Figure 1.--We believe this unidentified photograph is German, probablu taken in the 1930s. Note that several boys wear casual jackets or sweaters rather than suit coats. We suspect that it is a school group as the boys all look to be younger teen agers about the same age. They wear both short pants and knicker suits. The adult youth leader for some reason wears a short apnts suit with a Bavarian jacket.

We do not yet have sufficent information to develop a reasonable chronology of German suit styles, but we have begun to collect some information. We have noted both single and double breasted suits. Some boys wore Bavarian styled jackets instead of suit coats, but we are not sure about the chronology yet. Boys in the late 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--reserver parimarily for special occassions.

Limited Information

We do not yet have sufficent information to develop a reasonable chronology of German suit styles, but we have begun to collect some information. 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 are not sure about the chronology yet.

Decades

We have begun to select some information on specific centuries.

The 1860s

We have very few images of the suits German boys wore in the 1860s so our information is still quite limited. We notice suit jackets with collars rather than lapels. Vests or waistcoats were common. The jackets are styled very plainly. Most images we have seen show boys wearing long pants suits. Many of the suits do not seem to have a well-fitted look. Ready made suits were still not common.

The 1870s

We begin to see more German boys wearing kneepants suits in the 1870s. Boys in the late 19th century and early 20th century commonly wore kneepants.

The 1880s

We note German brothers in the 1880s wearing matching velvet suits.

The 1890s

The 1900s

Norfolk styling for suits was very popular after the turn of the 20th century.

The 1920s

Norfolk styling continued to be popular in the 1920s. After World War I, shortpants became increasingly common. Older boys might wear knicker and then long pants suits.

The 1930s

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. Note the boys here wear open-colar shirts (figure 1). Most of the teenagers here wear short pants suits, but a few wear knickers suits. sone boys had long pants suits, but short pants and knickers were more common.

The 1940s

After World War II (1939-45), short pants suits were still common.

The 1960s

German boys by 1960s many boys began wearing long pants suits, but suits were becoming less common--reserver parimarily for special occassions.

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Created: October 9, 2002
Last updated: 10:11 PM 8/24/2006