Figure 1.--This Belgian boy looks to be about 4 years old. He wears a pair of suspender romper pants with a fancy baloon-sleeve blouse. The portrait is undated, but was probanly taken about 1940. We are not sure what colo the rompers may have been. |
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The rompers worn by Belgian boys were made in several different styles. The different basic styles common in France were also worn in Belgium. We do not know of any destinctive Belgian styles, although our Belgian archive is still relatively limited. We are not yet sure about the relative popularity of the different styles. The primary styles were one piece romper suits, romper pants including suspender ropers, and bib-front rompers. The one-piece romper suits commonly had tops that were very similar to smock tops. Smocks as in France were commonly worn in Belgium, but became less common after Workd War I. The suspender romper pants worn with fancy blouses for formal wear or various shirts for casual wear. We have noted photographs with all the various romper styles.
The one-piece romper suits commonly had tops that were very similar to smock tops, including Peter Pan collars. Baloon sleeves wre nore commpn with rompers gthan smocks. Smocks as in France were commonly worn in Belgium, but became less common after World War I. We believe that the one-piece romper suits commonly had back straps at the waistline tied into bows, but we can not yet confirm that with photographic evidence.
Romper pants or the bottom part opf the frompers without the pants were made with both elasticized wairs and suspender straps for suspension. These romper pants were worn with fancy blouses for formal wear or various shirts for casual wear. Here we see a younger boy wearing romper pants with suspender straps (figure 1). They look to be a dressy outfit.
We also notice Belgian boys bib-front rompers. Bib-front shorts and long pants were primarily a play style. Ghe bib was a protective not a fancy device. And these seem to have been priamrily play outfits in Belgium, but we also boys wearing them for formal portraits. In France these bib-front rompers were often used for beachwear. We suspect that the same was true in Belgium. We tend to see somewhat older boys wearin bib-front rompers than one-piece romper suits, boys pergaps as old as 6-7 years of age. Given our limited achive, however, we can not yet make valid assessment. We see the bib-front rompers in differet colors and patterns and fabrics, depnding on the use involved. This also affected the shirt or blouse to be worn with them. Even a play romper might have a formal work if worn with a fancy blouse. For beach wear a boy might not wear a shirt. We notice these bib-front rompers during the 1930s-50s. We may find the the actualy chronology may be wider as our archive expands. They duid continue in the 60s, but for only very young boys.
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