Figure 1.-- This Belgian boy has his portrait taken in the 1930s. The studio was H. Driesmans in Brussels. He wears a colorful sweater, short pants, knee socks, and strap shoes. The boy looks to be about 8 years old.

We note several different types of footwear that were commonly worn by Belgian boys. We rarely see Belgian children going barefoot. Here the 19th century photographic record is not very helpful as it is almost entirely studio photography and our 19th century archive is limited. Thus much of our information pertains to the 20th crntury. We do not know to what extent wooden shoes were worn as in Belgium. We believe they were worn, especially in rural areas. They may have been more popular n Flanders than in Walonia, but we are not yet sure of this. They seem to have been primarily worn by working-class or rural children. Many younger boys appear to have worn strap shoes. This varied over time. We note different types of strap shoes. We notice boy dress and casual play styles. Sandals were also popular, mosly closed-toe sandal. Some boys seem to wear strap shoes mor as sandals than dress hoes. They were also different style. High-top shoes were very common in the late-19th and early-20th century. They were commonly worn to school but we also see some boys wearing strap shoes and sandals. Her there was a seasonal factor. We see low-cut oxfords becoming more common in the 1930s. Most of the studio portaits show school-age boys wearing low-cut oxfords. We mosly notice standard oxfords. Belgian boys as far as we can tell rarely wore sneakers until well after World war II. As in much of Europe we only see them becoming popular well afrer the War in the the 1970s.

Barefeet

We note several different types of footwear that were commonly worn by Belgian boys. We rarely see Belgian children going barefoot. Here the 19th century photographic record is not very helpful as it is almost entirely studio photography and our 19th century archive is limited. Thus much of our information pertains to the 20th century.

Shoes

We do not know to what extent wooden shoes were worn as in Belgium. We believe they were worn, especially in rural areas. They may have been more popular n Flanders than in Walonia, but we are not yet sure of this. They seem to have been primarily worn by working-class or rural children. Many younger boys appear to have worn strap shoes. This varied over time. We note different types of strap shoes. We notice boy dress and casual play styles. High-top shoes were very common in the late-19th and early-20th century. They were commonly worn to school. We see low-cut oxfords becoming more common in the 1930s. Most of the studio portaits show school-age boys wearing low-cut oxfords. We mosly notice standard oxfords. Belgian boys as far as we can tell rarely wore sneakers until well after World war II. As in much of Europe we only see them becoming popular well afrer the War in the the 1970s.

Sandals

Sandals were also popular, mosly closed-toe sandal. Some boys seem to wear strap shoes mor as sandals than dress hoes. They were also different style. We see some boys wearing strap shoes and sandals to school. Here there was a seasonal factor.

Boots

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Belgin pages:
[Return to the Main Belgian garment page]
[Belgian catalogs [Belgian choirs] [Belgian movies] [Belgian royals] [Belgian schools] [Belgian youth groups]

Created: 7:14 PM 3/31/2008
Last updated: 10:16 AM 6/24/2012