Figure 1.--Some American boys in the 1900s and 1910s wore dressy outfits with long white stockings--often with strap shoes. This boy wears a non-traditional sailor suit with double-bar strap shoes. This was a carefully staged studio portrait.

White stockings are primarily associated with girls. We have, however, seem boys wearing them, especially younger boys. They were quite common during the 1860s when knee pants began to be popular. Long white stockings were again briefly worn by American boys from about the turn of the century until the 1920s when stockings were mostly replaced by kneesocks. White stockings were worn in the late 19th century, but not commonly boys. After World War I, the wearing of white long stockings declined sharply in the 1920s--even for formal dress outfits. Dark or stripped stockings were much more common. White stockings were often worn with a dressy outfit. Long stockings continued to be worn into the 1940s, but American boys did not commonly wear white ones.

Convention

Girls commonly wore white long stockings. We see many photographs in the photographic record wit girls wearing white stockings. It should not be thought that they only wore hite stockings, but they did commonly wear them, especially when dressing up. They seem to have worn them in the spring and summer when white ad light-colored dresses were popular. White stockings were worn for formal occassions, but also for everyday wear. Long white stockings for boys were primarily a dressy style, especially for younger boys. For boys white long stocks were more common when dressing up, especially for formal occassions like First Communions or weddings. Boys wore them on formal occasions during the 1900s and 1910s, they were less common in the 20s, especially after the early 20s. Long white stockings were sold into the 1940s, but they were mostly worn by girls. Younger boys, however, might wear the colored stokings. Long stockinhs were primarily worn for warmth in the cool weather for boys still wearing neepants or short ants. The white kneesocs, however, appear to have been worn more for appearance than warmth. Wec ommonly note them being worn with dressy outfits. We have noted, however, some boys wearing white long stockings with play outfits. A good example is James Urnsby in the 1910s. More commonly they were worn for dressy occassions. A good example is Henry Oelschlagen.

Ages

White long stockings were primarily associated with girls, but we do note some boys wearing them in the early 20th century. It was mostly younger boys that tended to dress up in long white stockings, primarily for forml occassions. They were especially common for pre-school boys and to a lesser extent for boys in early primary years. A good example is an American boy who looks to be about 5 years old in the early 20th century. For the most part we see pre-school boys wearing white long stockings. We see some older boys wearing them for fomal occassions. Boys doing their First Communion might wear white long stockings. We also sometimes see boys involved in formal weddings wearing white long stockings. They were not, howecver, very common for school age boys. We see some boys wearing white long stockings for formal portraits, but again mostly pre-school boys or boys in their early primary years. They were, however, very common with girls, including older girls.

Gender

Long white stockings were most popular with girls. We see both boys and girls of all ages wearing black and other dark colors of long stockings in large numbers. The same was true of striped stockings. White long stickings were different. They were much more popular wityh girls than boys. We are not sure just why this was, but it is very clear from the photographic record. This varied somewhat over gime. We see boys and girls wearing white long stockings in the 1860s and early-70s, although only younger boys sore knee pants at the time. For quite a while, white long stiockings declined in popularity. We see mostly dark or striped long stockings in the late-19yth century (1870s-90s). We then begin to see many more children wearing white long stockings at the turn-of-the 20th century. We see girls of all ages wearing white long stockings. We also see some boys wearing white long stockings, but not nearly as many and mostly younger boys. This trend was prevalent in the 1900s znd 10s, but rapidly went out od style after World War II in the 1920s. Girls continued to wear white knee socks, but this was much less common for boys.

Material

I'm not sure about the material used for long white stckings. One HBC readers suggests that the bagginess suggests silk. We do not understand this comment. HBC believes that the white long stockings were more commnly made of silk as were the stockings for dresswear. These would have a more sheer appearance. We note white stockings that do not look sheer at all. We suspect that these were cotton stockings. There were also cottin blends with wool or solk added. So there ere clearly different materials being used. This is a topic that we do not yet fully understand.

Chronology

Yonger boys might wear white long stockings with dresses. We see a number of examples of this during the mid-19th century. We note a lot of boys wearing white stockings in the 1860s as knee pants were first appearing. We are not sure if these were really long stockings, however, as early kneepants were quite long. We do not see boys wearing white stockings very commonly in the late 19th century. We see very few portaits in the photographic record. This changed around the turn of the century. I am not sure just why. White stockings for boys were considered very dressy in the first two decades of the 20th century and, except for special events such as first communions, weddings, etc., were mostly considered appropriate for younger children. Black stockings were much more common. We still see white long stockings after World War I in the early 1920s. Most of the instances se have noted were formal occassions such as weddings and First Communions.

Figure 2.--This close up shows the boys white stockings and kneepants. Notice the double strap strap shoes. They look like patent leather.

Accompanying Outfits

We note American boys wearing white long stockings with a variety of different outfits. Sailor suits and tunic suits were two garments white long stockings were commonly worn with white stockings, primarily because they were very popular garments when white long stockings became fassionable. Most boys did not wear white long stockings with d=sailor suits, but the suits were so common that we see quite a number of boys wearing them with white long stockings. The same is true of tunic suits. We also note these stockings being woirn with Oliver Twist suits. We also see boys wearing Fauntleroy suits with white long stockings, but black long stockings were more common because the classic velvet Fauntlroy suits were more common in the lte 19th century. These were some of the main garments we note boys wearing with white long stockings. There were others. We note boys wearing white long stockings with regular sack suits as well. We suspect this was done for special occassions. We also note boys wearing white long stockings for events like First Communion, often with blouses and knee pants.

Shoes

Boys wearing formal clothes with long white stockings in the early 20th cenbtury commonly wore them with strap shoes. Single bar strap shoes were the most common, but some boys also wore double or multiple bar shoes. For less formal occasions "T" strap shoes were also worn. Usually they were black shoes, probably patent leather. We have, however, noticed colored strap shoes as well. We also note portraits of boys wearing high-top shoes with long stockings. A example is an unidentified boy photographed with his siser about 1910. Another good example is an unidentified family, also about 1910. These shoes were the most common type of shoe in the early 20th century, but children wearing white long stockings with formal outfits often wore strap shoes. A good example is the Tucker boys about 1910. The boys wear double-bar strap shoes.

Created: September 17, 1998
Last updated: 8:24 PM 11/15/2011