Figure 1.--Some American boys in the 1920s wore short pants, but mostly younger boys. Knickers were much more common. Even the Boy Scouts did not commonly wear shorts.

Short pants were first widely worn by boys after they were aopted By British Scouts in the 1900s. Here the British military commectin was the major reason they were adopted. The The chronological trends in shorts varied widely from country to country. They were widely worn by European boys after World War I (1914-18), but not nearly as popular in America. Until this European and American boys wore many of the same clothing styles. Knee pants, short pants, and knickers were seen as a standard style for boys in the first half of the 20th century. This changed in the second half of the 20th century afyer World War II when short pants became seen as more of a casual, summer style for boys and men. As this trend developed, short pants became increasingly worn in America, perhaps even more commonly than in Europe. Styles and lengths have changed over time. Shorts became quite short in the mid20th century, although the time-line varied from country to country. Very short shorts even became popular in America during the 1970s. This began to change, first in France. Then in America where basketball star Michael Jordan played a major role.

The 1900s

Short pants were first worn by boys to any dxtent after they were aopted By British Scouts in the 1900s. Here the British military commecton was the major reason they were adopted. Even so, for boys, knee pnts (with the destinctive knee hem buttons) were more common. The short pants that we do see, like Scout shorts were the same long length as knee pants.

The 1910s

We continue to see mostly knee pants rather than short pants. The Scouts did not have the same impact on American boys as they did on British boys bcause Scouts in Amrrican wore breeches/knickers. rather than shorts. The British founded Cub Scouting, again increasing the populaity of short pants. Cubbing did not appear in American until the 1930s, but even then most Americvan Cubs wore knickers.

The 1920s

It was in the 1920s that short oants became common. They tended tobe rather long, but began tio become shorter as the dcade progressed. The The chronological trends in shorts varied widely from country to country. They were widely worn by European boys after World War I (1914-18), but not nearly as popular in America. Until this European and American boys wore many of the same clothing styles. Some American boys in the 1920s wore short pants, but mostly younger boys (figure 1). Knickers were much more common, but for the first time we see Amerivan boyys wearing shorts. Shorts were much more common in Europe. This was the case throughout Europe, except for the more backward countries where traditional clothing styles continued to be worn in rural areas. In America we see a related development. Shjorts were not as common in rural areras than the cities. Overalls dominated boys' wear in rural areas. Not only did more European boys wear shorts, but older boys commonlyb wotre them. Socuial cklass was a factor in Amerticva, lss so in Eutrope. Even the American Boy Scouts did not commonly wear shorts, but this was unusual. Most Scouts as the movement spread around the world (but primarily in Europe) wore shorts. Geography was a factor with shorts being more common in southern than northern Europe. But even in northern Europe we see shorts, often worn with long stockings during the winter.

The 1930s

Boys especially older boys were still generally wearing long-cut short pants in the early 1930s. This gradually changed during the 30s, but trends varied from country to country. Boys on the Continent were generally wearing shorts cut above the knee by the late 30s, often trimly cut. British boys, however, tended to wear longer cut baggy shorts even in the late 30s.

The 1940s

The 1950s

Knee pants, short pants, and knickers were seen as a standard style for boys in the first half of the 20th century. This changed in the second half of the 20th century after World War II when short pants became seen as more of a casual, summer style for boys and men. Some boys still wore short pants suits, but this was becoming less common. In fact by the end of the decade, short pants suits were much less common, except for younger boys. We see substantiak differences from country to country. Why the trend in Europe away from the longer baggier shorts styles of the 1950's to the very short, close fitting styles of the late 60s to mid 80s I don't know but it was probably as a result of the steady increase in awareness of clothes as a fashion again and designers working for the likes of Marks & Spencer, British Home Stores, Debenhams; catalogues like Littlewoods, Marshall Wards & Empire turning their attentions to alternative markets and experimenting. As soon as one did something new the others would copy. Not so much as supply and demand rather than this is what you are now being offered. The shorter styles were also very evident in the football kits being worn and with football being so massively popular at the time this obviously had an effect to some degree.

The 1960s

Styles and lengths of short pants have changed over time in Germany. We see fewer boys wearing dressy short pants. Short pants suits in particular went out of style, although there was some variations from country to country. We note short pants school uniforms in some countries. Casual shorts for summer wear begin to increase sharoly in popularity. Shorts were not very popular with American boys in the 1950s, but this began to chane iun the 1960s. We see more boys wearing shorts for casual wear. Shorts became quite short in the mid-20th century, although the time-line varied from country to country. We note a range of different types. By the end of the decade we begin to see a variety of sporty, althetic shorts becoming popular. It began first on the Continent, but by the 1960s was common in Britain as well. We see many boys in France, Germany, and Italy commonly wearing short pants in the 1960s. Older boys more commonly wore long pants. Jeans were especially popular. The Paris student riots were a major tirning point with teenagers and even children beginning to have more say about their clothing.

The 1970s

As the trend toward casual shorts developed, short pants became increasingly worn in America, perhaps even more commonly than in Europe. Very short shorts even became popular in America during the 1970s. This began to change, first in France when longer-cut shorts first appeared. A major shift was in Ameeica where a varieety of casual shorts with sports styling began to become increasingly popular. This was a first an American trend. Cut-offs became very popular. The idea behind cut-ffs is that they were made to look like shorts that were not bought as shorts, but cut-off legs from older pants, often jeans. Another major trend, again in America was an explosion of popularity for two sports in which short pants were worn as part of the uniform--soccer and basketball. Casual shorts with baskeball andd soccer styling began to be worn by boys who began to see shorts as sports wear and not as little boys clothes. This also made these casual shorts more popular with older boys. We are not yet precisely sure about the precise time line, but it can be roughly followed by the popular mail-order catalogs.

The 1980s

A reader writes, "I've been trying to figure out where the shorter length shorts typically worn in around 1983 came from, and also where they went? Any idea what led America (and Europe?) to embrace such short length shorts for guys? I'm surprised that it became so acceptable to wear these, even to school. And, I�m also interested in what caused the current trend of guys wanting shorts as long as possible? In 1984 every guy wears short shorts. In 1988 they are gone. It's weird." Well, its not really the case that short-cut short panrt suddently appeared in the 1980s. We see European boys wearing short-cut short pants, especially by the 1950s. The trend did not spread to Britain until the 1960s. Short-cut shorts were very common in Europe and Britain during the 1970s. Interestingly, as short-cut shorts became popular in Britain, we began to see longer shorts in France. What changed in the 1980s was the wide spread adoption of casual shorts. We believe this was a trend which began in the 1970s. And it was a trend driven by the popularity od basketball and soccer. And the brightly colored shorts with flashy styling became popular in Europe as well. The sharp change in the late 1980s appears to reflect the decesion by Michael Jordon soon followed by other sports starls to wear longer shorts. There may be more involved here, but we think that was the principal reason. Here we need to build a more precise time line.

The 1990s

Longer cut, baggy shorts became popular in Anerica during the mid-1990s. Here basketball star Michael Jordan played and other sports stars played a major role in setting the fashion direction.a major role.

Created: 5:46 PM 3/25/2007
Last updated: 5:44 PM 1/6/2024