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Several different suit styles have been worn by Argentine boys. These have varied over time and also by the social status and affluence of the boys's family. We note styles in the early 20th century that were similar to styles we have seen in Europe. Eton suits were widely worn by boys from affluent families for formal occasions, including First Communion. Some boys only wore an Eton collar with a regular dark suit. Other boys had the full Eton suit with short dark jackets and grey trousers. Eton suits were normally worn with long pants. We notice boys wearing black suits. This appears to have been common in the early 20th century. White suits were also commonly worn for First Communion, especially in the mid-20th century. By the 1950s they were being worn with both long and short pants. The boys in short pants during the 1950s wore kneesocks or less commnly ankle socks with white or black shoes. HBC believes that boys in the 1920s and 30s commonly wore white sailor suits, but do not have photographic images. A reader reports, "My grandfather took his first holy communion in 1923 and he told me that he wore a white suits sailor style and my father in 1955 wore the same kind of suit both of them wore white shoes." Other boys wore regular dark suits. Some boys from affluent families were still wearing short pants suits as late as the 1980s. Some boys wore blazers and dress slacks or their school uniform for First Communion. Other Argentine boys wore many different clothes for First Communion. It depended a lot on social status. The poorer kids mainly wore jeans, various shoes, a shirt or a t-shirt and their white front buttoning school v neck smock. Other boys from more affluent families mainly wore short pants suits.
Eton collars were considered as an appropriate formal look ffor boys in the early 20th century. The boy here wears an Eton collar, probably in the 1920s. He does not appear to be wearing an Eton suit, although details of the jacket are not very clear. I believe I see a lapel here which means that it is not an Eton suit.
Eton suits were widely worn by boys from affluent families for formal occasions, including First Communion. Some boys only wore an Eton collar with a regular dark suit. Other boys had the full Eton suit with short dark jackets and grey trousers. Eton suits were normally worn with long pants. Eton suits were still worn as late as the 1950s.
HBC believes that boys in the 1920s and 30s commonly wore white sailor suits, but do not have photographic images. A reader reports, "My grandfather took his first holy communion in 1923 and he told me that he wore a white suits sailor style and my father in 1955 wore the same kind of suit both of them wore white shoes." Some of the white suits in the 1950s image above appear to have sailor styling, although details in the image are unclear.
We see some very formal First Communion outfits in Argentina. All of the girls' outfits were formal junior weddung dresses. Tge boy's suits were general regulr suits or in some cases white suits especually for the ceremony. But even these suits were mostly done with regular suit styling. Formality was added by touches such as detachable collars, white bowties, and white vests. These seem to be the kind of fornality we sometimes see in France. They were not very common in other countrues. Often white gloves were added. We also see sleeve bows, but these also appeared in less formal outfits as well. This was not the most common First Cimmunion outfits in rgenyina, but we do see a numberof such events. These were individul outfits. we do not see schools or church grouos chosing such formality.
We see boys in the 1950s-70s wearing srandard sack suits. These were regular suits with lapels. We notice a range of colors, including dark, medium. and lihjt colored suits. We also notice white suits.
Both black and white have been used for formal wear. We notice boys wearing black suits. This appears to have been common in the early 20th century. The short pants suit here is a good example of a formal black suit (figure 1). White suits were also commonly worn for First Communion, especially in the mid-20th century. By the 1950s they were being worn with both long and short pants. The boys in short pants during the 1950s wore kneesocks or less commnly ankle socks with white or black shoes. This would match the girl's outfits which were minature bridal costumes. The colored suits had the advantage that they could be worn for other purposes. White suits were more associated with First Communion. The school or church might suggest the color. We see suits being worn with large collars or fancy neckwear. Boys by the 1950s were wearing their suits with standard shirt and neckties. The pants vsaried quite a bit. We see both short and long pants. This vsaried from family to family. The school and church my have made some suggestions. Some boys from affluent families were still wearing short pants suits as late as the 1980s, but by that time suits were bcoming less common or First Communion.. Sleeve bows were commonly added for First Communion.
White suits wee also a popular choice for First Communion in Argentina. We do not have a precise chronology, but they seem to have been especially popular in the 1950s and 60s. They rather matched the girls' white junior bridal dresses. The white of course being particularly appropriate for First Communion as it is associated with innosence. We notice various jacket styles. Some jackets were rather long, but this does not seem to have been a common style. The white suits included both short and long pants. The short pants seem mot common. The short pants white suits were often worn with white knee sovks which were seen as more foirmal than white ankle socks. We note both white and black shoes. The white suits began to decline in popularity during the 1970s as short pants suits became less popular and more casual outfits began to become more popular, at least for the boys.
Some boys wore blazers and dress slacks or their school uniform for First Communion.
Other Argentine boys wore many different clothes for First Communion. It depended a lot on social status. The poorer kids mainly wore jeans, various shoes, a shirt or a t-shirt and their white front buttoning school v neck smock. Other boys from more affluent families mainly wore short pants suits.
We note Argentine boys wearing a range of hosiery with their First Communion suits. Of couese we can only tell when knee pants or short pants were worn. Knickers seem rare. We have noted long stockings, knee sicks, three quarter socks and ankle socks. The popularity of the various tyoes of hosiery changed over time along with general stylistic trends. We do not see many boys wearing long stockings. This is presumably because we gave little inormation in the 19th century. Most of our archive at this time comes from the 20th century. We see a few boys wearing black long stockings in the early-20th century. Stockings were more common for girls, but were usually white long stickings to go with the white junior wedding dresses. Knee socks were very common. We see different colored knee socks, inclusing black, what looks like grey, and white. The actual colors beyond black and white or difficult to assess using the black-and-white photograohy of the day. Both boys and girls wore white knee socks, but only boys wore the dark knee socks. In many insstances mothers chose knee socks to match the Confirmation suits, black knee socks for black suits and white kneesocks for white suits. In other cases knee socks contrasting with the suits were chosen. Knee socks seem very common in the mid-20th century. We do not notice threr-quarer socks much, but this may because in the early-20th century when three-quaer socks were worn, long stockings were often worn. This is a little difficult to assess because we have realtively few inmages from the very-early 20th century. At mid-century we also begin to see some ankle socks, both white and dark socks.
We notice boys wearing black suits with white floppy bows in the early 20th century. We also notice gloves in the early 20th century. Here there were probably social class conventions. It was expensive to buy a new suit, but it might be worn on other occassions. Formal gloves were probably most common with affluent families. Notice the white gloves the boy here has. Notice the boy here does not have a sleeve ribbon, but does wear a medalion of some kind as a kind of locket.
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