Figure 1.--Here I am with the German boy again. He was intreagued with a new toy airplane that we took turns flying together. The difference between his clothes and mine were primarily the socks and sandals. He was used to having his picture taken. I wasn't and was getting a little irritated here.

While in Germany I still wanted to wear my school shorts and socks, even though I was on holiday. I also wore them fully pulled up and with garters - probably out of habit. My mum had bought me a few new items to go away with. Some new shirts and shorts as well as short socks and underwear. Except for the briefs, I hardly ever wore the new items she'd bought. I just felt more comfortable in my familiar clothes. One of the new items was the blue shirt shown here. That shirt was a compromise between me and my mum as she wanted to buy me a couple of short-sleeved stripey t-shirts which I hated when I tried one on. My mom brought me some new shorts similar in colour to the cream-coloured ones the German boy wore. Mine were a lot shorter and more lightweight. I didn't wear them much. I didn't dislike them, but wanted to wear my school shorts. I also wore my good old crepe-soled school sandals. Crepe soles were sort of spongey and bouncy which is why I always liked wearing sandals - they were very comfortable. I did wear some other clothes in German other than those shown here,including very briefly lederhosen, borrrowed from this boy's cousin who I got on with more.

School Clothes

While in Germany I still wanted to wear my school shorts and socks, even though I was on holiday. I also wore them fully pulled up and with garters - probably out of habit - it was big trouble at school to have your socks down, the only worse offence regarding clothing I can recall is having your hands in your pockets - one teacher threatened that the next time she saw a boy with his hands in his pockets she'd get the girls to sew them up (the girls did "needlework" when we were doing "technical drawing" with the headteacher). I think I wore my school clothes as I was a bit homesick and they were familiar to me in a strange country. I was very reluctant to wear anything else in Germany. You know how children are. They are no always logical, but have strong feelings about the oddest things--at least it seems odd to us as adults looking back. I suppose, in a way, I was quite proud of my uniform. I don't think my mum had packed my grey school shirts or I'd probably have worn them too. It's not that I particularly liked school uniform - though I didn't mind it except for the tie - but I was abroad for the first time and these were the only familiar clothes I had from home. I think mum only packed my school shorts and socks for me to wear as best over there - along with a short-sleeved white school shirt of my brother's which even that blue shirt was preferable to - and a new tie. She had no idea I would wear them all the time. The German boys I palyed with did find it odd me wearing those heavy grey shorts and my school kneesocks in the hot weather.

New Summer Clothes

My mum had bought me a few new items to go away with. Some new shirts and shorts as well as short socks and underwear. Except for the briefs, I hardly ever wore the new items she'd bought. I just felt more comfortable in my familiar clothes. I travelled in the clothes shown here, I'm not sure if I took a coat--I must have I suppose but I can't remember wearing it. I was Summer over there and very hot.

New shirt

One of the new items was the blue shirt shown here. That shirt was a compromise between me and my mum as she wanted to buy me a couple of short-sleeved stripey t-shirts which I hated when I tried one on. In the Summer I liked to unbutton my shirt or if really hot take it off and tie it round my waist and that would be impossible with t-shirts. I remembered boys who wore t-shirts always had to tuck them into the waistband of their shorts if they took them off for a play fight and it was easy to snatch them from them. The other thing was that I hated wearing really bright colours - grey suited me fine. That blue shirt at least had sleeves but only 3 or 4 buttons at the top so I couldn't undo it completely and run along with it flying our behind me like I could with a "proper" shirt. I think she also bought me a similar shirt in a pale yellow.

New shorts

My mom brought me some new shorts similar in colour to the cream-coloured ones the German boy wore. Mine were a lot shorter and more lightweight. We'd bought them at BHS with the shirt shortly before I left and I recall at the time how light they felt when I tried them on in the store. I didn't object to these like I did the shirt - it's just that,as I said once in Germany a new country was enough to cope with without new clothes. In fact I grew to like them and often wore them when I got back to England - they were the latest style and I begged my mum to buy me some in that cut to go back to school in,which she surprisingly did when she came back from buying my elder brothers new uniform as well as a new jumper - but I've told you about that already and the jumper was more pleasing to me than the new shorts, although I'm glad I had them as most other boys did and those who didn't got called "elephant legs". Those lightweight shorts and other Summer clothing also made my suitcase light to carry (I noticed the difference from when we used to travel up to my Grandparents in Winter) so that was another good thing about them.

Other items

She also bought me some short socks and new lightweight briefs.

Sandals

I also wore my good old crepe-soled school sandals. Crepe soles were sort of spongey and bouncy which is why I always liked wearing sandals - they were very comfortable (a sort of early version of Doc Martin "airwear" soles that I would be wearing a few years later or today's cushion soled trainers). I used to argue with my mum to let me keep wearing sandals when the colder weather was coming on though most of my mates were glad when they were allowed to put on "proper" shoes again. I don't think sandals in Summer were a school rule - more a parental choice - but, if worn they had to be brown for boys - I think girls wore other colours including white.

German Clothes

I was in Germany during the summer. The German boys I was with mostly wore shorts. I don't know about school wear and cold weather clothes. I never saw (long) jeans on the German boys when I was in Germany but some of them did have denim type shorts - but not blue more stripey. I never saw these in England even later on. I wonder if they were a German fashion for some reason. I borrowed a blue and white striped pair as I told you rather than wear lederhosen - which were the preferred wear of most of the boys my age there for play as far as I could see - but I was in the South of Germany (Bavaria). The older boys wore cotton shorts more as the boy I stayed with did - so maybe even there there was an age difference at around 11 or 12 in what boys wore as was becoming the case in England. The idea of the "teenager" kicking in at a younger age I suppose.

Wearing German Clothes

I did wear some other clothes in German other than those shown here,including very briefly lederhosen, borrrowed from this boy's cousin who I got on with more - he being closer to my age - but I'll tell you about that seperately. It had to do with a river incident and the attempt of my friend's cousins mother to persaude me to wear a pair of his lederhosen. I did, but I still was glad to get back into my school shorts once they were washed, even though I had the new clothes my mum had bought me.

Playwear

As I said when I was in Germany I got on more with the boy I was staying with's cousin who was about the same age as me. I used to play football with this younger boy and a group of his friends aged about 8-12 while the boy I was staying with would be off with his older friends flying those model aeroplanes or, worse to me, indoors building them. I was never very interested in that sort of thing, preferring to be outdoors. Although these younger boys couldn't speak English hardly or me German we got on fine as kids do. I don't think the older boys parents were very pleased as they wanted me to be with their son so he could practice his English which he must have been learning at school or something. The housing estate where I was staying was quite new and there was still building going on in parts so there was always something interesting to do for us younger boys. One day the boy I was staying with was going off fishing with a friend and explained to me that he would borrow a bike for me to go with them. I'd never been interested in fishing and I also didn't like riding bikes. We weren't allowed them at home until we were older as even then the roads in London were pretty dangerous places. The bike he was going to borrow was from his cousin and when we went round to his house I got the impression that the boy didn't like the idea of me borrowing his bike, or something. I couldn't really understand what was going on because they were speaking in German. Anyway it turned out after some conversation between the boy and his Aunt that I could stay there with the cousin while the older boys went off fishing. This suited me fine. I was also glad that he could take all the German sausage rolls that his mum had made and I didn't like.

So I was back playing with my German mates. It was still quite early so we had to wait a while until there were enough of the other boys out to get a football match going in the fields between the houses. Then we got bored and a few of us drifted off around the estate to see what was going on. We ended up in an area of woodland at the edge of the estate. It was only a small patch and was fenced off so I suppose it was due to be cut down for more housing. Anyway we had a great time as we found a few fencing logs at the top of a slope leading down to a small stream and had fun chucking the posts down the slope and trying to get them into the river. I remember it was nice and cool in those woods and we must have been there for ages scrambling up and down to retrieve the logs that had got stuck halfway down the slope. Anyway eventually we headed back to the estate as we were getting hungry. We must have been in quite a state from the mud leading down to river but I didn't notice. I do remember snagging my new blue shirt in the fence as we climbed out and the German boys laughing as I couldn't get it free.

Lederhosen Incident

We were covered with muck after a day's play. The German boy's mum went mad when we got back to his house. He copped for it and then she undressed us both in the porch and took us up and put us in the shower. She gave us some briefs to wear from his cupboard. Even these were different to me as they were patterned and I was used to plain colours but I wasn't complaining. Then she found t-shirts and it's then she pulled out these lederhosen. The boy had been wearing lederhosen while we were out playing, but they were plain brown leather ones and worn whereas these were a sort of grey with green. She'd calmed down a lot now and was chatting away to her son and smiling at me and she held out these lederhosen for me to step into. I couldn't see myself but I felt odd in those clothes and thought everyone else would laugh at me so I started crying--partly because I was tired I suppose. I don't think she understood the problem at all because after comforting me she took the white shirt that had also been on the hangar and offered it to me. She must have thought that I didn't want to wear the lederhosen with a t-shirt, not that I didn't want to wear them at all! Anyway the last I heard of the lederhosen incident was that later on in the evening when the boy's dad got home. They'd obviously told him as he said something to me during the evening meal, in his broken English, about not liking German clothes, but in a friendly way. By this time I'd had enough of it.

Dressing Up

The only postscipt to the incident with the lederhosen was that the next day we were due to meet the mayor of the town and so I had to dress up. Unfortunately my school shorts and kneesocks were still dirty. So had to wear the new cream shorts my mum had packed with the short-sleeved white shirt of my brother's, a tie and a pair of the new ankle socks with my black school shoes which I must have travelled in. I remember feeling cold all day, even though it was hot - and not feeling properly dressed without my long socks and my sleeves covered. I think I said earlier that I never liked short-sleeved shirts even in Summer. I also found the shoes uncomfortable being so used to the sandals for the past few days. After a day touring the town I was pleased to see my grey school shorts and socks hanging out to dry in the garden and got them back on the very next day.

Something else has occurrred to me. His mum was very proud of us meeting the mayor (she and her husband didn't come along) and that's why she wanted her son dressed up. As for me - I hadn't taken that many clothes and I'm now wondering if she'd discussed this with her sister and that was why the latter had tried her son's best lederhosen on me the day before after our river escapade thinking I could wear them to meet the mayor.I don't know but it seems likely thinking back. It also means that the jacket she tried to get me to wear was his cousins - probably matching with the lederhosen.I wouldn't wear any of it - I know she was disappointed about the jacket (she'd probably given up on the lederhosen) but she didn't push it.I suppose I should have made the effort but I saw myself as being on holiday and wanted to dress how I felt like, as my mum normally let us in the school holidays except for special occaisions like the trips to Leeds.

Reader Comment

A HBC reader has an interesting observation. "Bill has provided us some insights as to how he did not like lothes which made him stand out, like his Prince of wales shorts. Anything that makes a child feel conspicuous or different wil cause discomfort or embarrassment. In a somewhat different way, though, Bill preferred to wear his nglish school shorts while he was visiting in Germany to give him a sense of security and familiarity while he was away from home. Being dressed in the lederhosen, even for just a little while, worsened his vague feelings of homesickness. This was because his feeling of standing out was based on his English background. Of course if he had been adopted by the German family, soon he would have wanted to wear the very same German clothes he rejected so he could fit in with the German boys."

Bill respons, "It's interesting, and true to a large extent. As a boy, however, I would normally always be game to try something new. The problem with the lederhosen was not that I would stand out - after all I would be fitting in with my new German mates. The problem was more that the boys mother seemed to be forcing me to wear the clothes as a sort of punishment for playing in the forest (as it seemed then - it was probably just a clump of trees). I was around these boys for about 3 weeks but still insisted on wearing my long socks and grey shorts even though they found it odd. I agree conformity plays a part in what children like to wear - but we also develop our individuality at a young age. I think I told you that I insisted on wearing grey shirts even at my secondary school when all the other boys were wearing white and that I had a pair of grey jeans when other boys had blue. The problem with the Prince of Wales check shorts I mentioned earlier was that I had had no say in choosing them - and that they had an association outside of our class that I didn't really understand then - although my brother maybe did and played on it. In general, though, I agree with the above comments, but I would still have wanted to have something of "my own" to wear. Whatever the hassles of it at least in school in London when I was growing up you could feel fairly safe so it's no surprise that you felt o.k. wearing the uniform. Maybe kids in countries who never had a school uniform couldn't see that."

Bill