Trouser Suspension: Types of H-Bar Pants


Figure 1.--This photograph ar the Škoní Rok School in Czechoslovakia 1960 shows one boy wearing H-bar short pants. The children look dressed up for some kind of pagent. The boys wear white shirts, but different pants. It looks like some are wearing long white stovkings, but we are not sure.

H-bar shorts seem the most common type of H-bar pants , but we have noted several different kinds of H-bar pants. The popularity varied by country and chronologically. The most common type appears to be H-bar shorts. We note H-bar shorts, kneepants, and longs, but we have never seen H-bar knickers. H-bar shorts are very similar to suspender shorts, except there is a cross piece connecting the suspender straps in front. They look like ledershosen and perhaps for that reason were most common in countries where lederhosen were worn. We do not notice this style very commonly, but we have noticed a few photograohs of boys wearing H-bar kneepants. We have only noted this style in Europe. We have never yet noted any example in America. We have never noted H-bar knickers. This is in part because in Europe knickers became a garment associated with older boys. As almost all images of H-bar pants we have noted come from Europe, we have not noted any images of H-bar knickers. We have noted very few examples of boys wearing H-bar long pants. This is in sharp contrast to suspender and bib-front long long pants and shorts. Thge only images we have noted to date come from Czechoslovakia and we suspect they were also worn in Hungary and perhaps other East-Bloc countries.

H-bar Shorts

H-bar shorts are very similar to suspender shorts, except there is a cross piece connecting the suspendr straps in front. They look like ledershosen and perhaps for that reason were most common in countries where lederhosen were worn. Like suspender shorts, the straps were made in the same material as the pants. Suspender shorts were commonly worn in America, for example, but we have rarely noted H-bar shorts. We do not notice this style very commonly, but we have noticed a few photographs of boys wearing H-bar kneepants. We have only noted this style in Europe. We have never yet noted any example in America.

H-bar Kneepants

We do not notice this style very commonly, but we have noticed a few photograohs of boys wearing H-bar kneepants. We have only noted this style in Europe. We have never yet noted any example in America. This may be associated with folk styling, we are not yet sure. We have never noted H-bar knickers. This is in part because in Europe knickers became a garment associated with older boys. As almost all images of H-bar pants we have noted come from Europe, we have not noted any images of H-bar knickers. We have noted very few examples of boys wearing H-bar long pants. This is in sharp contrast to suspender and bib-front long long pants and shorts. Thge only images we have noted to date come from Czechoslovakia and we suspect they were also worn in Hungary and perhaps other East-Bloc countries.

H-bar Knickers

We have never noted H-bar knickers. This is in part because in Europe knickers became a garment associated with older boys. As almost all images of H-bar pants we have noted come from Europe, we have not noted any images of H-bar knickers.

H-bar Long Pants

We have noted very few examples of boys wearing H-bar long pants. This is in sharp contrast to suspender and bib-front long long pants and shorts. Thge only images we have noted to date come from Czechoslovakia and we suspect they were also worn in Hungary and perhaps other East-Bloc countries. We suspect this is because the style of H-bar shorts was so popular in these countries, that in the 1960s when short pants became less common, especially during the Winter, that the style caried over into H-bar long pants. We have only noted than being worn by younger boys perhaps up to 6 and 7 in the 1st and second grades.








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Created: 10:33 AM 6/23/04
Last updated: 10:33 AM 6/23/04