Figure 1.--Jump suits appeared after World War I. They were called Koveralls. They were one of the few long pants outfits for small children. Note the Russian blouse styling. Also note the sandals. |
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The play suit was conceived after the turn of the century as the modern concept of play was developing as beneficial activity. Early play suits were smocks, pinafores, and rompers. The romper was probably the insporation for the jump suit, the first long pants play suit. The Levi Straus company was probably the first company to create
long pants playsuits with their coveralls. Many other designs were to follow. I have little real information about play suits at this time. The first long pants outfits appear to have been Koveralls, but short pants outfits, often two-piece garments, appeared after the turn of the century. They were popular in Germany and
worn by the German princes. The first long pants garments I have noted appeared in the 1920s. Some of the original longpants play suits had Russian blouse styling. This appears to have been primarily an American style and was much less commonly worn in Europe. The two basic types of play suits were short and long pants play suits. I believe there were some knicker play suits, but they were not common. There were many
variationss to the basic short/long pants theme. A new long pants style appeared after World War II, the jump suit, but this was not specifically for children.
The first play suits I observed were short pants play suits. They were popular
in Germany and worn by the German princes during the 1900s. Often the princes
were all dressed alike in identical satin suits which look quite dressy. The
Russian blouse style was popular for these early play suits. The
concept of the play suit proved most popular in America. Many practical outfits
appeared in the 1920s. Usually they were two-piece outfits with the shirt and
short pants coordinated in some way. This became less common in the late 1950s.
A modern version of this sdtyle were the "jams" that appeared in the 1980s with
shorts and shirts made of the same material, oftem bold patterns.
Shortalls are a one-piece short pants garmet worn by small boys in the 1960s-70s. It was based on the word overalls (the original name for jeans), but with short rather than long pants. Levi Straus came out with a
version of its jeans for children in the 1920s. The shortalls appearing in the late 1950s and early 1960s, however, were not made of denim and did not have bib fronts. I have no information about who first made
shortalls or when they first appeatred, but it does appear to have been
the early 1950s. Shortalls were popularized by President Kennedy's son
John when he was dressed in them during the early 1960s.
I do not believe this was a common style even though when the play suit developed
in America during the 1910s and eaerly 20s, boys commonly wore knickers.
Levi Strauss in 1912 introduced its first playsuits for children, known as Koveralls. Simon Davis, the son of Jacob Davis designed the Koverall. Davis was the superintendent of the Levi Strauss Valencia Street factory. Levi Strauss & Co. advertised
the Koveralls widely and the Koveralls became the first product sold nationwide by Levi's the 1920s introduced "Koveralls", a denim play garment. This was quite a novel idea at the time. For the first timev in America, some affluent city boys were esentially wearing overalls. Levi Strauss in the 1920s introduced "Koveralls", a denim play garment. They were conceivedf of by ??? Davis, son of Jacob
Davis This was quite a novel idea at the time. For the first timev in America, some affluent city boys were esentially wearing
overalls.
Long pants play suits, unlike the short pants suits, were often one-piece
garments.
Jump suits eventually became used for a variety of adult activities. I believed
the term appeared in the 1940s or 50s as they were worn by parachusets. They
also came to be uniforms worn by pilots and other aviators during the 1950s.
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