Figure 1.--This portait of a little boy with his sisters is undated, but was probably taken in the late-1920s. Patterned knee socks are promarily associated with the 1930s, but we begin to see them in the late-1920s. By the late-20s we no longer see bits wearing above the knee knickers with knee sock. Th boy here is an exception, probably because of his age and the fact that he had sisters. We suspect that once he began school in learned about the coventions among boys. A reader asks abot the identity of the youngest child.

This portait of a little boy with his three siblings is undated, but was probably taken in the late-1920s. We have no accompanying details about the children and their family. The clothing worn by the two younger children are interesting and illustrate some useful trends about period fashions.

The Boy

The boy wearing knickers looks to be aboy 5 years old. Patterned knee socks are promarily associated with the 1930s, but we begin to see them in the late-1920s. By the late-20s we no longer see bits wearing above the knee knickers with knee socks. The boy here is an exception, probably because of his age and the fact that he had sisters. We suspect that once he began school in learned about the coventions among boys. A reader asks abot the identity of the youngest child.

The Youngest Child

A reader writes, "I suspect that the youngest child in the middle may be a boy. I am not 100 percent certain but he appears to be wearing shorts not a skirt with a belt. Girls would not wear shorts to a photo shoot. Also his socks are folded down while his sisters are not (could be an age difference). He also appears (though it is hard to tell) that he is wearing a boy blouse unlike his sisters." We did not notice this. And as we are guessing the portrait was taken in the late-1920s or early-30s, we were a little surprised. Ringlet curls like this for boys were rare by 1930. We think, however, that our reader may be correct. The child does look to be wearing short pants. Both the fold of the garments and the self-belt suggest stringly that the child is a boy. There is so much white, it is difficult to make out the details, such as the blouse/shirt. One small detail. There are minor differences in the strap shoes. The older sister as strap shoes with some girlish touches. The boy's strap shoes are more plain.

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:
[American ringlet curls] [Jackets] [Long pants suits] [Blazers] [Self-belted shorts] [Sailor suits] [Short pants suits]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Eton suits]

Created: 7:37 AM 6/14/2017
Last edited: 7:37 AM 6/14/2017