Figure 1.--As far as we can tell, long stockings in Russia were held up my make-shift sevices. Note the boy here being carried by the the men in a May Day parade, probably in the 1920s. It is hard to tell, but his long stockings look to have been tied on above the knees.

Long stockings were widely worn in Russia. We even note long stockings being worn well after World War II (1939-45). Of course the climate was a factor. After the revolution, the poverty and lack of a real consumer economy suggests to us that stocking supporters were not common. As far as we can tell they were very make-shift sevices. Note the boy here being carried by the the men in a May Day parade. It is hard to tell, but his long stockings look to have been tied on above the knees (figure 1). We believe that the informal devices like the ones used in Germany were common. We are less sure about the era after World war II. We note these in various school portraits. We note a Soviet kindergarten boy in 1964. We are not sure precisely what kind of stocking supporter that he is wearing, but the photograoh gives some idea because you can see the garter attachment. An example is a Soviet kindergarten photographed in 1971. The photograph shows the way the garters were placed. This is one of the last images of Soviet children wearing long stockings. At ghis time, long stockings were being replaced by tights.

Long Stockings

Long stockings were widely worn in Russia. We even note long stockings being worn well after World War II (1939-45) after they had disappeared in most other countries. Of course the climate was a factor. Boys in other countries such as the Baltic countries and Russia also wore long stockings. HBC doesn't have good information on these countries, but hope interested readers will provide some information. A Russian reader tells us that long stockings began to be worn in Russia during the 1880s. This was when kneepants bgan to be more commonly worn by boys insttead of the long trousers boys wore earlier in the 19th century. While they were commonly worn with short pants in Germany and Poland, this was less true in Russia where short pants were not as commonly worn--except briefly during the summer. Some younger boys, however, did wear shorts year round with long stockings. Some boys wore shorts to school with long stockings. We believe that long stockings were very commony worn in Russia. THey were pratical for the cold Russian weather. A Russian reader tells us, however, that long stockings were not just a cold weather fashion, but were also worn by boys in other seasons. Conventions varied, long stockings were worn fir dressy occassions, to school, for play, and other activities. A Russian reader reports that long stockings were commonly worn through the 1960s, but that after tights appeared about 1969 they rapidly replaced long stockings. They were little seen in Russia after 1972.

Chronology

After the Revolution, the poverty and lack of a real consumer economy suggests to us that stocking supporters were not common.

Approaches

There were a range of different approaches to supporting long stockings in Russia.

Make-shift approaches

As far as we can tell they were very make-shift sevices. Note the boy here being carried by the the men in a May Day parade. It is hard to tell, but his long stockings look to have been tied on above the knees (figure 1). We believe that the informal devices like the ones used in Germany were common. We are less sure about the era after World war II. We note these in various school portraits. A HBC reader writes, "The round garters worn here do seem to be strips of cloth or ribbon that could be tied to keep them tight, although we can't see any bow or knot. But I suspect that these garters are just elastic garters what have frayed at the edges, giving a somewhat tatty appearance. Women sometimes wore round garters with frilly edges. Maybe the boy's mother has simply put a pair of her less good quality garters on her son to keep his stockings up. I'm sure any boy would hate wearing his mother's discarded items. What is interesting, also, is the shortness of the stockings in relation to the hem of the short pants. My impression is that most long stockings worn by children in the 1920s and later were knit much longer. Certainly HBC photographs from this period suggest longer stockings as the rule. Maybe these are home-knit stockings rather than the kind normally sold in shops for boys and girls. Nevertheless, a very revealing photo for both stocking support and stocking length. I wish it were possible to nail down the dating a bit more precisely." HBC has no additional information as to the date of this photograph, bur it hs the look of the mid- to late-1920s to us. The grters could be elastic. The reason that we think that cloth ties are more likely is that elastic is made from rubber which the Soviets would have had to import. Given the economic conditions in the Sovit Union during the 1920s, we suspect that elastic may have been a difficult to obtain item except for the privlidged class.

Support garments

We are not entirely sure how Russian children held up their long stockings. There were no advertisements in Soviet magazines. Thus we do not find the advertisements like the ones for garter waists in American catalogs and magazines that show us how American children held up their long stockings. We note a Soviet kindergarten boy in 1964. We are not sure precisely what kind of stocking supporter that he is wearing, but the photograoh gives some idea because you can see the garter attachment. We note one photograph in the HBC school section that shows how some Kindergarden children in 1965 were holding up their long stockings. Some of the children are apparently wearing bodices (the Russian equivalent of the German Leibchen) with hose supporters attached in front rather than at the sides. There may have been two supporters at the back to balance the two in front also, but the photo doesn't clarify that. Notice the tall boy's stockings (second from the right). A 1964 post card also provides some clues to stocking supporters. A reader writes, "Notice that the garter clasps show under the lad's short trousers and that there are two single straps for each leg rather than the double-pendant Y-shaped garters that were so common in the United States. The boy is undoubtedly wearing a bodice with two garters on the side (like the one faceing in the illustration) and two others in front (clearly implied by the position of the stocking top on the other leg)." Another example is a Soviet kindergarten photographed in 1971. The photograph shows the way the garters were placed. This is one of the last images of Soviet children wearing long stockings. At ghis time, long stockings were being replaced by tights.

Created: 6:16 PM 11/27/2005
Last updated: 8:48 PM 4/23/2008