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These English brothers wear matching grey short pants suits in 1958. Suits like this were also used for school uniforms. The boys may have worn these suits to school, but we are not sure about this. The sweaters and patterened top knee socks were, howeve, are not school styles. The socks with the colored bands that the younger boy wears are of course school socks. And both boys wear school sandals. A British reader has provided some insights about this photigraph.
I just thought that I would make a few comments on this page. To be honest what attracted my attention initially is that the elder boy looks just like me at a similar age right down to the haircut! and he looks just as uncomfortable posing for a photograph as I used to be--although as you know most of my surviving photographs were taken in Germany and I hated being made to pose by the photographer Father.
The elder boy here is obviously trying to keep still with his hands behind his back just can't help trying to look "cool" by crossing his legs and is obviously itching to get the photo done and run off to play.! I can identify with that and the German Mother had to hold me still for some of the photos!
Anyway I may be wrong but although of the same material the boys' suits seem slightly different in style. I am not sure that the younger has a breast pocket and the elder has two flap pockets on his right and only two buttons whilst the younger has three. I am not sure if the two pockets is more of an "adult" style for the period? The elder boy also seems to be wearing a plain tie but with a patterned jumper with matching kneesocks while the younger has a patterned tie and is wearing school socks.
What I really wanted to comment on was that as you know I loved wearing my sandals for school and play but Mum did not see them as dress up wear so for Sunday School and visting they were not allowed even in the Summer and we wore black lace up shoes.These boys in suits with sandals therefore look odd to me!
Generally on suits - I never had one but my elder brother did have one (with long trousers!) when he was twelve.That was the early 1970s though.For Sunday School - as I have told you - I wore my school shorts with a white shirt,plain tie and matching kneesocks (normally the green-hooped school ones like the younger boy above) and a jumper if needed.There were some boys (slightly posher ones) who wore suits to Sunday School though and they were often grey like the ones in the image above and in Winter some had them in a slightly thicker woollen type material.My cousin Robert up in Yorkshire had a grey woollen-type suit but I only saw him wear it once and that was when he was going to church with his Mum and my Uncle was driving me back to Leeds.My friend Michael also had a suit for church but that was navy blue and had been passed down from his brothers I think.
Remarkably I never attended a wedding as a boy and whether or not I would have had a suit if I had I don't know.
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