Figure 1.--A French reader tells us, "My mother saved a pair of short pants that I wore about 1951. They are a good example of how important creases were in short pants during the 1950s. These wool models had the creases sewn over casting to give a better smart appearence. Also notice the cuffs which were also though stylish at the time."

Creases

A French reader sent us a photograph of a pair of short pants that he wore to show how imporant creases were in short pants during the 1950s. They were th pair of grey suspender shorts seen here (figure 1).

Reader Comments

A HBC reader writes, "Fascinating, but it raises several questions. How old was your correspondent in 1951? When he said that his children thought that they looked like rompers, does that mean that these were bib-front shorts or suspender shorts? Do you have a photograph of the whole garment? Any photos of him from 1951 wearing those kinds of shorts? I have noted a lot of French sites with class pictures, and seen some school-age boys in suspender shorts and bib-front shorts. Many of the boys in the age group that would be wearing those types of shorts were wearing smocks."

Reply

Our French reader replies, "I was 6 years old in 1951. I found several of my old boyhood garments in my Granparents home. They also had also some of my toys and several documents about my school work. have also found diary books which have comments from my teachers about my school work. I don't remember specialy about this wool short pants posted here (figure 1). But I am sure I must have worn it about 1951. On HBC one can see several photo of me when I was a boy and I will transmit others ones according the topics developed. Rompers and short pants are two different sorts of garment. A romper is very short, puffed pants, one or two pieces, and buttoned at the croch. Boys very often wore romper pants with blouses that had puffed sleeves and a Peter Pan collar. They were made in Vichy [gingham] or satin or knitted in wool for chilly days. After the World war II, pupils under 12 years commonly wore short pants with bibfronts or suspenders. Under the smock it is not easy to tell in the old photograhs. I have three children. They are aware that I was educated in traditional French way. Till 6 years old I wase very often been dressed in rompers and until 13-14 years I only wore short pants. I lived most of the time on the French Riviera. I do not recall ever being teased about my clothes, Those fashions were very common for French boys at the time. When I was little boy I had no opinion about the rompers I wore , and later I found normal to be dressed in short pants."

Suspender Shorts

Our French reader provides some information about this pair of wool suspender shorts. "Here is a photograph of the entire outfit showing the suspender shorts I wore. I am not sure if I was wearing exactly the shirt in this photo, but I wore one similar to it. I remember the short pants very well, but not eactly this shirt. On the short pants it is written 8 yrs. I wore it sometimes during the week when I was 7-8 yrs. On Sunday I usually wore other outfits. In 1951 I was 7-8 years old. I have described my experiences in more detail in the account of Alain. This provides more background on the period. Concernig the French rompers. My children know well about these rompers. My son, born in 1967 wore several pairsof rompers as a baby. In the end of this very cummon fashion in France. My wife and my children were a bit impressed looking at some of the garments I wore as a little boy. These garments include ones I wore from the time I was 3-4 until I was about 10 years old. I remember quite well several of these, notably my last pair of rompers. I worn its sometimes when I was 6 years old. I had longish hair until 5 years of age. In some photographs it is quite funny because I looked a bit like a little girl. It was the French fashion for many boys at thetime. I have never been teased and even in fact it was the opposite. I have didn't wear long trousers until I was 13 years old. The only exception was the day I did my solemn Communion ( 11 yrs ), only for this specil day did I wear long trousers. The next day I was again wearin short pants. Even at parties I was dressed in short pants.

Suspenders

Note that the suspenders are sewn on to the shorts rather than buttonong on to them. Some suspenders were sewn on the the back and btooned at the front. These apparently were sewn on to the front and back.

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Created: November 9, 2002
Last updated: December 14, 2003