Underwaists Chronology

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Figure 1.--Many portraits show boys wearing long stockings. The way they fit, pulled up smartly clearly shows that some sort of support garment was worn. Of course there is no way of telling. One of the most common garments was an underwaist. We suspect that this German boy probably wore a Leibchen which was a kind of underwaist. This portrait was taken in 1929. A reader writes, " This is quite an interesting photo. I believe you can see the clasps of the boy's hose supporters under this rather tighti-fitting knitted suit rather high up on the leg. This is also a valuable clue to HBC's work on long stocking length in Germany.

The first underwaists that we note are in the late 19th century. This corresponds to the growing popularity of kneepants and long stockings. Knee pants and long stockings were standard boys wear in the 1890s. Girls also wore long stockings. Thus period catalogs offer stocking supporters and underwaists are one of the most important types. They were also very common in the early 20th century. Boys and girls of all ages wore long stockings and thus stocking supporters like underwaists were needed and offered in all major catalogs as well as commonly advertised in magazines. After World War I long stockings became more often worn during the Winter and by younger boys. They were also wore as dress wear to some extent. We note underwaists still prominenrly featured in the 1920s catlogs. The last prominent ads we note are from the early 1940s. Some small ads continue into the early 1950s. Most of the material we have found comes from American magazines and catalogs. We also notice them in Canada, but our information from European sources is very limited. We do note that the German Leibchen and the Korselette were types of underwaists. The British Liberty Bodice is another example of underwaists. We have few dated examples of these foreign underwaists.

The 19th Century

The first underwaists we note are in the late 19th century. We are not sure how long stocking were held up in the mid-19th century. During this period long stockings were mostly worn by younger boys and girls. We assume makeshift arrangements were used like pins. Our information on the mid-1850s is limited by the relative rarity of surviving advertising. Another factor is that lithography allowing the pribting of illustrations was still quite basic. The first ad for a underwaists we have archived on HBC comes from a 1886 advertisement. This corresponds to the growing popularity of kneepants and long stockings. Knee pants and long stockings were standard boys wear in the 1890s. Girls also wore long stockings. Thus period catalogs offer underwaists and stocking supporters.

The 20th Century

Various kinds of stocking supportes were also very common in the early 20th century, including underwaists. Boys and girls of all ages wore long stockings and thus stocking supporters were needed and offered in all major catalogs as well as commonly advertised in magazines. Underwaists were especially common in the early 20th century before World War I. They were commonly worn by most children year round. After World War I they became more often worn during the Winter and by younger boys. They were also wore as dress wear to some extent. They become less common after the 1920s when long stockings began to decline in popularity. The most common type of stocking supporter was the underwaist commonly referred to as "waist". There were, however, several other types.






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Created: 2:48 AM 7/3/2005
Last updated: 10:58 PM 7/16/2005