Figure 1.--Here we see three children all dressed up on a cool day. The girls wear a a hat and bonnet with overcoats. Their brother wears a flat cap witha knickers suit. He has above the knee knickers with knee socks. The snapshot is undated, but looks like it was taken in the 1920s.

The knickers that appeared late in the 1900s decade were essentially the same lenth as the knee pants which they replaced. We do no see this very clearly as long stockings were so common. When the knee do not show, it is not so ovious. Only in the late-1910s and the 1920s do we begin to notice the above the knee knickers. This was about the same time we also see short pants suits being worn with knee socks. More boys began wearing wearing knee socks, although long stocking were still very common until the late-1920s. Some boys rolled down their long stockings, but mostly we see knee socks by the 1930s. We do not see boys wearing above-the-knee knickers very commonly in the 30s. Perhaps some in the early-30s, but longer lengths were more common. Knickers wih below he knees knitted cuffs became very commomly. Boys began wearing knickers with ankle sovks, but these were all blow the knee lengths.

The 1900s

American boys mostly wore knee pants in the 1900s. This did not begin to change until the end of he decade. Knickers begin to show up in the pgotogrphic record about 1008. We are not sure what caused such a sudden shift in fashion. The fashion shift was very rapid and rltivly complete. Only younger boys continued to wear kne pants for a time. The knickers that appeared late in the 1900s decade were essentially the same lenth as the knee pants they replaced. We do no see this very clearly as long stockings were so common. When the knee do not show, it is not so ovious.

The 1910s

We see two kinds of knickers in the 1910s, bloomer knickers and proper knickers with buckle closures. The bloomer knickers were worn with tunics. Boys almost always wire them secured above the knee. And usually barefoot or with long stockings. A few boys wore proper knickers knickers them with knee socks or turned-down long stockings in the 1910s. And thus they look more like short pants because the knee shows. This was not very common, but we do see some examples in the photographic record, mostly during a short period beginning in the late-1910s. At least this is when we have found examples. A good example is two Texas boys in 1917. This was not very common as we can see from school portraits. The only major exception here was boys going barefoot.

The 1920s

Knickers were no longer virtually universal as was the case in the 1910s. Boys also wore short pants and long pants. We continue to see see a number of American boys with above the knee knickers and bare knees in the early-20s, a continuation of what see see in the late-1910s. This was not common, but we see some exampls. A good example is the boy here wearing a knickers suit in 1921 (figure 1). After the early/mid-20s we rarely see boys wearing above the knee knickers with their knees showing. An exception we noted was a younger boy with his sisters which we noted in the late-1920s. This was primarily because the boy was so young. This was not very common as we can see from school portraits. The only basic exception here was boys going barefoot, but this was becoming less popular.

The 1930s

Knickers were still widely worn in th 930s. They were still very common in the early-30s. By the mid-30s we see more and more boys wearing long pants. Short pants were also worn, but wee not as common as knicers. Here seasonal, age, and social-class fctors were involved. Knee socks became standard in the 1930s, but the knickers worn then tended to be cut longer so the knee did not show. A new type of knickers became popular in the 1930s. They had eslatizied fabric closures wgich were always worn below thw knee. And they wre mostly worn with these loucd patterned knee socks. We do not see bous wering rhe knickers abouve the knee with the knee showing, altough by the late-30s we do see boys wearing anlkle socks with knickers amd the shins showing. We can see these trends in school portraits. This was not very common as we can see from school portraits.

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] [Sailor suits] [Short pants suits]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Eton suits]

Created: 2:13 AM 3/22/2019
Last edited: 2:13 AM 3/22/2019