Figure 1.--Quite a number of the boys in this German school photograph wear lederhosen, more than we have noticed in most German classes. The German reader who provided us his image reports that it was taken in Eslingen, a small city close to Stuttgart, during 1965-1967.

Perhaps the most destinctive of the various styles of short pants worn by schoolboys is the leather lederhosen that some Austrian and German boys wore to school. HBC knows of few schools that adopted lederhosen as school uniform. But few German and Austrian schools had uniforms. They were widely worn to school as ordinary dress by boys in Austria and Germany. Beginning in the 1920s we note boys beginning to commonly wear them to school in Germany. we presume the same was true in Austria. They may have been even more common in Austria. In German they were more common in Bavaria than other areas. In Austria they were more common in rural areas than Vienna and other large cities.HBC is not sure why they suddenly became more acceptable for schoolwear in the 1920s. We note boys in Austria and Germany commonly wearing them to school in the 1960s, but they began to decline in popularity during the 1970s. We do not believe that they are now common schoolwear, but we have few recent reports. Hopefully our German readers will update us here.

Destinctive Styling

Perhaps the most destinctive of the various styles of short pants worn by schoolboys is the leather lederhosen that some Austrian and German boys wore to school.

Non-uniform Shorts

HBC knows of few schools that adopted lederhosen as school uniform. But few German and Austrian schools had uniforms. They were widely worn to school as ordinary dress by boys in Austria and Germany.

Chronology

Beginning in the 1920s we note boys beginning to commonly wear them to school in Germany. we presume the same was true in Austria. HBC is not sure why they suddenly became more acceptable for schoolwear in the 1920s. We note boys in Austria and Germany commonly wearing them to school in the 1960s, but they began to decline in popularity during the 1970s. Even so, we note some French boys wearing them during the 1970s. We do not believe that they are now common schoolwear, but we have few recent reports. Hopefully our German readers will update us here.

Country Trends

Lederhosen are commonly associated with Germany, but they may have been even more common in Austria. They have also been worn by boys in other countries, but not commonly.

Austria

Lederhosen were commonly worn by boys to school. They were more common in rural areas than Vienna and other large cities.

France

Frrench stores sold lederhosen-style shorts in the 1970s. Some boys may have worn them to school, but we do not believe that this was extensive. Few of the French school pictures we have noted show boys wearing lederhosen.

Germany

Many German boys beginning in the 1920s seem to have worn lederhosen to school, but this from available images appears to have usually been a minority of the boys in most classes. We have noted lederhosen being worn earlier, but we do not begin to see a lot of boys in school photographs wearing lederhosen until the 1920s. Often a few boys in many primary schools are wearing lederhosen by the 1920s. I'm not sure why lederhosen became more common for schoolwear at this time, but surely it had something to do with the war. Almost always boys wearing lederhosen to school wear them with the decorative halters. Wearing lederhosen varied regionally in Germany, being most common in Bavaria. Lederhosen continued to be worn to school through the 1960s, but are now not very common.

Italy

HBC has no information about Itlanian boys wearing lederhosen to school or other wise. Italy has a minority German population in an area of German known as the South Tyrol. Although it has no always been the case, German boys there wear lederhosen again with pride. A HBC reader reports, "I am certain that many boys are wearing them to school."

Created: March 4, 2002
Last updated: March 5, 2002