Figure 1.--

Major changes occured in English fashions after World War I. This was a general trend that occurred throughout Europe and North America. Dress even for children was still relatively formal in the early 20th century. This was a trend noticeable even before the War, but the deprivations and priorities of the War undoubtedly affected how people viewed formal dress. The 1920s and 30s were very similar. The basic difference is that the post-World War trends we observe in the 1920s were nore advanced in the 30s. We see a range of trends. Younger boys no longer wore dresses to any extent. And we see fewer English boys wearing kilts, exceot fir very formal occassions. The peaked cam became virtually universal at school. School garments were a major fashion component. Boys at the time unless from wealthy families had much smaller wardrobes than modern boys. We also notice the gaberdine raincoat, although we are not sure when they first appeared. The formal Eton collar began to be replaced with soft collars. While dress was becoming more formal, it still seems rather formal to modern readers. Boys commonly wore suits and blazers with ties. Playwear for younger childen became popular. Fancy styles like the Fauntleroy suit rapidly went out of style. The sailor suit declined in poularity, a development that was not mirrored on the Continent. Short pants becanme increasingly popular and a little shorter. Long stockings declined in popularity, although knee socks were standard, except during the warm summer weather. High-top shoes were replaced with low-cut oxfords and closed-toe sandals became widely worn. They became a standard school garment to the point they became known as school sandals.

The 1920s

Major changes occured in English fashions after World War I. This was a general trend that occurred throughout Europe and North America. Dress even for children was still relatively formal in the early 20th century. This was a trend noticeable even before the War, but the deprivations and priorities of the War undoubtedly affected how people viewed formal dress. The 1920s were very similar. We see a range of trends. Younger boys no longer wore dresses to any extent. And we see fewer English boys wearing kilts, xcept for very formal occassions such as society weddings. The peaked cap became virtually universal at school. We no longer see boys wearing hats. School garments were a major fashion component. Boys at the time unless from wealthy families had much smaller wardrobes than modern boys. We also notice the gaberdine raincoat, although we are not sure when they first appeared. The formal Eton collar began to be replaced with soft collars. We still see quite a few at the beginning of the decade, but far fewer by the end of the decade. While clothinbg was becoming more formal, it still seems rather formal to modern readers. Boys commonly wore suits and blazers with ties. Playwear for younger childen became popular. Fancy styles like the Fauntleroy suit rapidly went out of style. The sailor suit declined significanrly in poularity, especially by the end of the decade. This was a development that was not mirrored on the Continent. Short pants became increasingly popular and almost universal by the end of the decade. And they became a little shorter, no longer looking like knee pans. Long stockings declined in popularity, although they were still worn by girls at coinservative svhols. Knee socks were standard, except during the warm summer weather. High-top shoes were replaced with low-cut oxfords and closed-toe sandals became widely worn. Sandals became a standard school garment to the point they became known as school sandals.

Figure 2.-- While dress was becoming more formal, it still seems rather formal to modern readers. Boys commonly wore suits and blazers with ties. Here brothers even at home are wearing ties.

The 1930s

The basic difference between the 1920s and 30s is that the trends we observe in the 1920s continued in the 1930s and were even more noticeable. The only boys headwear we notice of any importance is the peaked school cap. Hats were virtually absent. We notice fewer boys with headwear outside of school, but when we do see headwear it is the peaked school cap. A factor here is that boys did not have large wardrobes. Thus for many boys, their schoolwear (caps, blazer, and short pants) doubled as their dress up clothes for church and special occassions. Eton collars largely disappered in the 30s. We see some in the early-30s, but very few at the end of the decade. We see somewhat more informality in the 30s, but we still see boys wearing suit jackets to beaches, parks, and ourdoor play, something that even in Enbgland would be see as unusual today. V-neck jumpers become standard wear in the 1930s. They were popular because they were made to be worn with ties and thus popular for school wear. Short pants were nearly universal for boys in the 1930s and even younger teens. They were comminly wirn with knee socks. we no longer see long stovkings except as some conservative girls schools. Closed-toe sandals were very common in primary schools as well as popular for summer wear. We no longer see high-top shoes at school. Boys along swthsndals ore oxford shoes. While we do not see sneakers worn at chools, we do see some worn during the summer.

Created: 5:28 AM 8/13/2011
Last updated: 7:58 AM 11/30/2016