Figure 1.--This Belgian boy looks to be about 2 years old. He wears a pair of knit suspender rompers with a matching top. The photograph is undated, but looks to have been taken in the 1930s.
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Figure 1.--This Belgian boy looks to be about 2 years old. He wears a pair of knit suspender rompers with a matching top. The photograph is undated, but looks to have been taken in the 1930s. |
The ages at which Belgian boys wore rompers followed the same basic pattern as in France. The age conventions, as in France, changed over time. Rompers were commonly worn by boys from about 2-5 years old, primarily pre-school boys. A French reader confirms this assessment. He reports, "In Belgium, as in France, rompers were worn by boys 1 tbrough 6 years of age--usually until they began primary school. Sometimes on ceratin occassions boys might wear them until 7 years of age. They were, however, especially
popular for 1-4 years olds." Some boys might continue to wear rompers after school for a year or so or for dress occasions, but we do not believe that boys commonly wore rompers after age 7. The Belgian woman's magazine Vrouw en Huis in 1952 showed romper suits for 2-3 year olds and halter romper bottoms for 3-4 year olds. The styles depicted were for beachwear. We do not know at this time if there were age differences between the French and Dutch language communities concerning the ages that boys wore romper outfits. The age that boys wore rompers began to change after the early 1950s when rompers became more commonly worn by even younger boys. By the 1980s, they had become a garment for infants.
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