Figure 1.--The pattern for this boy's romper suit was advertised in 1949. Note that there was no defined waisline. The pattern was available in sizes 2-3 years. We believe that the rompers without defines waislines were seen as more suitable for younger boys. This romper suit had embroidered smocking. Note the choupette hair stle, a popular French fashion at the time. |
Most rompers were made with defined belts or waustlines. Some of the bib-front rompers have a less clear waistline, but it is implied by the waistline or elastic belting at the back. We have seem some rompers, however without any waistline or belt. These are the romper suits rather than the suspender or bib-front rompers which always have an actual or implied waisline. These appear much less common than those rompers with defined waisline. The one romper suit we have noted comes from a 1949 magazine, but we do not yet have enough information on belt/waistline trends to develop any chronological trends. Nor do we know how Dutch rompers compared to the rompers worn in other countries. We believe that the style without a defined waist was more likely to be worn by the younger boys. Some of these romper suits had short puffed sleeves. Rompers for winter wear were often made with long sleeves and knitted with wool. The French influence is clear on this page, especially the choupette hair style (figure 1). French and Belgian styles were vert similar. There were some differences, however, between Dutch and French romper styles. Rompers without belts or defined waistlines were not common in France. Most were for infant boys that had not learned to walk and were still crawling--usually less 18 months old. French mothers much preferred the waist ties that could be tied with a big bow in the back. In the 1936-60s, pur French source indicates that 95 per cent of the French boys wearing a rompers had a big bow or a belt with pompons. Rompers with these waist ties and bows were much less common in the Netherlands.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Dutch pages:
[Return to the Main Dutch romper design page]
[Maiken Island]
[Dutch choirs]
[Dutch royalty]
[Dutch scouts]
[Dutch school uniform]
[Dutch boys bangs]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main countries page]
[Australia]
[Belgium]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[Korea]
[Mexico]
[Netherlands]
[Scotland]
[United States]