Figure 1.--The illustration for a shorts set knitting pattern from a home-sewing magazine. It was a Spring-Summer style. It ws for a 3-year old boy.

Knitted shorts in France were often worn as sets with matching or contrasting tops. A French reader writes, "There were numerous magazine advertisements after World War II for wool knit shorts sets, mostly for boys 2-6 years old." Another French reader tells us, " Knitted shorts often worn as sets (in french = ensemble ) were very popular for little boys age 2-6 years old. Until the 1960s, they were commonly worn with a sweater for playing outdoors. Boys under 2 years of age rarely wore these sets. They were dressed in rompers, wool rompers during the winter. So the little boy like the little girl had their little legs in open air, but the head coved with a bonnet and the feet coved by wool kneesocks." Older boys wore knit shorts as well. One magazine in the 1950s offered knit shorts for boys 5-8 years of age. There may have beem knit shorts for boys even older, but tthy were mostly for boys under 8 years of age.

Terminology

The French term for short pabts is "cullotte". The English term "shorts" is also used. The term for knitting is "tricot" or "tricotage". Knitted shorts would be "un culotte tricoté" or "un culotte en tricot" or "un short ticoté"/"un short en tricot". The term for set is "ensemble". The term for wool is "laine" I'm not sure what "soeur" means.

Home Knitting

Many of the knitted shorts we see in the 1940s and 1950s were adverised as patterns in knitting magazines. Many mothers and grnd mothers knitted for the family. Ready made knits became more popular in the 1960s. This presumably reflected the increasing tendency of French women entering the job marketand having less time for home chores like knitting. A French reader writes, "Many granmothers knitted sweaters, pants, rompers, socks, and underwear for their grandchildren. They were very skilled hands. It is practical to do other garment with old ones. One could find a plenty such model in the magazines."

Knitted Sets

Knitted shorts in France were often worn as sets with matching or contrasting tops. A French reader writes, "There were numerous magazine advertisements after World War II for wool knit shorts sets, mostly for boys 2-6 years old." These sets were composed of the pants (almost always shorts) and sweaters. Some of the seaters wr made like blouses and others like cardigans. A French reader writes, "Mothers were fond of these sets. They ould be quite varied. The romper might be worn with a cardigan in winter. There were many other vaiations which might include caps, sweaters, blouses, pants, and socks. Some grndmothers also knitted underwear."

Chronology

We have little infomation about the chronology of knitted shorts and shorts sets in France. We believe that they were worn in the 1930s. The illustration for a shorts set knitting pattern from a home-sewing magazine. It was a Spring-Summer style. These are sets. A reader tells us, "Before 1945 the knitted set with pant and sweater could be seen on boy, even on chilly days." We are unsure how World War II affected their popularity. We also knitted shorts and shorts sets as being very popular in the 1950s. A French reader tells us, "The knit short were very current in France for boy 1-5 years old till 1960."

Age

Another French reader tells us, " Knitted shorts often worn as sets (in french = ensemble ) were very popular for little boys age 2-6 years old. Until the 1960s, they were commonly worn with a sweater for playing outdoors. Boys under 2 years of age rarely wore these sets. They were dressed in rompers, wool rompers during the winter. So the little boy like the little girl had their little legs in open air, but the head coved with a bonnet and the feet coved by wool kneesocks." Older boys wore knit shorts as well. One magazine in the 1950s offered knit shorts for boys 5-8 years of age. There may have beem knit shorts for boys even older, but tthy were mostly for boys under 8 years of age.

Schoolwear

A French reader tells us, "In the gardenschool (kindergarden) during the 1940s and 50s, many little boy wore knitted shorts under their smocks."

Styling

Most of the knitted shorts we have noted were styled in the very short style of short pants. This was the style when these knitted shorts were popular, especially for younger boys. Many were made in the uspender shorts style like the shorts set seen here.

Beachwear

For some reason, knitted wool beachwear ws common until after World War II. It seems very imprctical, but we note boys commonly wearig knitted outfits at the beach. We note knitted shorts and shorts sets being made especially for beachwear. Shorts for the beach were made so that they could be worn with out a top. We havenoted several differet styles. Some were just shorts. Others had varyingforms of tops with some kind of suspender straps. Although the shorts were made to be worn without a top, some beachwear suits ere sts with a kind od sweter or topto be worn before or after swiming or playing on the beach.

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Created: January 5, 2004
Last updated: January 5, 2004