Figure 1.--Here is an example of French suspender shorts during the 1950s, in which the method of buttoning can be clearly seen. It is from a short film called "La récréation" made in 1958 by Paul Carpita. Notice how the suspender straps are angled in here. We have not seen this very commonly.

We do not have a complete chronology of suspender shorts, but they appear to have been widely worn by French boys from the 1930s through the 1960s, but were perhaps most common in the 1940s and 50s. A HBC reader reports, "I've noted several examples of French or French North African boys in suspender shorts, as late as 1961 and as old as the class "cm2". That's equivalent to American 5th grade, although French school classes have a wider age range. The boys in suspender shorts were among the smaller boys in their classes, so I think that by that time they weren't made for boys above the age of nine or ten. The HBC story of Shawn on the French ocean liner with his grandmother is plausible, as the the suspender shorts that she bought him were what the eBayers call "new old-stock" and would have been manufactured at a time when such shorts might be worn by a boy who was almost twelve. Even so, to the people in France in 1963 he may have looked slightly old for such shorts."

The 1920s

The 1930s

Suspender shorts appear to have been widely worn by French boys from the 1930s through the 1960s. We note a younger boy wearing suspender shorts in the late 1930s. Mother has crossed the straps in front, probably because she bought a larger size he could grow into.

The 1940s

Suspender shorts seem to have been most common in France during the 1940s. This is a little hard for HBC access with any accuracy because of our relatively limited French aerchive. The images we have found do show many French boys wearing suspender shorts during the 1940s, but our number of images is still to limited to make any firm assessments. A factor here is that so many French boys wore short pants during the 1940s. Many but noy by any means all wore suspender shorts, especially pre-school and primary school age boys. We note both dressy anbd plsy shorts done with suspenders. This depended on both the material used and the blouse/shirt worn with them. The suspender shorts we see in tio the 1940s tended to be short-cut shorts. We also note suspender rompers that were popular in the 1940s.

The 1950s

Here is an example of French suspender shorts during the 1950s, in which the method of buttoning can be clearly seen. It is from a short film called "La récréation" made in 1958 by Paul Carpita. We note Le Redoute in 1959 offering suspender shorts for younger boys age 2- 6 years.

The 1960s

A HBC reader reports, "I've noted several examples of French or French North African boys in suspender shorts, as late as 1961 and as old as the class "cm2". That's equivalent to American 5th grade, although French school classes have a wider age range. The boys in suspender shorts were among the smaller boys in their classes, so I think that by that time they weren't made for boys above the age of nine or ten. The HBC story of Shawn on the French ocean liner with his grandmother is plausible, as the the suspender shorts that she bought him were what the eBayers call "new old-stock" and would have been manufactured at a time when such shorts might be worn by a boy who was almost twelve. Even so, to the people in France in 1963 he may have looked slightly old for such shorts." An American boy tells us about his experiences in France.

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[Eton suits] [Knee socks] [Rompers] [Smocks]

Created: December 29, 2003
Last updated: 7:53 PM 4/25/2011