We know that long stockings were commonly worn in England. We also see knee socks appearing substantially before they were common in America. At this time, we have little information indicating the prevalence of long stockings in the early- and mid-19th century. A major problem is the absence of photographs. Photography was not invented in the early-19th century and unlike America, it was not very common in England during the mid-19th century. We have been able to find very few English Dags and Ambros (1840s-50s). There were some active hobbiests. Our earliest image is a Lewis Carol portrait of the Cameron boys in the late-1850s. Note the stripped long stockings. The number of such images, however, is very limited. There are drawings and fashin magazines, but these are not as defintive as actual photographs. We do not see many English portraits until the appearance of CDVs (1860s). Suddenly we have large numbers of images to work with. An early example is an unidentified boy in the 1860s. We note another unidentified child wear long stockings, we think in the 1870s. And amother unidentified boy wears long stockings, clearly ribbed stockings, we think in the early-70s, but this is just an estimate. After the turn of the 20th century, we still see boys wearing long stoclings, but it is not always clear. With the foundation of Baden Powell's Boy Scouts, knee socks rapidly replaced long stockings in Britain. This is a little difficult to assess becase the short pants are so long. We note an English boy wearing white long stockings in 1916. By the 1920s it was unusual to see an English boy wearing long stockings. Girls did, however, continue to wear them. Quite a few girls' schools had the girls wearing long stockings. Conservative schools required girls to wear long stockings into the 1930s and even the early-40s. This was not for warmth or even formality as they were worn as part of the everyday unifiorm. We believe it was a modesty convention. We do not see them in England after World War II.

The 18th Century

Both English boys and men wore long stockings with knee beeches during the 18th century. Affluent people wore white silk stockings, the wrking class wore naturally colored stiockings, we think made of wool. Cotton was still an expensive material.

Figure 1.--This unidentified boy in a CDV portrait is wearing striped long stockings, we think in the 1870s. The Studio was Augustus Wilson in Kingsland and London.

The 19th Century

We know that long stockings were commonly worn in England by boys, although not at the beginning of the century. Long pants became common for boys in the early part of the century, at a time when men were still waring knee breeches. We also see knee socks appearing substantially before they were common in America. At this time, we have little information indicating the prevalence of long stockings in the early- and mid-19th century. A major problem is the absence of photographs. Photography was not invented in the early-19th century and unlike America, it was not very common in England during the mid-19th century. We have been able to find very few English Dags and Ambros (1840s-50s). This was the time that shortened-length pants began to become fashionable for younger boys. We believe that they were mostly worn with long stockings. Agood example is Philip Saltmarshe about 1859. There were some active hobbiests. Our earliest image is a Lewis Carol portrait of the Cameron boys in the late-1850s. Note the stripped long stockings. The number of such images, however, is very limited. There are drawings and fashin magazines, but these are not as defintive as actual photographs. We do not see many English portraits until the appearance of CDVs (1860s). Suddenly we have large numbers of images to work with. An early example is an unidentified boy in the 1860s. We notice a lot of light-colpred stockings in the 1860s, often matching the suits. A good example is an unidentified Lincoln boy. We note another unidentified child wear long stockings, we think in the 1870s. And amother unidentified boy wears long stockings, clearly ribbed stockings, we think in the early-70s, but this is just an estimate.

The 20th Century

After the turn of the 20th century, we still see boys wearing long stoclings, but mostly in the 1900s decade. A good examplw is an unidentified boy about 1900-05. We alo see Crespal Gordon Stoddart. With the foundation of Baden Powell's Boy Scouts, knee socks rapidly replaced long stockings in Britain. This is a little difficult to assess because the short pants are so long. We do see boys wearing long stockings in the 1900s and 10s, but this seem realtivly rare after World War I. We see long stockings shrly decliniung in yjhe 1910s, espcilly for boys. They persisted a little longer for girls. It is no always clear in he phorographiuc record. We believe there was a transition between long stockings and knee socks. Boys apparently began turning over the tops of theie long stockings, creating knee socks. We note an English boy wearing white long stockings in 1916. By the 1920s it was unusual to see an English boy wearing long stockings. Girls did, however, continue to wear them. Quite a few girls' schools had the girls wearing long stockings. Conservative schools required girls to wear long stockings into the 1930s and even the early-40s. It was in part a matter of modesty. We are not sure to what exten hosiery changed as part of seasonal uniforms. We do see girls wearing long stockings during cold weather. A good example is the Iveagh/Guiness girls in 1927. So it seems to be both a modesty and cold weathet convention. We do not see long stickings in England after World War II. They may have been worn at a few conservative schools. but we do not yet have examples. A relted garment, tights, begn to be worn by girls, we think in the 1960s, but we are sure were being worn by the 70s.

Created: 8:42 PM 12/16/2012
Last updated: 10:54 PM 3/12/2018