*** English boy clothes -- hosiery








English Boys' Hosiery

English boys hosiery
Figure 1.-- English boys suring the early and mid-20th century commonly wore knee socks. They were both worn for everyday wear as well as for school. Schools with uniforms made them part of the uniform. The English had different terms such as turn-over-top socks and schools socks. We have also seen long socks used.

English boys have wore a range of hosiery over time. British boys became rather associated with short pants and knee socks during the early and mid-20th century, but they are no longer very common. Boys have also worn ankle socks, three-quarter socks, and long stockings. Unlike some European countries, English boys have never commonly wore tight, although they are worn by girls. Boys and their fathers in the 18th century wore stockings with knee breeches. Long pants became popular at the turn of the 19th century, first for boys and later for men. We see boys wearing white socks. More information becomes available at the mid-19th century because styles of shortened length pants began to become popular at the same time photography appeared. Boys wore long stockings, but we see some younger boys wearing socks, commonly before being breeched. Long stockings were very common in the late 19th century as knee pants became increasingly standard for boys. Barefeeet were generally seen as a sign of poverty. Knee ocks at the turn of the 20th century were also common, but not always apparent because knee pants wre so long. Baden Powell when he created the uniform for the new Scout movement helped popularize short pants and knee socks for boys. Knee socks were standfard boys wear during the inter-War era and early post-War era. During the summer boys might wear sandals or sneakers without socks. By the 1960s short pants and knee socks began to become less popular. Even the Scouts dropped short pants, but the Cubs continued to wear short pants and knee socks. English boys in the late 20th century continued to wear short pants, but mostly as casual summer wear without knee socks, The exception was school uniforms. Some schools continued to require school uniforms and this often included knee socks.

Terminology

The English have some special terms for specific hosiery types. These terms mostly concern knee socks which were especially popular in England. There are several terms, some of which can have various meanings. The term "school socks" geerally refers to knee socks which are also called "long socks". We note an advertisement for long socks from the 1930s. The term is also used for the specialized socks school had with colored bands or colored tops. These socks were normally grey with the colored tops in the school colors. Another term is "turn-over-top socks". These are the knee socks done with an extra length that can be turned over to form a cuff where a garter can be used to keep the sock up. The English used the term knee socks less commonly than Americans. Often when the English use the term it means the inexoensive socks with elasticized tops that only extended to the knee and were not long enough to turn over for a cuff.

Chronology

Boys and their fathers in the 18th century wore stockings with knee breeches. The white stocksgs cimmonly shown were for the affluent. Most people wore stockings in homespun colors. Long pants became popular at the turn of the 19th century, first for boys and later for men. This makes it more difficult to assess the hosiery. And girls wore long dresses and pantalettes also making it difficult to assess hosiery. We see boys and girls mostly wearing wearing white stockings and socks although the length is difficult to assess. More information becomes available at the mid-19th century because styles of shortened-length pants began to become popular at the same time photography appeared. Boys wore long stockings, but we see some younger boys wearing socks, commonly before being breeched. Some source report striped stockings at mid-century. We mostly see white stockings. Long stockings were very common in the late-19th century as knee pants became increasingly standard for boys. Barefeeet were generally seen as a sign of poverty. Knee socks at the turn of the 20th century were also common, but not always apparent because knee pants were so long. Baden Powell when he created the uniform for the new Scout movement helped popularize short pants and knee socks for boys. Knee socks were standfard boys wear during the inter-War era and early post-War era. During the summer boys might wear sandals or sneakers without socks. By the 1960s short pants and knee socks began to become less popular. Even the Scouts dropped short pants, but the Cubs continued to wear short pants and knee socks. English boys in the late 20th century continued to wear short pants, but mostly as casual summer wear without knee socks, The exception was school uniforms. Some schools continued to require school uniforms and this often included knee socks. Ankle sicks graduakly become more common. Toward the end of the 20th-century we begfin to see sport socks.

Types

English boys have wore a range of different hosiery types. We note substantial variations over time in both the various types of hosiery as well as for the conventions associated with the various types. over time. British boys became rather associated with short pants and knee socks during the early and mid-20th century, but they are no longer very common. Boys have also worn ankle socks, three-quarter socks, and long stockings. A new type of sock, the sport sock which is a shoerened ankle sock appeared at the end of the 20th century. Unlike some European countries, English boys have never commonly wore tight, although they are widely worn by girls, seasonally in cold weather. Our information is somewhat limited because most of our information concerns the type of hosiery worn with shotened-length trousers. It is much more difficult to figure out the hosiery types worn with long trousers.

Gender

English boys and girls in the 19th century seem to have worn the same or t least similar hosiery. We note substantial differences in the 20th century. When boys began wearing grey knee socks after World War I, we see girls wearing white knee socks and ankle socks. Some younger boys wore white socks, but they were realtively rare with school-age boys. We also notice girls wearing dark long stockings. Long stockings went out of style after World War II. but we see some schools adopting tights for seasonal wear in the 1960s.

Color

Our information on English hosiery color is still very limited. The black and white photography until modern times linmits our assessment. One color that is easily identifiable is white. We see white stockings in the 18th and 19th century, but in the 20th century, white socks were mostly worn by girls, but an exception was made for younger boys. This varied from the continent where we see boys wearing white sicks in several countries. We are not sure why this difference developed. Perhaps the uniforms adopted at private schools were a factor. White became a standard color for hosiery at many schools. Homespun was a common color for hosiery during the 18th century. While white often appears in modern depictions, ghis was nore of a color for the well to do. Most people including children had hosiery which was the natural cilor of the wool used to make the hose. Black is another color relatively easy to idebtify in old photographs. We note some boys with bkavk long stickings, but we are not sure hiw common it was. We do note some conservative schools having girls wearing dark, probably black long stockings until the World war II era. Grey had been the overwealingly dominant color for hosiery in the 20th century. Presumably this is because grey becme such a ciommon color for boys' trousers. Grey knee socks were especially common, some times with patterened cuffs. Schools often had special socks done, usually grey with colored tops or colored bands at the top. Colors are much more difficult to identify. We have some information here ion Anerica. We suspect that colored trends may have been simila, but are not sure. Black long stockings were very common in America, but there were also colors matching boys suits, often blue and brown shades. There were even bright colors like red. We are not yet sure, however, if this was also the case in England.

Seasonality

We are not sure about hosiery seasonality in the 19th century. We notice many English boys wearing long stockings and knee socks during the early 20th century. After World War I we mostly see boys wearing knee socks. But during the summer we see boys wearing sneakers and school sandals without socks. Younger boys might wear ankle socks, but they were not very common for school-age boys. After World War II knee socks began to decline in popularity. This trend was especially apparaent by the 1960s. At this time we see fewer boys wearing short pants all year round, but boys increasingly wear shorts as casual summer wear. Boys commonly wore ankle socks with casual summer shorts. Some schools during the summer term change from knee socks to ankle socks.

Garments

Hosiery depended to an extent on the outfits worn. This is a subject we have just begun to address. At this time we only have a page on the hosiery worn with dresses.






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Created: 9:20 PM 1/18/2008
Last updated: 9:56 PM 2/10/2014