Figure 1.--This picture looks to have been taken about 1915. Shown are the Archduke Charles and his entire family at the time. Otto is shown with his sister and baby brother, Robert. Otto, who was probably about 3 years old, is still wearing dresses.

Otto was to be the heir to the Hapsburg throne. The children were very smartly dressed in many formal and informal photographs. Otto is pictured in a variety of outfits. As a small boy he wore dresses. A family portrait taken when he was about 3 years old shows him wearing a dress. He also wore a dress for the emperor's funeral in 1916 when he was about 4 years old.

Skirted

We see Prince Otto wearing a vriety of skirted outfits. It is difficult to tell much about the garments in the available outfits. Somelook to be dresses, but he may have also worn tunics as well. We have no information on these garments other than what can be gleaned by assessing the available portraits and other photographs. They seem to be mostly white garments.

Short pants

By about 5 years of age, probably in 1917, Otto began to wear short pants, usually with white ankel socks. Despite beginning to wear knee pants, his mother did not have his curly hair cut until much later. In one photograph he wears a white suit with short pants and a very long blouse with a fancy ruffled collar, white socks and shoes and a straw hat with a ribbon band (figure 5). I don't believe American or British boys wore such long blouses. Their blouses either tucked into or buttoned on to the pants.

Sailor hats

Available images show the children in sailor hats and not the more informal sailor caps. Wise-brimmed ailor hats appears to have been the most common headgear. They were worn both turned up and turned down.

Footware

As younger chilfren they appeared to have worn boot like shoes. Latter they commonly wore strap shoes, although I do not know what color.

Hosiery

All the available images show the children wearing white socks. The pictures I have all show the children in short white socks. They do not appear to have been dressed in kneesocks.

Created: March 25, 2004
Last updated: March 25, 2004