Figure 1.--Here we see my father with family members in 1906. My father in the back wears a peaked cap with a dark blouse and short tie. The boys commonly wore knickers with long stockings. Pne of his sisters wears a white pinafore.
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Figure 1.--Here we see my father with family members in 1906. My father in the back wears a peaked cap with a dark blouse and short tie. The boys commonly wore knickers with long stockings. Pne of his sisters wears a white pinafore. |
Most of what I know about the clothes my father wore as a boy comes from our family photograph album. We have several photographs of father as a boy so we have a fairly good idea of the various styles of clothing he wore. I don't recall discussing the subject with him so all that we know comes from the available portraits. Many portraits and snapshots are with his sister so we have a good record of how girls dressed at the time as well. Most of the photographs are dated so the photographs provide a very useful time line on period clothing. The photographs show that Switzerland was very much in tune with Germany, when it comes to clothing. That only aplies to the urban areas, however, as the more remote areas were still very much following the traditions of the farming communities within their region.
My father and his family were from more affluent and "privileged" environments. Therefore not the typical Swiss family of that time. As a very little boy father wore dresses. A little older he wore a sailor-styled tunic with a saucer sailor cap. I note a smock outfit he is wearing in one portrait, but I think this may be more of a folk costume than an outfit he commonly wore. His sister wore pinafores and smocks, but other than this folk outfit I don't see father and his brothers wearing them.As a somewhat older boy in Germany he seems to have worn knee pants sailor suits with long stockings. We note a collar-buttoning knickers suit worn with a peaked cap and Eton collar. This seems to have been a very popular style at the time. He also wore knickers with dark blouses, often with a short tie.
Most of what I know about the clothes my father wore as a boy comes from our family photograph album. We have several photographs of father as a boy so we have a fairly good idea of the various styles of clothing he wore. I don't recall discussing the subject with him so all that we know comes from the available portraits. Many portraits and snapshots are with his sister so we have a good record of how girls dressed at the time as well.
Most of the photographs are dated so the photographs provide a very useful time line on period clothing.
The photographs show that Switzerland was very much in tune with Germany, when it comes to clothing. At least that seems to be case of my father's family. I suspect that French fashions were popular in the French-speaking areas of Switzerland.
Father grew up in cities. Thus the fashions here show urban fashions in Germany and German-speaking areas of Switzerland. Thaese fashions, however, were much less common in rural areas of Switzerland. Fashion was more traditional in rural areas, especiaslly the more remote rural areas. There people still very much followed the traditions of the farming communities within their region. My father and his family were from more affluent and "privileged" environments. Therefore not the typical Swiss family of that time.
We have quite a few photographs of my father wearing many different outfits. We see him at many different ages showing what children wore at different ages at the turn of the 20th century. As a very little boy father wore dresses. A little older he wore a sailor-styled tunic with a saucer sailor cap. I note a smock outfit he is wearing in one portrait, but I think this may be more of a folk costume than an outfit he commonly wore. His sister wore pinafores and smocks, but other than this folk outfit I don't see father and his brothers wearing them.As a somewhat older boy in Germany he seems to have worn knee pants sailor suits with long stockings. We note a collar-buttoning knickers suit worn with a peaked cap and Eton collar. This seems to have been a very popular style at the time. He also wore knickers with dark blouses, often with a short tie.
Voûte, Tom. E-mail message, June 13, 2006.
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