Figure 1.--This advertisement for romper patterned appeared in the December 1947 issue of "Le petit écho de la mode". The caption read, "Les petits garçons modèles," or the little model boys. Note the large back bows for the one-piece suits. The patterns were made in sizes for boys 2-7 years.

Perhaps the most popular garment for younger "garçons modèles" during the 1930s - early-50s was the romper or 'barboteuse'. All kinds of rompers might be worn, including both one-piece suits and suspender and button-on romper bottoms. The one-pice rompers might have especially long waise sashes that could be ties in big bows in the back. The one-piece romper was seen as suitable for the younger boy and the suspender or button-on romper bottoms, worn with fancy blouses, as more appropriate for the older boy. Here are some examples of Garçons Modèles wearing romper suits.

Garçons Modèles Rompers

Perhaps the most popular garment for younger "garçons modèles" during the 1930s-early 50s was the romper or "barboteuse". All kinds of rompers might be worn, including both one-piece suits and suspender and button-on romper bottoms. The one-pice rompers might have especially long waise sashes that could be ties in big bows in the back. The one-piece romper was seen as suitable for the younger boy and the suspender or button-on romper bottoms, worn with fancy blouses, as more appropriate for the older boy. In earlier generations boys were dressed in other fancy outfits and were a particularly popular sunject on French postcards. We do not know if the term "garçons modèles" was then in term. Along with rompers boy might wear smocked blouses with puff sleeves, white kneesocks, strap shoes, and white gloves. A French reader writes, "The petits garçons modèles style might include boys up to age 6-7 years old dressed in rompers. This would mean boys who had begun school. They would not normally wear rompers to school, but might wear them for specisl occassions. One might see sucjh boys in the smart area of Paris and Riviera. I have got a lot of family photos of boys wearing rompers. The boys in our family from the late 1930s through the early 1960s wore rompers for many special occassions. Normally for these occassions the brothers and sisters wore garments with a classical look that were often coordinated stylistically and in similar colors. They were often purchasded in botiques. You can see these outfits in period catalogues. For Sunday the girls had a ribbon with a bow in their hair which was white or the same color as their dresse The bow in the back romper also were in vogue during 1940s and 1950s and were sometimes quite large. I have a photo which shows the big bow on olne of my romper suits."

Figure 1: French Sewing Magazine

One HBC reader asks, "With the boys holding flowers and the oldest child wearing what appears to be white gloves, could this be a wedding outfit?" He also speculates that it is possible that in France during this time 6 or 7 year olds wore white gloves for special events and not just weddings or confirmations." There is nothing in the text suggesting that these boys were dressed for a wedding, but these dressy outfits would appear suitable for a wedding. The flowers I think were added nuch as boys in French piostcards were commonly pictured with flowers, to stress the sweetness and innosence of childhood. Yes white gloves were worn by boys for a variety of formal occassions. Interestingly, only the older boy in the romper pants wears gloves, not the younger boys in one-piece romper suits. We note several other romper outfits in 1947 magazines.

A French reader tells us, "The boys are holding flowers in their hands only for the image. Most of the illustrations like this in French fashion magazines used this device. We also see a lot ofpostcards like this. In real life of course we enfants modèles were not commonly holding flowers like this. Boys were not dressed like this only for special events where they held lowers. One might be dressed like this for every day, playing around the house. They were also dressed like this while going shopping with mother, traveling, or going to parties. Of course boys would definitely be dressed like this for Church on Sundyor going to a wedding. A boy might wear white gloves, but this would only be for formal occassions like weddings.

Figure 2: Belgian Boy

Illustrations in fashion magazines can be misleading. Fashions depicted were not always commonly worn by boys. We note family snapshots of boys wearing romper suits, showing that these outfits were commonly worn. While the garçon modèle is primarily associated with France, the same pgenomenon was common in Belgium. And Belgian boys like French boys wore romper suits--in this case the classic one-piece romper. His slightly older brother wore a sailor suit.

Petit Garçon Modèle

The "petit garçon modèle" style of course did not just envolve how a boy ws dressed. It also was a matter of how he was dressed as well as his behavior. In bourgeois circle they were a lot of rules to learn and to be strictly respected. These rules were calling " les bonnes manières " and were a tradition from old European culture. The "petit garçon modèle" was because of the great amount of attention giving to him. The were some rules in different circunstances, but not difficult to learn. Some rules for the girls were different, specialy in greeting maners. The age of these children was usually about 4-8 years, although some boys might be as old as 10-11 years.