Figure 1.--This gretting card was mailed in Austria during 1911. Of course that does not mean that the children were necesarilly Austrian, but it is likely that the fashions involved were at least worn in Austria. |
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The garments worn by Austrian boys were quite similar to those worn in Germany. Sailor caps were popular. Eton colars and kilts never caught on, but the sailor suit was very popular and commonly worn through the 1930s. Knee pants became increasingly popular in the 1890s and after World War I (1914-18) when the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was broken up, short pants became increasingly common. Lederhosen were very popular in Austria. Most boys commonly wore shorts until the 1960s when long pants, especially jeans, became more common. Long stockings were very common, especially during the colder months.
The headwear most associated with Austrian boys are sailor hats and caps. There does no appear to be any stromg association such as the beret in France. The sailor suit was so popular in Austria over so long a period that various styles of sailor hats and caps were widely worn. The wide-brimmed sailor hat was not just worn with sailor suits, but was worn with Fauntleroy and other fancy suits.
We have no information about Austrian boys wearing smocks. It does not appear to have been common in the 20th century, but we are less sure about the 19th century.
A HBC reader tells us that the pinafore was commonly worn by Austraian girls through the 1950s. It was worn by both little girls and women over their dresses. It was called "Eine Schürze " Normaly the pinafotes in Austria was white.
We have little information about rompers in Austria. We know that they were worn in Germany and think they may have also been worn in Austria as well. We do note an image of a French-Austrian boy wearing rompers, but his may be the French more than the Austrian influence. The portrait shows the boy wearing a romper outfit while in France during the 1947, just after World War II. Other inages show him wearing rompers and other French garments. As an older boy he and his brother always wore short pants.
We notice some Austrian boys wearing one-piece outfits, but not done in romper style bottoms. We do not yet have enough information about Austria to assess how popular these outfits were. We do not know when they first appeared, but we notice them in the 1930s. One reader writes, "I don't recall ever seeing this kind of suit in images from Austria and Germany." As younger boys' clothing was commonly made by mothers and grandmothers, styles were often not as standardized as the clothes for older boys.
We believe that Austrian boys commonly wore tunics in the mid-19th century, but have few details at this tume. Younger Austrian boys commonly wore tunic suits in the early 20th century. HBC believes that the primary fashionn influence for this style was France. It was also a popular style in America. Austrian boys, like French boys commonly wore them with short stockings, unlike American boys whobmore commonly wore long stockings.
Austria was one of the many European countries in which sailor suits were particularly popular. Sailor suits were extremely popular in Austria just as in Germany, despite the Austro-Hungarian Empire having only a small navy. The sailor suit is today almost associated with Austria, in part because it is the costume of the world-famous Vienna Choir Boys. HBC knows, however, little of the history of the sailor suit in Austria.
We have little information as to what extent the Eron suit was worn in Austria. It does not seem to have been a major style. We have some imapges of school children of various ages wearing Eton collars. We also note a few images of boys wearing Eton suits.
As far as we can tell, Austrian boys wote the same kinds of shirts as German boys. We note many boys wearing Schiller collars, especially in the 1910s-30s. We also note boys buttoning their collars even when not wearing ties. A good example is two Vienna brothers in 1935.
We have not yet developed details on the pants worn by Austrian boys. Austrian boys all the different styles of pants, incliding knee breeches, long pants, kneepants, knickers, and short pants. We suspect that there is considerable similarity with Germany. Austria is a much smaller country. We have as a result a realtively small archive of Austrian images. We note boys wearing kneepants beginning in the mid-19th century. This was a popular style into the 20th century. It was boys' style, but we note one unidentified portrait of what looks like a girl wearing kneepants. Kneepants went out of styles in the 1920s, but we note boys wearing knickers into the 1950s. Shoer pants became very common in the 1920s and were widely won into the 1960s. Younger boys began commonly wearing long pants in the 1960s and long pants are now the most common form of trousers worn by boys. We also note boys wearing bloomer knickers.
One popular local garment was lederhosen. I have few details about lederhosen specifically in Austria yet, but the style was commonly worn in southern German (Bavaria), Austria, and Switzerland. Boys would wear them to school with a jacket or sweater. They were worn for both dressing up, and because of their durability, for play. They continued to be commonly worn through the 1950s, but declined in popularity during the 1960s. While we have quite a bit of information about German lederhosen, we have very little information about lederhosen in Austria at thuis time.
A French reader tells us, "'Ein Leibchen' is a Austrian word and in the 1950s many boys were wearing a Leibchen which were similar to those being born in worn in France. It is a sort of untershirt with a large open collar without sleeves and quite long, made in white coton, very offten ribbed. After 1930, most French boys were wearing this sort of underwear
It was named " un maillot de corps ". Now we said 'un maillot de corps Marcel'.
In Germany one says, 'Ein Unterhemd and not a ein Leibchen'."
As far as we can tell, the hosiery worn by Austrian children is essentially identical to the hosiery worn by German children. We do not have much information on the 19th century yet. Children in the early 20th children wore three-quarter stockings and long stockings when the weather got cold. Long stockings were not just worn in cold weather. Modesty and formality were other factors. After World war I, knee socks became popular and were widely worn into the 1960s. Both long stockings and kneesocks were worn. We also notice girls wearing white ankle socks. Various age and gender conventions affected the type and color of hosiery. At about that time both long stockings and knee socks went out of style. Long stockings disappeared first and knee socks in the 1970s. This was in part because fewer Austrian boys were wearing short pants, especially in the cooler months. We have less information about tights, but assume trends were similar to Germany.
We have not yet begun to address Austrian footwear in any detail. W do have a page on sandals.
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