Figure 1.--It was mostly American boys who were wearing jeans in the 1950s. Jeans by the 1960s were making a major impact on Europe. Here we see a German boy wearing them.

Boys in Europe and American still wore many destinctive styles, but these differences began to merge in the 1960s. Most American boys wore long trousers in the 1960s. Jeans were particularly popular. Younger boys might dress up in short pants suits, but this was becoming less common. Here there were social class differences. At the same time some older boys were beginning to wear short pants as warm-weather casual wrar. Some stykles like shortalls became popular for younger boys. Clam diggers were a bruef fad. In Europe boys continued to widely wear short pants, but less commonly during the winter or for dress-up occassions. Here there were differences from country to country and among social classess. German boys might wear Lederhosen, but jeans proved even more popular. We see more European boys wearing long pants. Jeans became very popular. They were worn by boys as play wear. Many parents did not like them, but boys did and they were very practical. Communist authorities behind the Iron Curtain attempted to discourage them. Teenagers by the end of the decade wanted to wear them all the time.

America

Most boys in America during the 1960s wore long trousers and showed considerable resistance to wearing shorts, especially when dressing up. But there were some notable exceptions. Here social class factors were often important. Boys from affluent families were most likely to wear short pants, especially when dressing up. I'm not entirely sure. One factor is that well-to-do families often superrvised teir children more. In addition mothers with comfortable family circumstances were oftem able to give more attention to fashion nd were more influenced by European fashion. A reader writes, Wealthy american families were were more influenced by European fashion than the average American. Fashion trends in England France, and Italy were especially important. In all those countries, short pants wee more in vogue than in America." Some boys who attended exclusive private schools in the East continued to wear short pants and knee socks. An example is provided by Bruce who attended a private school. The great majority of American boys who went to public schools almost always wore long trousers. (1960s). The young Kennedy boys at a family wedding in 1966 were dressed in white shorts and white knee socks, looking almost like European little boys. Jacqueline Kennedy’s impeccable taste showed here and influenced other American mothers to dress boys in this fashion, but the style remained a rather Eastern, upper-class approach to boys’ dress. Preppy clothes were cultivated by some boys—or by their adoring mothers. We see an American boy wearing a sports jacket of the new cotton Madras material for summer wear. Short pants and knee socks complete this rather country-club look. But this style would probably have been frowned upon by a boy of less affluent circumstances living in a Midwestern or western small town. Informality was becoming a rage among many American boys. We see fewer boys wearing suits. Casual clothes especially jeans were becoming increasingly popular. While fewer American boys were wearing short pants, actually more boys were wearing shorts for casual summer wear. The preppy fashions were an influence here as beruda shorts had becone quite acceptable on college campuses, although there was at first some regional variation here. We even see new styles of short pants like camp shorts becoming very popular. Some Boy Scouts wore the short pants Scout uniform that was common in Europe. The short pants uniform, however, was mostly worn at Scout camps. An example is Eric and a friend on his way to camp. Notice the correctly neat knee socks with turnover tops worn with the regulation garters. If you look very carefully you can see the garter flash on the boy’s right leg. The shorts come down to only a few inches above the boy’s knee. A destinctly American fashion was shortalls. They were a popular style for boys in the 1960s. They were worn by the more upscale little boys of Washington, D.C. in the 1960s, were also a somewhat minority fashion, but were popular with mothers who wanted their boys to have a practical and dressy ppearance. The fad for clam-diggers (pants associated with beach wear that only came down to about mid-calf or in some cases just below the knee) occurred during the 60s. We note clam diggers in catalogs, but these pants were never very popular among boys. These were usually worn with ankle socks (white with colorful stripes around the tops) and sneakers. Notice the casual long pants that the other boy in this catalog page wears and the shirts that do not tuck in but are worn over the belt.

Australia

Australian boys until World War II dressed similarly to English boys, with some concessions to the climate like going barefoot. Boys by the 1960s were wearing many american styles as well. The British influence, however, continued to be seen in school uniforms. We note the Royal Australian Air Force school in Maylasia during the 1960s had tropical uniforms for its children—white shirts, shorts and knee socks. Notice the turn-over white socks, a style clearly imported from Australian walking shorts and worn by adult men as well as young boys. These boys are of course not Maylasian nor are they wearing actual Malayian clothing. Choirs often like to distinguish themselves by distinctive uniforms. An Australian choir adopted eye-catching red double breasted jackets and black knickers worn with white knee socks. Australian boys at the time of course did not wear knickers for school or for ordinary purposes.

Canada

England

English boys in the 1960s increwasing were wearig long pants. This was particulasrly true when dresing up. Short pants suits were no longer widely worn. We still see, however, many boys wearing short trousers in the 1960s. The stle of shorts changed notably in the 60s. We see boys wearing much more trim, shorter cut shorts. This was often described as continental sttling. We also see Terelyn worsted replacing the flannel shorts that were still common in the 21950s. Many primary schools adopted mandatory uniforms consusting of short trousers. Many secondary schools required the junior boys to wear short trousers. This was particulasrly true at private schools, but many state schools also required shorts. This declined somewhat as the decade progressed, especially at secondary schools. As a result, masny English schoolboys continued in the 1960s to wear short pants with knee socks as part of their uniform although they often wore long pants when not at school. This varied from family to family. In 1968 we see an English schoolboy, visiting in Germany, wearing the traditional shorts and knee socks, even when he is on holiday. Another group of English school boys from the same period, however, shows that schoolboys had a choice of shorts or longs. It is not always apparent from these school photographs what the school rules were. Here two of the boys wear shorts while the third wears long pants. Some boys actually preferred the shorts because of the greater freedom of movement, but we also see the perennial problem of keeping the knee socks in place. One of the boys seems to have forgotten his garters with the result that his socks fall down rather sloppily, or perhaps these boys are wearing the newer style socks without cuffs that made no provision for garters, and which had very imperfectly elasticized tops. English school uniforms were often dressy, especially at the private schools. Some schools had the boys wear their blazers in the classroom, while many boarding schools adopted a more relaxed policy. We note the uniform at one private school. A boy wears a grey short-pants suit, wearing the traditional cuffed knee socks, and a red school peaked cap. Grey became a standard color for both short and long school trousers as well as other school uniform garments. These suits as well as colorful blazers were the classic English schoolboy look for a number of decades. (See fig. 2.) This style also influences school uniforms in several other countries. Baden Powells Boy Scouts when they adopted a short trouser uniform in the 1900s had a significant impact on boys' fashions, both in England and Other coutries. The Scout Association in 1969 changed the Scout uniform to long trousers, although the Cub uniform continued to be grey short pants. The grey shorts of course meant that boys could wear their school shorts for Cubbibg meaning that parents did not have to buy shorts just for Cubbing. The Boys’ Brigade was another impotant English youth organization. The Brigade had a more Christian-centered program than the Scouts. The Brigade for msany years had a more basic uniform than the Scouts, but by the 1960s the Boys' Brigade uniform had a more Scout-like uniform including short trousers and knee socks. Some of these boys wear the correct knee socks with striped cuffs while others seem to settle for just plain knee socks or even ankle socks. Notice that the shorts are quite trimly cut.

France

The pants worn by French boys was higly variasble in the 1960s. Few French schools had uniforms. France like most western European countries did not have school uniforms, except in the private Catholic schools and even here by the end of the decsade, schools were dropping mandatory uniforms. Thus school portraits were a very good indication of populasr styles. We see boys in the earky 1960s stil commonly wearing short pants. The pattern, however, was highly varied from school to school. Shorts especially as the decasde progressed became highly seasonal. A secondary school in Paris school during the 1960s shows a variety of both short and long trousers. An example is the clothes worn at one state school. Another class at a state school (1961-62) dresses exclusively in very trim, short shorts with ankle socks. Notice that one boy wears suspender shorts. Again the shirts are informal. We still see some boys wearing suits to school, but this vecame rare by the end of the deace. European boys, if they wore suits, tended to stick to short pants, at least until their later years (see Fig 2). Interestingly, these probably French boys wear white ankle socks even with their dressy clothes. One of the boys seems to be wearing a beret. Notice how brief the shorts are, a mark of the new 1960s style. We alo see smocks by the end of the decade being worn much less commonly. Note how short boys’ short short pants had become in France. There appear to be no short pants suits, but mostly shorts being worn as informl ncreasingly summer garments witg open-necked shirts. Some of the ankle socks seem rather colorful as well. A major development at the end of the decade was the Paris School Riots in 1968. This had a major impact on French education as well as boys' fashions.

Germany

Germanboys during the 1960s we see a greater variety of trousers than in most other countries. Lederhosen, of course, were still very popular, although less so than in the 1950s because if the growing popularity of jeans. The leather shorts, worn very brief with the usual cross-bar leather halter, seem to have been ideal for biking. One German boy wears his lederhosen with a colorful sweater and dark knee socks. Some teenagers in the 1950s wore them almost the way jeans are worn by modern American boys, but this was less true in the 1960s. Younger boys most commonly wore their Lederhosen with halters. Older boys in the 1960s common wore them without the halters often with the knee socks down around the ankles for an more casual look. A German boys here are good examples. Knicker-length lederhosen were less popular than the short-pants style, but they were widely advertised in German clothing catalogs, and were often worn for hiking and mountaineering. They were almost always worn with long stockings, knee socks, or tights. The boy in the catalogue illustration is wearing either patterned knee socks or tights—probably the former since he is wearing a summer, short-sleeved shirt as accompaniment. But tights were also manufactured in patterned and textured styles. We note several American exchange students in Germany adopting the local fashion of lederhosen shorts in the 1960s, but these boys, unaccustomed to the fashion, seem a bit uncomfortable with the style. Note that they wear their shorts a bit too loose and too long to be taken as native Germans. And they have omitted the usual cross-bar suspenders that hold them up and make them somewhat shorter in appearance as well as the customary knee socks.. A German boy wouldn’t have worn lederhosen with a white tee-shirt in the 1960s. The world-famous Schoenberger Choir of Berlin dressed their boys in dark short-pants suits with white knee socks and black shoes during the 1960s. Note that the boys wear white shirts with open collars. Some of these boys are younger teenagers. By the 1960s, however, especially the late 60s most German boys were wearing long trousers dark suits for their confirmation ceremony. These boys seem to be Lutherans rather than Roman Catholics. A decade of two earlier these boys would probably have worn short pants suits with knee socks or long black stockings. But short pants suits had by no means disappeared. In the more remote and conservative areas of Germany, mothers still insisted that boys wear such suits with long cotton stockings. In 1962 we see a younger teenager whose hose supporter has come undone while he was cycling, and he has stopped to reattach the garter. Note how short his trousers are and how long the stockings must therefore be to cover his upper leg. Some boys objected to wearing long stockings in Germany, but many took the style as ordinary and convenient. If you wore long stockings on a chilly day you stayed warm while riding your bike without the nuisance of having to roll up your long trousers or wear a bicycle clip. Some wealthy rural families apparently considered long stockings for boys to be a mark of superior class and decorum. We see a somewhat younger boy in 1962, apparently from a mountain area, wearing long woolen stockings with his short pants. The stockings were probably knitted by his mother to keep him warm in the higher altitudes. You can see from the photograph and the way that the stockings are hitched up on his leg that he is wearing the traditional Leibchen with long garters attached. German clothing catalogues showed a range of trousers styles for boys—both short and long. Notice one style of long trousers with cross-bar suspenders attached. A 1961 catagoue shows long trousers with bib fronts as well as with suspenders. And note also the close-fitting knickers that are offered as an alternative to long pants. These are not at all like the American knickers with blousing at the knee, but much more closely fitting like 18th-century knee breeches. They are meant to be worn with tights or long stockings because they are designed to ride up over the knee in certain positions. Nor are these knickers merely a juvenile style. Men also wore them for hiking and for mountaineering and for a sporty look. They tended to be popular in Bavaria and the mountainous regions of southern Germany and in Austria. Tights had also become popular wear for boys and men in the 1960s. We see numerous catalog pages. They were not only worn as a substitute for long stockings but were sometimes considered appropriate for general leisure wear without shorts or knickers worn over them. They came in bright colors as well as in the more sober browns and beiges associated with long stockings and were popular with boys as well as with girls. They were also an alternative to long underwear in chilly weather. Various styles of short and long pants, casual and less so, appeared in German catalogues during the 1960s. Notice the appearance of the practical and durable corduroy. Boys in Germany sometimes wore their short pants with ankle socks and sandals. We have an interesting photo on HBC that shows a German boy dressed in this fashion while his English guest wears the common schoolboy British shorts with knee socks neatly pulled up and worn with garters. We have a nice contrast here between two different national styles.

Italy

Japan

A charming photo shows a Japanese family relaxing at home in a musical ensemble. While the mother plays the piano, her oldest son sings from a musical score and her younger son accompanies them on his guitar. The boys’ clothes are interesting.. The teenage boy, probably about 18, wears an open shirt, casual slacks, and a V-necked sweater, while the younger boy, perhaps 10 or 11, wears a checked shirt, short pants, and tan long stockings. But the stockings are not held up by the customary hose supporters. Instead the boy seems to wear round garters around his upper leg, a method of stocking support that many mothers considered unhealthily restrictive.

Morocco

A French Lycee (secondary school) in Morocco shows schoolboys in the 1960s wearing a variety of trousers—both long pants and short pants. Long pants predominate in this class. There is considerable variety in the degree of formality. One boy seems to be wearing jeans with turned up bottoms. Others wear sweaters, sport shirts, or suits. We see white sport socks as well as sneakers worn with a suit. The dress code seems to have been optional and extremely relaxed.

New Zealand

The same page that shows the English schoolboy suit also carries a photograph of some New Zealand boys in their classroom (see fig. 3). They wear the British style of short pants suit with shirt, tie, and knee socks (including the striped tops). Notice the eternal problem of the socks slipping down if worn without garters.

Norway

Norwegian boys often wore very colorful patterned pullovers or sweaters. This Norwegian advertisement shows a variety of such sweaters being worn, in some cases at least, with tights rather than shorts or long trousers. Tights had become very popular in the Scandanavian countries, both for wear under trousers and shorts and also for casual relaxation at home. The scene here, however, is a schoolroom. It isn’t entirely clear whether boys actually wore tights without shorts to school in Norway.

Scotland

Corduroy had become a very common material for boys’ short pants because of its flexibility, washability, and durability. We see Scottish schoolboys-—about 12 or 13 apparently—wearing cord shorts with knee socks and jumpers (pullover sweaters) over collared shirts with ties. Some public schools allowed boys to wear pullovers with their short pants rather than blazers—a gesture in the direction of relaxed formality. This photo is undated but seems to come from the 1960s.

South Africa

South African schoolboys followed the British tradition of short pants worn with blazers and knee socks. Notice how short this boy’s shorts are when he is sitting down (fig. 2). He wears tan knee socks and a boater (the straw hat that was part of the school uniform).

Soviet Union

Short pants were still very common for boys in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. We note a boy in the Children’s October Movement in 1969 wearing a white shirt, shorts, and white knee socks. He does not yet have the red neckerchief that will come to him when he becomes a full-fledged Pioneer. Notice the rolled top of the socks, apparently because they were a bit too long for the boy, or because he as rolled the top around a round of elastic to keep them in place. Shorts worn with white knee socks were considered very fashionable in Russia during the decade. A Soviet fashion magazine showed a boy wearing a very chic short-pants suit with white knee socks and white shoes. Probably not too many Soviet boys could afford such an outfit, but the illustration is certainly meant to show that Russian boys could dress in a very classy way. For especially talented boys, Russian schools offered special, elite opportunities. This Russian boy, wearing the school uniform, is being trained for a musical career. He wears a neat white shirt, a sleeveless open jacket and matching short pants with tan cotton long stockings. Tights were also worn in the Soviet Union, but they did not catch on as readily in Russia as in other European countries, so long stockings were much more common. Soviet kindergarteners in 1964 boy also commonly wore long stockings. This Kindergarten boy wears shorts with a bib and ribbed stockings. Note that the shorts are so brief that the clasp on the boy’s hose supporter is visible. A 1967 photo of Moscow boys illustrates the variety of boy’s dress in Moscow. One boy wears long trousers, another wears shorts with knee socks, and still a third wears shorts with long stockings.

Switzerland

Swiss boys sometimes substituted tights for long stockings to wear with their First Communion suits. Notice that this Swiss boy has quite brief shorts, the prevailing style of the 1960s. Of course he carries his rosary in addition to a scroll no doubt making his participation in the sacrament ecclesiastically official. He seems to wear dark brown tights, however, rather than the traditional black stockings that were common in earlier decades.