** English boys' clothing : Growing up in England after the War 1950s clothes









Figure 1.--This is one of my slipovers. [HBC would call it a pullover.] This was a rare occassion when I am not wearing a tie.

A Northeastern Boyhood: Clothes

I spent most of my boyhood in short trousers until I was 12 when I graduated to longs. To me short trousers were the badge of my boyhood and although at 12 I was still technically a boy, I feel my boyhood ended when I put on long trousers for the first time. My mother saw to all my clothing needs, and although my wardrobe often needed replenishing through the year, it was at Easter that I was bought the bulk of my clothing. Easter was a time when not only I got new clothes; it was also a time when every kid also got them. I have fond memories of being taken for my new attire, which was always a new suit, which I would wear on Good Friday and for Sunday best. I would also acquire some new shirts, vests (singlets) and underpants. A tie or two, turn-over-top socks and ankle ones for summer and finally a brand new pair of shiny shoes, which would in time, become as scuffed as the others I wore. Last year's new suit would soon become my everyday wear and more often than not, it's jacket would become separated from the shorts that went with it.

Suits

I can't remember all of what I wore during my boyhood, but I remember some of the suits I had at the time. The earliest I can recollect is around five-year-old. It was a time when I wore mainly dark suits of either black or navy blue. In one photograph I have I'm seen wearing a navy serge suit with a pinstripe through the material and a cap. One thing I do remember is how after a while, the serge materials of my suits would develop a sheen mainly on the seat of my shorts where the material came in contact with whatever I was sitting upon. My mother must have had a passion for Tweed, as I had numerous clothes made from Harris Tweed. It was a fabric much firmer than serge or worsted, flannel or Terylene materials. My Tweed shorts for example, seemed a lot firmer than those I had, which were made from say worsted for example. One thing I was always fascinated by is the herringbone pattern, which is a characteristic of the Tweed.

Shorts

I mostly wore short trousers as a boy. I had several different types of shorts in different materials and colors. I don't ever recall wearing grey flannel shorts, but I wore those made from worsted, Terylene and serge materials and I vividly remember these fabrics had quite a pronounced twill to it. One year my mother bought me a checked dark green sports jacket and a much lighter pair of lovat green short trousers in Terylene to go with it. At one time short trousers in lovat green were often as popular as those in grey. I also remember a pair of side buttoning shorts which I thought rather unusual at the time. I'm not sure where they came from, but I recall wearing them.

Corduroy

I rember especially liking corduroy as a boy. My memories take me back to about age 9. When I was that age it was corduroy velvet and now as I look back I view corduroy as having a dual personality. Its velvety texture has a kind of softness and yet the material is very hard wearing. What fascinated me so much about corduroy was the rich velvety sheen it gave off especially when caught in direct sunlight. Then there were the wales, which gave a kind of undulating appearance to the material. I was forever putting my thumbnail between one wale and the next and I loved running my hands down the exquisite velvety fabric. The hem of my shorts had a kind of serrated effect, which always put me in mind of the teeth of a saw. But what I liked most of all was the sweet smell the corduroy gave off when new. To me, nothing can compare with the smell of new corduroy, which is sadly missing today.

My first experience of corduroy came in the form of an outfit comprising of lumber jacket and shorts. It was dark brown in colour and the jacket had elastic at the ends of the sleeves and around the bottom. It had two breast pockets, which were flapped and fluted and these were fastened with buttons. The jacket also fastened with a zip rather than buttons. Around the waistband of the shorts there were loops for a belt, which was always the traditional snake clasp fastener. The shorts were button flied and their legs were of medium length, ending at mid-thigh. The outfit is pictured in the HBC English Mail Order Catalogs and Clothing Advertisements pages in the 1950s section. The outfit of the boy in brown is identical to the corduroy outfit that I wore.

We never had a washing machine at home until I was 10 or 11 and most of the wash went into a boiler in the outhouse. I remember when my corduroy shorts were washed for the first time. In those days, dyes weren't as colour fast as they are today. This meant that you had to be careful with water temperature and if the water was too hot, then the dye would run out of the fabric. Consequently, the first time my corduroy shorts went through the boil, some of the dye came out of the fabric, thereby transforming the gleaming white cotton lining into a pale yellow. The more my shorts were washed the more yellowed the lining of my shorts became. They may have been a dark brown when new, but when they had been through the wash several times, the colour had changed to a brown with a yellow hue to it.

Linings

On the subject of short trouser linings, at one time, a very heavy white cotton was used to line short trousers with. Then the heavier cotton was replaced by the much-lighter polyester/cotton. In the late 1960s, clothing companies took to lining the short trousers they made with a viscose fabric rather than cotton. A firm called Trutex, which made both boys' and girl's school uniforms even went as far as abandoning white as the traditional colour and opted for turquoise instead, this gave the lining a blue appearance. There was always a good inch or so from the hem of the shorts legs to where the lining had been sown to the fabric. Sometimes, you got shorts where the length from the hem to the lining was less than a half an inch and I even had a pair of shorts which was even less than that, and at one or two points, some of the lining of my shorts could be seen below the hem.

Long Trousers

I was one of the first boys of my generation in the neighbourhood to start wearing long trousers. The decission to get my first long trouser suit was possibly a bit of both mom's and my ideas. My first long trouser suit was made from Cheviot wool and airforce blue in colour. Both the jacket and trousers were miles too big for me and I think my mother did this deliberately to allow for growth. I suppose it was made a big thing of, going into long trousers was a big event in your life a kind of rites of passage. It did feel funny at first, I soon got used to people saying how different I looked and it wouldn't belong before I left school. In some respects, I felt a little bit sad that although I was technically a boy, much of my boyhood ceased to exist, the moment I stepped into my first pair of long trousers. On wearing them for the first time I noticed how itchy the material was and how much freedom I�d lost when I walked in them.


Figure 2.--While most of my socks had plain turn-over-tops, I did have a few with bands around the turnovers. Here a pair compliments one of my tweed short trouser suits.

Overcoats

One of the overcoats I had when I was in the infant's school was fawn coloured and made from camel hair. It was double breasted with a belt. I don't ever remember having a navy blue gabardine raincoat; I certainly had plenty of ones in grey or khaki. When I was 10, my Mum bought me a raincoat made by Robert Hurst. It was grey in colour and when standing the hem of the coat came to a good six or so inches past my knees. Inside it was lined with a beautiful iridescent shot-silk, although I tend to think it was an artificial silk, probably acetate or viscous rayon. I was forever spellbound by the way the colours changed from poppy-red one moment to lime green the next, according to the way the fabric was held to the light. I wore this coat until I was 15 and I regretted the day I had to part with it.

Shirts and Woollens

All my shirts were of the long sleeved variety and usually plain (without stripes) white, although I wore the occasional short sleeved polo shirt in summer. I never wore a T-shirt under my regular shirts, as I never liked them. Regarding woollens, I always wore V-necks, never turtle or polo neck sweaters. During the winter, these would be long sleeved, but as the weather began to get warmer, they would be replaced with the sleeveless slipovers. Some of my sweaters were in cream coloured Arran wool and they went well with the grey worsted of my short trousers. I did have cardigans and these had little pockets.

Underwear

My mother was always conscious of my health and she always insisted I wore underwear. I wore cotton vests (singlets) and trunk styled underpants. It wasn't until I was 15 that I started to wear Y-front jockey shorts. When I was about 11, Mum introduced me to a kind of underwear called Aertex, which I wore only in summer. The fabric had tiny holes, which was supposed to let the air through and thereby keep your body a bit cooler.

Shoes

For my footwear I had standard lace-up shoes, either in black or brown. Some were in plain styles and some were brogues with a fancy pattern on the shoe. I can vaguely remember having a pair of sandals. I don�t really know why I didn't wear sandals more. They were very popular at the time. Most of my friends wore them. I recall that from time to time I had white plimsolls. I remember in particular ar age 10 plunging a garden fork into my foot when I was wearing white plimsolls. In one photograph I have I'm seen wearing them together with white ankle socks, which had bands around their tops.


Figure 3.--This snapshot was taken on a very hot day, hence the shirt sleeves and the ice lolly I am clearly enjoying. My braces are holding up a pair or worsted short trousers while the socks are plain wollen ones.

Socks

As with most boys who wore short trousers, I too wore knee-length turnover-top stockings for most part of the year. It's difficult for me to remember what colours they were, but I am sure that they were mostly grey --although I may have worn other colours.. With the onset of the summer months from May to late August, my knee-length socks were replaced by the much shorter ankle socks. I have vivid memories of wearing them with a navy blue serge short trouser suit that I had when I was 9 years old. When I wore knee-length stockings, I would have garters bellow the turnovers to keep them up. I much preferred kneesocks to ankle socks, in fact I very much hated wearing ankle socks. I remember feeling very strongly on the subject at the time, although now I am really not sure why. I mainly wore the ankle socks in summer.

Ties

I was always wearing ties when I was a young kid, right up until I left school in fact, except when the weather was very hot. Again it's difficult for me to remember the style of the ties I had, but I do remember a bow tie that I had when I was 9 or 10. It was in a red tartan and had two clips, which were fastened to your collar.

Caps

I wore caps right up until my 12th birthday. But the older I became, the less I was inclined to wear them. On one or two occasions I wore berets, which I seem to remember had a tiny stub at the centre. I did have a kind of hat made from leather, which had flap like things with a buckle at the bottom. In fact, most boys I knew had similar hats.

Braces (Suspenders)

I wore braces or suspenders as they are called in America until I was 14, because I hadn't much in the way of hips to keep my trousers up. Sometimes I wore both braces and a snake clasp belt.

Anthony










HBC






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Created: June 28, 2003
Last updated: 5:41 AM 1/22/2005