Figure 1.--These American brothers and their mother look as if they were photographed on some sort of summer vacation. We are uncertain about the date. The boys look to be about 3 and 8 years old. They have a casual look, yet are dressed up--a style that was becoming more common in the early 20th century. Note that the older boy, although wearing knickers buckled above his knees, he doesn't seem to be wearing any type of socks or stockings. Image courtesy of the RS Collection.

Knickers were particularly popular boys' wear in America. Mothers in the 1910s and 1920s considered them the appropriate outfit for boys. Most mothers believed that knickers should be worn buckled above the knee. Apparently American boys preferred to buckle them below the knee, so above the knee knickers become much less popular in the 1920s, especially when kneesocks began replacing long stockings. This was both a type of knicker pants worn for both dress and formal occassions. Mostly American boys wore long stovkings for dress occassions, although by the late 1910s some boys were wearing kneesocks as well. Boys for casual might not wear socks or stockings at all. We have less infornmation on Europe, but do not at this time have any indication that above-the-knee knickers were widely worn in Europe. We have seen images of younger boys wearing above the knee bloomer (elasticised) above the knee knickers, but we have not noted proper knickers with button or buckle leg closures being worn above the knee in Europe. This may be, however, simply because we do not have adequate information.

Image

These American brothers and their mother look as if they were photographed on some sort of summer vacation. We are uncertain about the date. The above the knee knickers rather suggests the 1910s to us as does mother's dress--but here we have no real experise. The boys' sneakers, however, seem more in line with the early 1920s. The boys look to be about 3 and 8 years old. They have a casual look, yet are dressed up--a style that was becoming more common in the early 20th century. Note that the older boy, although wearing knickers buckled above his knees, he doesn't seem to be wearing any type of socks or stockings. This seemed to be acceptable for casual wear, but for formal wear he would have worn long stockings or kneesocks. Little brother is wearing white ankle socks. Also notice that the older brother is wearing white sneakers. This is one of the earlier images we have of a boy wearing sneakers.

Navigate the Historic Boys ' Clothing Web chronol ogical pages:
[The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Jackets] [Long pants suits] [Blazers] [Kilts] [Sailor suits] [Short pants suits]
[Ring bearer/page costumes] [Eton suits] [Long stockings] [Knee socks]

Created: August 30, 2002
Last edited: August 30, 2002