Boys' Historical Uniform Garments: Knee Socks--Colors

Figure 1.--British Cubs often wore white kneesocks for formal occasions like ScoutvBand competitions. Note the green flashes on the white kneesocks.

We notice boys wearing knee socks in several different colors as part of their youth group uniforms. There are several color, but the ranf=ge is fairly limited. For the mot part they were fairly neutral and not bright colors. We have noted black, blue, brown, green, grey, khaki, and white knee socks, done in many different shades. White other colors have been used, these by far the most common. Some geoips were not very strict about the hosiery worn so you get greater variety. Knee socks were usually solid colors of the same color as the short pants, with a few exceptions. The colors tended to match the pants, but this was not always the case. Some groups had colored bands at the top or colored tops. Currently the major example here is the American Cubs and Scouts. The Hitler Youth dressed in white kneesocks on formal occassions, contrasting with the black shorts. We have occassionally noticed other groups wearing white knee socks for special occassions, such as English Cubs.

Black

The Boys Brigade in many countries adoopted navy blue uniforms. Navy shorts were often worn with black knee socks. New Zealand Brigaders wore black kneesocks.

Blue

Various shades of blue have been used for uniform knee socks. The most common were dark shades, especially navy blue. This was especially common for Sea Scouts. One group which had bright blue knee socks was Camp Fire.

Brown and Tan

Many Scout groups adopted brown and tan uniforms, including the British, Japanese, Australians, New Zealnders, South Africans, and many other national Scout groups.

Gray

Grey knee socks were adopted by the British Cubs, in part so boys could wear their school clothes and not have the expense of buying a lot od special garments for cubs. Official Cubs kneesocks for many years has two top bands. Many boys, however, wore just plain grey kneesocks. Many British boys wore grey shorts and kneesocks to school. Korean Scouts had a uniform of grey shirts, shors, and kneesocks. The Italian Balial adopted grey kneesocks.

Green

American Bpy Scours adopted a green uniform in the 19?0s. While most boys wore the uniform with long pants, boys wearing the short pants uniform wore green kneesocks.

Khaki

Early British and American Scout uniforms were khaki, including khaki kneesocks. Scouts in many other countries adopted the miliary khaki uniforms for their early uniforms.

White

French and German Scouts sometinmes wore white kneesocks. This was probably because boys from several European countries might wear white knee socks when dressing up. Hitler Youth boys wore white kneesocks with black shorts. We see quite a number of HJ boys wearing white knee socks. This was especially common for formal occassions or somnetimes on trips where they wanted to mske a good impression. British Cubs also sometimes wore white kneesocks for formal occasions. This seems most common at Scout band competitions. Smart uniforms were one way that the band groups were rated. This was a little unusual because English boys rarely wore white knee socks. General white socks were seen as a girls' style in Britain. We also do not see American couts or Cubs wearing white knee scks.