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Sailor blouses wre fairly standard. The pants or trousers worn by boys were much more varied. German boys have worn a variety of pants with their sailor suits. The first sailor suits were worn with long pants as they were copies of naval uniforms. As kneepants became more common in the late 19th century, many boys wore kneepants sailor suits. This was a very common outfit for school--kneepants sailor suits. We have also noted German boys wearing bloomer-like knicker-length pants with their sailor suits. There is often no way of telling from the pants, what country is depicted in an old photograph. HBC believes that bloomer knickers were more common in France than Germany, but we have only limited information at this time. Short pants became increasingly common in the 1910s, and by the mid-1920s had replaced kneepants as the most common type of pants worn with sailor suits. Short pants sailor suits were commonly worn with keesocks. By the 1930s sailor suits were declining in popularity, especially after 1933 when the NAZIs seized power. Some younger boys still wore them, but it was rare to see boys older than 10 wearing sailor suits in Germany after 1935.
The first sailor suits were worn with long pants because they were copies of naval uniforms. Often the early suits were made with bell-bottom pants, the style of pants worn with naval uniforms at the time. These were the style of pants of course worn in the Royal Navy which set the standard for naval uniforms. They were also worn by U.S. Navy sailors, but we are less sure about other countries. Regular cut pants became more common in Germany. We see bell bottms being worn by boys in other countries, but we see them more rarely in Germany, especially after World War II. Gradually sailor suits began to be made with other types of pants. This depended primarily on the popular pants styles at the time. While other types of pants appeared and became popular, throughout the late 19th and 20th century, sailor suits continued to be worn with long pants as well. Actually
shortened-length pants became so common for boys in Germany that sailor suits were one of the few outdits that boys wore with long pants. Here long pants were most commonly worn by the older boys with sailor suits, but we see younger boys as well. It is difficult at this time to assess the relative importance of long trouser and other sailor suits. We do know that by the early 20th century, the first long pants a boy might wear were probably part of a sailor suit. In some cases age was a factor here, but long and short pants sailor suits were often made in the same sizes. Seasonality may also have been a factor, but we believe that parental preferences were the primary reason that either long or shortened-length pants were chosen.
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Knee pants were a trouser type very commonly worn by boys. We are not entirely sure why they became so popular bevause for the first half of the 19th century, most boys wore long trousers. As knee pants became more common in the late 19th century, many boys wore knee pants sailor suits. It was not that knee pants were especially associated with sailor suits, it was just that knee pants became the standard style for boys. Knee pants sailor suits were very commonly worn by German boys in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. This was a very common outfit for school--knee pants sailor suits. They often, but not always, had ornametal buttons at the knee hem. Most of the German boys we see wearing sailor suits before World War I wore knee pants suits. This changed after the War when we see boys wearing either short pants or long pants sailor suits.
We have also noted German boys wearing bloomer-like knicker-length pants with their sailor suits. By bloomer knickers we mean knee-length pants blouced woth elastic leg closures. We see these pants at about the same time sailor suits first appeared, although they were not at first worn with sailor suits. They were worn by younger boys with a variety of different suits, some with fancy styling. I'm not sure precisely when they began to e worn with middy bloudses, perhaps the 1870s. These bloomer knickers were very commin in Europe, less so in America. There is often no way of telling from the pants, what country is depicted in an old photograph. HBC believes that bloomer knickers were more common in France than Germany, but we have only limited information at this time. We note them in the late-19th and early 20 century. We do have a few images archived on HBC of German boys wearing what look like bloomer knickers. A good example is a unidentified German boy about 1905. Boys wore both three-quater socks and long stickings with these bloomer knickers.
We nore realtively few German sailor suits with knicker trousers. Mostly we see boys with long pants and knee psnts or shorts. But very many German boys had sailor suits. Thus there we see boys that had a great diversity of trousers. Thus we see some boys wearing sailor suits with knickers as well. We are not yey sure about the chronology, but believe knickers with sailor suits were mostly worn before World War I. After World War I, older boys began wearing knickers. We thus rarely see knickers worn with sailor suits after the War. We note button knee closures. They seem to have been worn with long stockings.
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Short pants became increasingly common in the 1910s, and by the mid-1920s had replaced largely replaced kneepants as the most common type of pants worn by boys with sailor suits. Long pants were also worn, especilly by older boys, but short pants appear more common n the 19320s and 30s. Short pants sailor suits were commonly worn with keesocks, but we also note many boys wearing long stockings especisally during the winter. School class photos normally show some boys wearing sailor suits, usually with short pants. By the 1930s sailor suits were declining in popularity, especially after 1933 when the NAZIs seized power. Some younger boys still wore them, but it became less common to see boys older than 10-11 wearing sailor suits in Germany after about 1935. Boys entered the Hitler Youth at age 10. Short pants sailor suits had social class connotations. After World war I they were most common with middle-class boys and less common for working-class boys.
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