Figure 1.-- We note younger boys wearing knit suits. We mostly see pre-school boys wearing them. There were done in wool with matching tops and pants. Most seem to hasve been short pants suits, but there were heavier knit outdits sone with long pants specifically for winter wear. Here is a good example of a knit suit, we think from about 1930.

We notice a variety of outfits popular with younger boys. Little boys swore dresses amd other skirted gsrments like skirts and tunics in the 19th century. Boys began wearing wore smocks to school in the late-19th century and we believe the smock was primarily a school garment. We also notice younger boys raring Fauntleroy suits and sailor suits, although sailor suits were alo worn by school-age boys. Unfortunately we do not have many Belgian 19th century images. We do have a substantial archive for the 20th century. We see occasional younger boys wearing Fauntleroy styles in the early-20th century. Knit outfits were also popular. Rompers were another popular style for younger boys, mostly for pre-school boys. Short pants were almost universal, although many older boys also wore shorts in n the first hlf ogf the 20th century.

Fauntleroy Suits

Fauntleroy suits were worn in Belgium. Mrs Burnett's book was a sensation in Europe as well as America and affected boys fashions--although not to the same degree as in America. We have, however, very little information at this time, especially 19th century images. As best we can tell, Belgian Fauntleroy suit styles were very similar to those prevalent in France. This was surely the case in Walonia--the French speaking areas of the country. Fauntleroy suits may have been less popular in Flemish speaking Flanders. Here there were also Dutch and German influences. We are not sure about Fauntleroy suit sttyles. We notice the suits being worn with lace collars. Belgium of course was famous for its lace. Nor do we know anything about age conventions. We are unable to assess Belgian trends to any extent because our archive is fairly limited and we have found few examples of Fauntleroy suits in Belgium so far. We believe this is because our archive is very limited not because Fauntleroy suits were not very common. We have no information on social class conventions.

Knit Suits

We note many younger boys wearing knit suits. This seems especially popular in Euorpe during the inter-War era, but was notable into the 1950s. Belgium was one of the European countries where knitwear fashions were especially popular. We mostly see pre-school boys wearing these knit-wear items. Knitwear is commonly assoiciated with cold weather, but these juvenle knit outfis were not just worn during the winter. The knit outfits were done in wool with matching tops and pants. Knit tops meaning mostly sweaters were common for older boys, butthese outfitsih matching pants were specifically for older boys. Most seem to have been short pants suits. At te time, short pantswere standard for boys. There were heavier knit outdits sone with long pants specifically for winter wear. This was the era before synthetic fibers and these items were almost always done in wool,a much more common material than is the case today. A lot were done in light colors.. Here is a good example of these knit suits, we think about 1930 (figure 1). We do not see them being worn to school to any extent. We thik these knit suits were less common for girls buyt we are noy yet sure about that.

Rompers

HBC notes younger Belgian boys wearing rompers in the 1920s. They were a very popular fashion for boys through the 1960s. They were initially a garment for play and an enormous change from the more restrictive, formals garments in which boys were once dressed. More dressy, formal rompers appeared, but like the play garments were comfortable non-restrictive garments. We believe that rompers in Belgium were primarily adopted from the French fashion. We know of no important difference between French and Belgian rompers. As in France, we assumed rompers were called "barboteuse" in Belgium. There may have been differences in the popularity of rompers between French speaking Walonia and Dutch speaking Flanders.

Sailor Suits

Unlike some countries where sailor suits were popular, Belgium had no national navy of any consequence. HBC believes that Belgium fashions are basically a function of French fashions and sailor suits were enormously popular in France. Likewise they were extremely popular in Belgium. I'm not sure about the exact chronology, but at the turn of the century most Belgian boys had a sailor suit and commonly wore it. They were an extremely versitile garment They were often worn to school and for a variety of formal occasions.

Created: 7:44 AM 6/24/2012
Last updated: 5:01 AM 2/4/2025