Figure 1.--This Belgian boy wears a rather elegant-looking double-breasted short pants suit for a First Communion suit. The suit was for a 6-7 year old oy. I'm not sure about the color, but looks to be a grey suit rather than dark blue or black. It was worn with similarly colored kneesocks and a natty bowtie. |
We note a variety of single and double breasted suits. Suits with Norfolk
styling were popular in the early 20th century, some work weiyh Eton
collars. Conservatibe dark suits were popular in the early 20th century.
We note patterened shirts by the 1930s. A woman's fashion magazine in 1952 showed a rather elegant-looking double-breasted short pants suit for a First Communion suit. The suit was for a 6-7 year old boy. I'm not sure about the color, but looks to be a grey suit rather than dark blue or black. It was worn with similarly colored kneesocks and a natty bowtie.
The Belgian magazine Vrouw en Huis ("Woman and Home") was an important source of fashion information for Belgian and Dutch mothers. We have some issues from the early 1950s. It was a weekly magazine and as it was in Dutch for Flemish readers, was also sold in the Netherlands. I'm not sure how popular it was among French readers.
Belgian boys tended to wear very conservative dark suits for First Communion in the early 20th century. Black suits were very common. They were normally worn with matching black long stockings or black kneesocks. We notice, however, very few white suits. This began to change in the 1930s when we still see boys wearing conservative suits, but also quite a few boys wearing suits with patterns, sometimes quite loud patterns. After World War II these suits with bold patterns become less common for First Communion, perhaps because they were going out of style.
The principal types of jackets we have noted with the excption of sailor suits were single and double preasted jackets. We have also noted Norfolk styled jackets in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century some boys were wearing suits styled rather like tuxeods. This style was popular in France.
We have mostly noted Belgian boys wearing kneepants and short pants suits for their First Communion. A few boys wore kncker suits, but this wa less common as knickers were seen as a style for older boys. After World War II, especially in the 1960s and evn more so the 1970s, more Belgian boys began wearing long pants suits for First Communion.
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