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A variety of mechanisms were employed to hold up trousers in Germany. This was especially important for younger boys as they have no defined waists to help keep up their trousers. One approach was button-on styling was button-on styling. Another important suspension device was suspenders (braces). There were free standing suspenders as well as suspenders pants with the support straps done in the same material as the pants rather than elastic suspenders. Some suspenbder straps are done with a cross bar which we call H-bar pants. This was an especially popular style in Germany, perhaps because of the similarity with Lederhosen. German boys used leather halters with Lrderhosen, but some times these haklters were used for other pants as well. There are also bib-front pants. We have noticed German bib-front pants done in a destinctive style. Belts seem to have become increasingly popuklar after World War I.
We are not yet sure to what extent belts were worn in the 19th century. Many German boys are wearing coats and vests in the 19th century. Thus we are not sure to what extent belts were worn Belts become more common in the 20th century, bit not in the early 20th century. We see many boys wearing suspenders in the early 20th century when it becme less common to wear jackets. Belts seem to have become increasingly popular after World War I. We are not sure precisely when belt loops were commonly added to pants in Germany. We note boys wearing belts over sweaters. Worn this way they had no practical value, only fashion. I'm not sure what this was all about. We see many German boys wearing belts by the 1930s. We believe a factor here was the Hitler Youth uniform. After World War II, suspenders become much less common and bots mostly wore belts. Younger boys were an exception here and for a time wore suspender shorts.
We note younger American boys wearing bloomer knickers with bodices at the turn of the 20th century. We assume that the same was true in Germany, but we can not substantiate this.
We believe yonger German boys commonly wore button-on pants in the 19th century. This was a juvenile style for younger boys. The skeleton suit was a popular style employing button-on styling. We believe it was used throughout the 19th century, although our information is incomplete. We have little information about the mid-19th century. We see many instances of button-on styling at the tun of the 20th century and the early-20th century. Button-on outfits begin to become less popular after World War II. Button-on pants were a popular approach for younger boys as they have no defined waists to help keep up their trousers. And unlike other approaches, it was secure. The shoulde straps are suspenders coulf fall down given an active boy's life style. Button-on styling thus solved the problem of pants suspension. for younger boys. We notice mnany different styles of button-on outfits.
Another important suspension device was elastic suspenders (braces). This was the way older boys and adult men held up their trousers through most of the 19th ans well as the early 20th century. Younger boys also wore them. In fact in German school portraits we see boys wearing quite a variety of trous spension devices. The popularity of the different devoices varied over time. Suspenders were certainly one of the devices use and we see boys wering them in many school portraits. We even notice H-bar suspenders. They were nt very common, but we do see examples. One example is an unidentified primary school in 1954. A related item was the leather halters often worn with Ledersonen, but sispenders were elasticused. They also tended to be more narrow than halters, but we also see wide suspenders. The Whith varied chronologically. We see both button-on and metal clip susprnders. We see them done in colorful vertical stripe.
Leather halters are a form of suspenders, designed with a cross bar. We are not sure what the German term is, but we think the word is the same. They are commonly associated with Lederhosen. Like suspenders, but unlike suspebder pants, the halter is a separate garment and not a part of the Lederhosen. They normally buttoned on. We note boys commonly wearing leather haltwrs to hold up Lederhosen, but the were also worn without halers. Not all boys wearing halters, however, wore them with Lederhosen. We assume that this was because boys who had these halters did not considered them aas solely for use with Lederhosen. These halters may have been the inspiration with H-br shorts which were very popular in Germany, but less so in mny other countries. The leather halters could be plain or highly decorated. The decoration was highlt variable, often using Alpine motifs. The highly decorated halters usually had a wider cross strap which might have an oval center. This allowed for more decoration. They normally matched the Ledergosen, but might be purchased separately and thus did not always match. The halters were worn both for formal occasions to create a complete ethbic outfit and also by younger boys to hold up their trousers.
There were also suspenders as well as suspenders pants with the support straps done in the same material as the pants rather than elastic suspenders. Some suspenbder straps were done with a cross bar which we call H-bar pants. This was an especially popular style in Germany, perhaps because of the similarity with Lederhosen. German boys used leather halters with Lrderhosen, but some times these halters were used for other pants as well. There were are also another variant, bib-front pants. We have noticed German bib-front pants done in a destinctive style.
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