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HBC is just beginning to archive inforamtion on the suits worn by German boys. Unlike American suits where we have some early catalogs, we do not yet have any information on German suits, other than available images. German boys at the turn of the 20th century commonly wore kneepants suits. After World War I (1914-18), short pants suits became increasingly common, although older noys might wear knicker suits. By the 1960s, boys were increasingly wearing long pants suits. We have little information on the style of suits, but we have noted double breasted suits at the turn of the century. Single breasted suits, however were more common. More specific details on jacket styles are not yet available.
HBC is just beginning to archive inforamtion on the suits worn by German boys. Unlike American suits where we have some early catalogs, we do not yet have any information on German suits, other than available images.
The German word for suit is der Anzug. The plural die Anzüge. This is the term for the standard boys' or men's suits. There are of course many types specialized suits like sailor suits. These specialized suits are also called anzug with an added adjetive.
We do not yet have sufficent information to develop a reasonable chronology of German suit styles. We have noted both single and double breasted suits. Some boys wore Bavarian styled jackets instead of suit coats, but we aew not sure about the chronology yet. Boys in the lare 19th century and early 20th century commonly wore kneepants. After World War I, shortpants became increasingly common. Older boys might wear knicker and then long pants suits. We note that by the 1930s that some boys had begin to wear casual jackets rather than suit coats. Also boys common wore open necked shirts rather than ties with their suits, except for formal occassions. After World War II (1939-45), short pants suits were still common, but by the 1960s many boys began wearing long pants suits, but suits were becoming less common--reserved parimarily for special occassions.
We have little information on the style of the jackets, but we have noted double breasted suits at the turn of the century. Single breasted suits, however, were more common in the 20th century. We have noted, however, some stylishly dressed boys wearing double breasted jackets. We also notice some jackets made to look like double breasted garments, but the second column of buttons were purely ornnamental. English styled jackets such as Etons and Norfolks do not seem to have been very popular in Germany. We also notice some varably styled jackets that look have been made by mother at home. One popular fashion in Germany was to wear a Bavarian jacket, often with lederhosen, instead of a suit. At first reserved to Bavaria, after World War II the style beconmes more common in other parts of Germany. More specific details on jacket styles are not yet available.
Standard suits were composed of jackets and pants. Many suits came with vests, but they were an optional item. We first notice them being worn with cut-away jackets in the mid-19th century. A good example is a Bremen boy in 1873. They were worn with many oter types of suits. We note many images of German voys wearing vests in the 19th centuy. As they were worn with jackets, it is frquently difficult to make out much detail. Almost always they were worn with suits. Vess with suits seem to become less common after World War I (1914-18). Boys might wear vests without jackets, but this was more of a mid-20th century style. We do not notice boys wearing vests without jackets during the 19th century or even the early 20th century. The earliest example we note is from the 1930s and even this was more of a sweater. We do note boys wearing vests as kind of a formal outfit in the 1970s.
German boys in the late 19th century commonly wore kneepants suits. Long pants suits were also worn, but HBC is unsure how common they were. We're not sure when knicker suits first appeared. German boys still commonly weore kneepants suits in the early 20th century. After World War I (1914-18), short pants suits became increasingly common--although older boys might wear knicker suits. Suits became worn less in the 1930s after the NAZI take over. After World War II, Gemany was in a terrible state and few families had much money for clothing. Many German boys continued wearing their suits after they had rather grown out of them. Many boys srill wore short pants suits in the 1950s, often with sports shirts or with an open collar. By the 1960s, boys were increasingly wearing long pants suits, although suits were being wrn less than before as German boys increasingly turned to more casual fashions.
HBC is not sure just what kind of shirts and neckwear German boys wore with their suits. The lace collars and fancy bows popular in America and France do not appear to be nearly as popular in Germany. Some boys appear to have worn their suits without any neckwear.
We do not know much about German suit material yet. The material often affected seasonal wear. Also because the material was a major factor in cost, it had social class connotations.
Flannel was very important in Britain. We are less sure about Germany. In the late 19th and early 20th century corduroy was an imporant matwrial for inexpensive suits worn by working-class boys. Younger children from afflient families might have velvet suit. Serge was used for heavy winter suits.
Our information about suit colors is very limiited. This because until about the 1970s most of the photographs we have collected or black and white images. We have a few catalog pages with some color information. Unfortunately our German catalog section is very limited. We can only guess about the color of the suits. Even the suits that look black may actually be some other dark color. We believe that the most common suit colors were black, blue, brown, grey and bluish grey. We can guess that sailor suits were generally shades of blue, but even here this was not always the case. We can not, however, be sure about the various suits in the vintage portraits archived on HBC.
Avaialble images show German boys wear a range of socks and long stockings with kneepants. Kneesocks were always worn with knickers and usually with short pants suits. We have not noted German boys commonly wearing shortpants suits with short socks. Some younger boys wore short pants suits with long stockings. This was most common during the winter in cold weather. A good example is an unidentified German boy, probably in the 1930s. While German boys most commonly wore long stockings for warmth, they were also wore long stockings for dress occasions such as First Communions or Confirmations.
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