal by the 1910s.

Knickers appeared in the late 19th century, but were not very common They were worn with long stockings. We do not notice knickers being commonly worn until the late 1900s, often with black long stockings. Knickers were commonly worn in the 1910s, almost always with long stockings. Almost all boys except pre-school boys are the very youngest elementary (primary) school boys wore knickers. American boys in the 20th century wore a variety of hosiery with knickers. This varied by decade. Almost all of the boys wearing knickers in the 1910s wore long stockings, usually stockings matching the color of the pants. Mothers commonly attempted to match the color of the suit and stockings. Black stockings were also still very common. Some boys went barefoot when wearing knickers, but this was not as common as for boys wearing kneepants. At first most boys wore long stockings almost entirely. This began to change in the 1920s. We note some boys wearing knee socks with above-the-knee knickers showing their knees, but this was not very common. By the 1930s knee socks with bold patterns were more common. We see major changes in the 1930s. We note boys wearing light-colored long stockings with dark knickers. We note boys wearing ankle socks during the 1930s, especially during the summer. This appears to have been because knee socks were becoming less popular with boys.

The 1890s

Knickers appeared in the late-19th century. We do not, however, see many American boys wearing them during the 1890s. Most of the American boys we see in the period portraits are primarily wearing knee pants. Both were commonly worn with long stockings.

The 1900s

American boys in the 20th century wore a variety of hosiery with knickers. This varied by decade.American boys continued wearing mostly knee pants in the 1900s. We do not notice knickers being commonly worn until the late-1900s, begining bout 1908. The conversion from straight-leg kne pants was amazingly quick. While the pants chanhed, the hosiery did not. We mostly see boys wearing black long stockings with knickers, just like with knee pants.

The 1910s

Just as knee pants were common in the 1900s, knickers were commonly worn in the 1910s, almost always with long stockings. Almost all boys except pre-school boys are the very youngest elementary (primary) school boys wore knickers. Almost all of the boys wearing knickers in the 1910s wore long stockings, usually stockings matching the color of the pants. Mothers commonly attempted to match the color of the suit and stockings. But a;most all were dark-colored long stockings. Black stockings were also still very common. Some boys went barefoot when wearing knickers, but this was not as common as for boys wearing knee pants, especially in the photographic record. We see some boys going barefoot and wearing knickers, but not nearly as many as we see going barefoot and wearin knee pants in the 1900s. We also see a few boys wearing knee socks (or perhaps rolled down long stockings) with knickers. Thus a few boys have bare knees. It was not very common, but we see some boys dressed like this. While we see some dark knee socks, we do not We do not see the boldly patterened knee socks that appeared in the late-1920s. Some younger boys wore three-quarter socks with knee panrts, often white socks, but these sicks were not worn with knickers. Nor do we see the light-briown tan shades we begin to see in the mid-1920s.

The 1920s

We see fewer boys going barefoot in the 1920s, and fir some reasin this was especiallythe case with knickers. Knickers contunued to be standard wear for American boys in the 1920s. Not quite as pervasive as in the 1910s, but still by far the most common type of pants for American boys. We no longer see older teens wearing knickers. They wore long pants. And we see some boys wearing short pants. This was especially the case for younger boys, but age was not the only factor here. Seasonality and social class were also involved. While long pants bd shorts were on, most boys wore knickers in the 1920s, including during the summer. Unlike the choice of trouser tupes, the choice of hosiery does not seem to hve been affected by age, although color was. Only younger boys wore white hosiery with knickers. Boys continued wearing knickers mostly with long stockings. This was especially true in the early- and mid-1920s. Patterned long stockings eisted, but we rarely see American boys wearing them. At first most boys wearing knickers wore long stockings almost entirely. This began to change in the 1920s. We do see some knee socks. They werev not common in the early-1920s. They existed and sone boys wore them with short pants. We even see some boys weing their knickers above the knee with knee socks showing their knees rather like short pants. This was, however, not very common. We begin to see more knee socks toward the end of the decade, niyno longer worn with above the knee knickers. Unlike long stockings, we begin to see boldly patterned knee socks. We do not know why boys did not wear patterned long stockings, but patterned knee ocks were so popular. We do see some girls wearing patterned long stockings. We see some ankle socks in the 20s, but rarely worn with knickers.

The 1930s

We see major changes with both knickers and hosiery in the 1930s. Knickers were still very common, especially in the early- and mid1930s. By the 1930s knee socks with bold patterns became standard. We no longer see many school age boys weing knickers with long stockings. We note boys wearing light-colored long stockings with dark knickers. We note boys wearing ankle socks during the 1930s, especially during the summer. This appears to have been because knee socks were becoming less popular with boys.

The 1940s

Navigate the Historic Boys ' Clothing Web chronol ogical pages:
[The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Jackets] [Long pants suits] [Blazers] [Kilts] [S ailor suits] [Short pants suits]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Eton suits]

Created: 7:53 PM 1/16/2008
Last edited: 7:35 AM 3/27/2016