Figure 1.--This fashionably dressed Argentine boy in 1941 wears long stockings with a heavy coat. Obvious they were being worn for warm during the winter. The color is so close to flash tomes that it is dificult to tell he is wearing stockings. The studio was Foto Wolf in Buenos Aires.

Argentine children have worn a wide range of hosiery over time. We see the same popular types prevalent in Europe and the United States. We see long stockings, knee socks, three-quarter socks, and ankle socks as well as other types, with one exception. We do not see boys waring tights, but girls did wear them. The variety of hosiery is greater than elsewhere in Latin America, except perhaps Chile, in part because of the climate. The substantial European influence is also a factor. We see few boys going barefoot in Argentina, again in part because of the climate and the country's economic success until a combination of Peroinist and socialist policies prevented the country from making the transitioin to a developed economy. Ankle socks today are standard for boys. We see many boys wearing three-quater socks in the early-20th century, often done in white. The two younger boys here area good example (appendix 1). We notice knee socks during the inter-War period when they were most popular in Europe. And unlike mich of the rest of Latin America we also see boys wearing long stockings in the late-19th and early-20th century. The prevalence of the various types sem to follow trends in southern Europe, especially Italy and Spain. Assessing hosiery types becomes more difficult after World War II as long pants become increasingly prevalent, especially by the 1960s.

Tights

Tights for children were developed in Germany (1950s). They quickly became popular in many countrieswhere long stovkings were worn. We do not see Argentine boys waring tights, but girls did wear them. This was true of several other countries, such as America and Britain.

Long Stockings

The variety of hosiery is greater than elsewhere in Latin America, except perhaps Chile, in part because of the climate. The substantial European influence is also a factor. Thus we only see long stockings to any extent in the Southern Cone. We do not have any written information about long stockings in Argentina. Nor do we have any catalog information. We believe Argentine children wore long stockings in the 19th and early-20th centuriues, although we are not sure just how common this was. We do not have sufficent information at this time. We have some information from the photoigraphic record. We can not yet confirm this for the 19h century because of our limited archive, we do note Argentine children, including boys, in the photographic record wearing long stockings during the early-20th century. A good example is two older boys wearing black long stockings with shirt pats suits about 1930. Here we see see a younger boy wearing long stockings wiyh a heavy overcoat in 1941 (figure 1). Argentina is one of the more Europeanized Latin American countries. We suspect this was a European style. Fashion of course a the time was largely determined in Europe. Argentina in the late-19th and early-20th century was a destination country for European emigration. The most important country involved was Italy. We are not sure just how common long stockings were in Argentina. Most of the images we see wiyh noys wearing long stockings show boys wear suits or othr dressy out fits. Unlike Germaby and america, they do not seem to have been worn for every-day wear, although ourArgentine archive is still limited.

Knee Socks

We notice knee socks during the inter-War period when they were most popular in Europe. The prevalence of the various types sem to follow trends in southern Europe, especially Italy and Spain. We see quite a few Argentine boys wearing knee socks in the inter-War and post-World War II era.

Three Quarter Sosks

We see many boys wearing three-quater socks in the early-20th century, often done in white. The two younger boys on the previous page are a good example. They ee especially popular in the early-20th century.

Ankle Socks

Ankle socks today are standard for boys. This becomes more difficult to assess once we se more boys wearing long pants, especially by the 1960s..

Barefeet

We see few boys going barefoot in Argentina, again in part because of the climate and the country's economic success until a combination of Peroinist and socialist policies prevented the country from making the transitioin to a developed economy.

Created: 3:05 AM 7/12/2007
Last updated: 10:37 PM 7/12/2015