|
We begin to see knee pants and other shortened-length pants like bloomer knickers in the mid-19th century for younger boys. Older boys began wearing them later in the century. Our 19th century archive, however, is still very limited. Knee pants were very common in the early-20th century. We see many boys wearing short pants after World War I (1914-18). Even so we also see knee pants. Actually there was not a lot of difference between knee pants and short pants because shorts were very long when they first appeared. The basic difference is that knee psnts had the ornamental buttons at the knee hem. In Germany we mostly see knee pants as suit pants rather than standalone pants. They seem to have been seen as more of a formal style, suitable for suits. And of course, short pants began to get shorter in the 1930s and knee pants were usually kept long. Thus we still see knee pants in the 1930s, but they were clearly becoming less common. We no longer see them in the 1940s, especially after World War II (1939-45). Knee pants were commonly, but not exclusively worn with long stockings. Many boys woire knee pnts year round. The long stockings were somewhat more seasonal.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Swiss pages:
[Return to the Main Swiss page]
[Swiss choirs]
[Swiss school uniforms]
[Swiss youth groups]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Swiss pants type page]
[Return to the Main knee pants country pasge]
[Return to the Main Swiss garment page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
