Figure 1.--German boys after World War I, especially in the 1930s, began to look in long stockings as for little boys or girls. Older boys, however, might still wear them for formal occassions or in cold weather. Here a portrait taken in the 1920s shows the little boy wears socks while the ilder boy who looks about 11 years old wear long stockings. He wears them with a rather formal looking sailor suit with a watch fob--or for a boy that age perhaps a whistle. I believe the childreb were from Köningsberg in East Prussia (Königsberg, Preußen) which is now Kaliningrad.

German boys after World War I, especially in the 1930s, began to look in long stockings as for little boys or girls. Older boys, however, might still wear them for formal occassions or in cold weather. Here a portrait taken in the 1920s shows the little boy wears socks while the ilder boy who looks about 11 years old wear long stockings. He wears them with a rather formal looking sailor suit with a watch fob--or for a boy that age perhaps a whistle. I believe the childreb were from Köningsberg in East Prussia (Königsberg, Preußen) which is now Kaliningrad. The little boy seems to wear the most interesting suspender shorts. I've never seen suspender shorts with a button closure on the cross-trap of the halter. And the very large white buttons seem a bit unusual also. I wonder if these suspender shorts were home made rather than purchased. The older boy's sailor suit is also a bit different from what we often see in Germany--especially the double breasted middie blouse with the ornamental chain across the front. The black long stockings, of course, were pretty standard for dress-up clothes for eleven-year olds, especially during the cooler months. This boy would probably be supporting his stockings with a Strapsleibchen--a bodice worn over his undershirt, usually with four (but sometimes with only two) garter straps attached.