Figure 1.--The Au Bon Marche Paris department store offered these styles for boys in 1911. Not show are sailor caps pictured at the bottom of the page. |
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French mail order catalogs and clothing advertisements offer a very useful time line on changing fashion trends. French deparment stores shoed wide brimmed hats. Some had turned up brims. Stores featured sailor suits and caps. Some sailor suits had fancy additions like ruffled collars. Boys' suits with bloomer styled pant were also popular. Some styles look similar to clothes worn in America and Britain and other styles are destincly Frnch--especialy the styles for younger boy.
Boys in 1911 wore quite a variety of hats and caps. Hats in the early 20th century were an important part of a wardrobe, for boys, girls, and adults.
The Paris Deparment store Au Bon Marché in its winter 1911 catalog offered Jean Bart hats for younger boys. HBC is not sure who Jean Bart was. The hat had a rounded crown and wide brim. Traditionally the brim was worn straight, slightly rounded and the rims. The Au Bon Marche 1911 catalog showed the brim sportily turned up on one side or in another illustration fully turned down. This was style for a younger boy.
The Au Bon Marché in its winter 1911 catalog offered two sailor caps that except for an inscription on the cap band look quite similar. The caps are shown being worn with a traditionally styled sailor cap. The sailor suit and cap was one of the most popular outfits for boys. The sizes were not specified, but were probably for school age boys to about 13 years of age.
The reefer jacket appears to have been worn as a dress overcoat for nboys even when not wearing overcoats.
The Paris Deparment store Au Bon Marché in its winter 1911 catalog offered a reefer jacket. We had thought that reefer jackets were mostly worn with sailor suits, but Au Bom Marché shows it being worn with a suit. I'm not sure when the reefer jacket first appeared.
Younger French boys might wear fancy suits in 1911. These included both Fauntleroy suits or other oufits like tunic suits or even sailorsuits with fancy trim.
Au Bon Marche in its winter 1911 catalog offered a fancy suit for a younger boy.
The sailor suit in 1911 was one of the most popular styles for boys. The were mostly worn with kneepants and bloomer knickers. Traditional styles were the most popular, but there were variety of other styles.
Au Bon Marché in its winter 1911 catalog offered a traditional sailor suit with a middy blouse and knee pants. This was a style for school age boys. It represented one of the most popular style for boys.
French boys wore a variety of suit styles. One of the most popular was the English-inspired Norfolk suit. Almost all suits for boys under 13-years had kneepants, straight knickers or bloomer knicker.
Au Bon Marché in its 1911 catalog shows a knicker Norfolk suit for boys. The suits were available for boys beginning at size age 7. There is no indication as to the upper size range. It was shown worn with a flat cap. This indicates that the Norfolk suit was a popular style in France.
Au Bon Marché in its 1911 catalog shows a double-breasted knicker suit for boys. It is not described any further than a "costume" or suit. The suit was available for boys beginning at size age 8. There is no indication as to the upper size range. It was shown worn with a boy wearing a rather adult-looking hat rather like a homburg.
Au Bon Marché in its 1911 catalog shows several suis and coats with the boys all wearing knickers ot bloomer knickers.
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