Figure 1.--This shirt for 13-14 years old boy was advertised in the Dutch-language "Vrouw en Huis" ("Woman and Home") magazine during 1953. Notice the military styling. This may not have been as popular with French-speking Belgians. Note it is worn without a tie, but buttoned. Also notice the large buttons. The boy seems to be wearing cord shorts. The captions read, "We gedenken de 'mannen'" and "Vouwpatroon: Heren en jongenshemd". This would translate as something like, "We remember the [?mannen]" and "Folding pattern (design): Gentlemen's and boys' shirt". A French reader comments, "Notice that this boy's hair is parted on the right which indicates that he comes from an attentive or rich family." HBC is not sure that this is as true for the Dutch as it was Flemis speaking boys.

Some of the styles most associated with Belgian boys are the French styles like smocks and berets. Younger boys wore dresses well into the 20th century. Tunics were a very popular style throughout the 19th century. We do not yet have many specific Belgian garment pages, but we do have done some work on tunics. Boys wore pantalettes with both dresses and tunics. Boys styles could be quite elaborate in the mid-19th century. Smocks were commonly worn to school in the late 19th centurty and early 20th century, but I am not sure how common they were as a non-school garment. Sailor suits became very popular in the late 19th century--even though Belgium had no navy of any importance, Boys mostly wore kneepants in the late 19th century, but short pants became more common by the 1910s. As in France, smocks and berets appear to have quickly went out of fashion in the 1950s. Belgian boys also common wore short pants. Belgium is a very traditional country. Boys in Belgium continued to commonly wear shorts even after other boys in Europe were wearing long pants and jeans. Kneesocks were also commonly worn by Belgian boys. Boys in some private Catholic schools wore white kneesocks although I don't think that was common outside of school.

Headwear

Fashionable boys at the mid-19th century often wore military styled peaked caps. The headwear most associated with Belgian boys is probably the beret also worn by French boys. I think it was more commonly worn by French than Dutch spealking Belgian boys. After World War II, however, the beret was no longer commonly worn by Belgian boys. Boys in the late 19th and early 20th century commonly wore sailor hats and caps. Although Belgium had virtually no navy, sailor hats and caps along with sailor suits were as commonly worn in Belgium as in neighboring Netherlands, Germanym, and France where they were also veery popular.

Dresses

Younger Belgian boys, as in the rest of Europe, wore dresses well into the 20th century. HBC has noted two different types of dress outfits. One our full dresses indestinguishable from the dresses their sisters wore. In fact they may have worn hand-me-downs from an older sister or other relative. The styles generally followed those worn by women, but in reduced styles. While boys by the early 19th century were wearing specialized clothing styles, this was less trur for the dresses worn by girls and younger boys. The other basic dress type were skirts, presumably bodice skirts, worn with matching or coordinated jackets and vests. Pantallets were commonly worn with dresses until the late 19th century.

Tunics

Tunics were a very popular style during the 19th century. We hve little information as to when they appeared, but believe it was eraly in the century. We are also not sure where they first appeared, but probably in England and France. We do know that by mid-century they were being widely worn, although we do not know to what extent working-class boys were wearing them. We do have details on one 1852 tunic outfit shown in a Belgian fashion magazine. Boys styles could be quite elaborate in the mid-19th century, including both dresses and tunics. Tunics could be very plain or worn as part of quite elaborate garments. They were worn with both pantalettes and f trousers. Tunics were still popular by the turn of the 20th century, but the outfits were plairer and geberally worn with knicker-length or short pants. The belt was a common stylistic element with tunics. There were also different buttoning arrangements.

Smocks

Smocks were another garment imported from France that proved very popular in Belgium. We believe that smocks were very commonly worn in Belgium, but have little information at this time. Smocks were commonly worn to school in the late 19th centurty and early 20th century, but I am not sure how common they were as a non-school garment. We believe the styles, colors, and conventions for smocks, especially school smocks, were very similar to France, at least among French speaking families. We are less sure among Dutch speaking Flemish boys. As in France, smocks appear to have quickly went out of fashion in the 1950s. Unfortuntaley we have been able to develop little information about Belgian smocks. We do have, however, a page in Belgian school smocks. We also have a good bit of information about French smocks.

Rompers

HBC notes younger Belgian boys wearing rompers in the 1920s. They were a very popular fashion for boys through the 1960s. They were initially a garment for play and an enormous change from the more restrictive, formals garments in which boys were once dressed. More dressy, formal rompers appeared, but like the play garments were comfortable non-restrictive garments. We believe that rompers in Belgium were primarily adopted from the French fashion. We know of no important difference between French and Belgian rompers. As in France, we assumed rompers were called "barboteuse" in Belgium. There may have been differences in the popularity of rompers between French speaking Walonia and Dutch speaking Flanders.

Pantalettes

Boys wore pantalettes with both dresses and tunics. We begin to note then in the early 19th century. They ranged from the very plain to quite elaborate. Lengths changed iover time in line with dress hems and conventions of modesty. It was considered proper in the eraly 19th century to cover the legs of even very young children. Our information is still limited, but we have noted images from Belgian fashion magazines.

Coats

Belgium located in northern Europe has cold winters. Thus boys needed warm winter coats as well as jackets for cool weather. We d not notice any destinctive coat styles. As in other fashion areas, Belgian fashions were very sililar to French fashions with influences from the Netherlnds and Germany, especially in Flanders. We are just beginning to acquire information on Belgian coats.

Sailor Suits

Unlike some countries where sailor suits were popular, Belgium had no national navy of any consequence. HBC believes that Belgium fashions are basically a function of French fashions and sailor suits were enormously popular in France. Likewise they were extremely popular in Belgium. I'm not sure about the exact chronology, but at the turn of the century most Belgian boys had a sailor suit and commonly wore it. They were an extremely versitile garment They were often worn to school and for a variety of formal occasions.

Suits

Suits weew very commonly worn by Belgian boys, as did boys in other European countries, in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. There were many different styles of suits. We believe that Belgian boys basically followed popular French styles, although we have only limited information at this time. We do note that in the late 1920s and 1930s that an open collar shirt with a wide collar wor over the suit lapels was a popular style. Belgian boys have worn suits with kneepants, knickers, short pants, and longpants. We note a few boys wearing black suits which appear to have been a color that was not popular inmany other European countries, although worn in America.

Sweaters

Belgian boys during the 1920s began wearing sweaters, which tended to to be made longer than now, over their pants--usuallly short pants. We have observed this same convention in other countries--including France, Germany, and the Netherlands. We do not know why this convention developed. Later the sweaters became more shorter and were cut at the waist and often tucked inside the pants. Many sweaters were knitted by mothers and grandmothers and not actually bought in stores. Magazines commonly carried knitting patterns. Many different styles and types of sweaters were worn. The were wrn by both French and Dutch speaking Belgian boys. We are not sire if there were notable stylistic differences between the two groups.

Shirts

Shirts with military styling appear to have been popular in the eraly 1950s.

Pants

Belgian boys mostly wore kneepants in the late 19th century, but short pants became more common by the 1910s, and were mostly worn by Belgian boys after World War I. It is often difficult to identify the two as the first short pants were quite long. Belgian boys also common wore short pants. Short pants at the times were a boys' garment. By the 1930s, a girl might wear shorts for sport or at the seaside, but they remained parimarily a boy's garment through the 1950s. The cut of girls' shorts were not the same as the short pants worn by boys. Older boys might wear knickers. Belgium is a very traditional country. Boys in Belgium continued to commonly wear shorts even after other boys in Europe were wearing long pants and jeans. Corduroy appears to have been a popular material.

Hosiery

HBC still has very limited information on Belgian 19th century hosiery styles. Three-quarter socks seem to jave been popular in the early 20th century. As with much else, we believe that they generally followed French styles. Kneesocks were commonly worn by Belgian boys, especially after World War I. They continued to be worn after World War II, but began to decline in popularity during the 1950s. Boys in some private Catholic schools wore white kneesocks although I don't think that was common outside of school.

Footwear

HBC at this time has very limited information on the footwear worn by Belgian boys. We do not know to what extent wooden shoes were worn as in the Netherlands. Many younger boys appear to have worn strap shoes. Sandals were also popular. We have not seen as many boys wearin sneakers as was the case in France by the 1950s. We have noted some boys wearing boot-like shoes through the 1940s, but oxford styles appear more common. By the 1970s sneakers or running shoes become increasing popular as was the case throughout Europe.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Belgin pages:
[Return to the Main Belgian page]
[Belgian catalogs] [Belgian choirs] [Belgian movies] [Belgian royals] [Belgian schools] [Belgian youth groups] [Belgian families]

Created: August 21, 2001
Last updated: 3:31 AM 11/6/2007