Figure 1.--This unidentified English boy had his portrait taken in the 1920s or 30s. The frame suggests that it was taken in the 1920s, probably the late 20s. He seems to be wearing a regular suit rather than a school uniform. Note that he is not wearing a school tie or school socks.

English boys wore suits with several different types of trousers. This varied substantially over time. English boys have worn knee breeches, long pants, kneepants, bloomer knickers, knickers, and short pants suits. We see boys in the 19th century wearing both long pants, bloomer knickers, knee pants and knicker suits. Various factors affected the type of trousers, including chronological fashion trends, age, social class and others. Long trouses were mostly worn at the beginning of the 19th century, but several different types of trousers were common in the second half of the century. We see many bys wearoing kncler suits at school. Knee pants suits were popular in the early 20th century, but not universal. Many English boys after World War I wore short pants suits. They were very common during the 1920s-40s. The popularity of short pants suits began to decline after the war, especially by the late-1950s. They were still available for younger boys in the 70s, but rarely seen since except as part of school uniforms. By the 1960s suits except for very little boys were generally made with long pants. Many schools required boys wear short pants suits or shorts with blazers. Generally suits, other than school suits, were made with long pants by the 1960s.

Long Trousers

English boys mostly wore long pants at the beginning of the 19th century. In fact, only boys are first wore long pants. Early-19th century paintings show boys wearing long pants and men wearing knee breeches. Men continued to wear the knee breeches that were common in the 18th century for some time. It was not until the 1830s that knee breeches totally disappeared. Around mid-century we begin to see a variety of shortened-length pants for younger boys. Long pants, however, continued to be standard for boys, incuding very young boys. A good example is an unidentified Hastings boy in the 1860s. He looks to be only about 5-years old. This did not change unil the late-19th century. Short pants became srandard in the 20th century. This did not begin to change until mid-century. Several different types of trousers were common in the second half of the century. By the 1960s suits except for very little boys were generally made with long pants. Many schools required boys wear short pants suits or shorts with blazers. Generally suits, other than school suits, were made with long pants by the 1960s.

Knee Breeches

Knee breeches were the first type of modern trousers. They were commonly worn by both men and boys in the 17th abd 18th bcenturies. There were no age destinctions once a boy was breeched. Her are pribcupal source of information is art work, principally paointings.

Bloomer Knickers

Knickers

Knickers were one of the shortened-length pants that appeared in the mid-19th century. The first to appear were the bloomer knickers for younger boys. Standard knickers for older boys appeared later. We are not sure about the precise chronlogy. Our albeir limited archive suggests that long pants were still thr common troudsr type for English boys' suyits in the 1870s. We begin to see quite quite a few boys wearing knicker suits by the 1880s. We see many boys wearing kncker suits at school in the late-19th century. We are unsure id knicker suits were a school uniform style or also commonly worn asway from school Of course, wardrobes were less extensive in the 19th centurty than is the case today. Thus unless a boy came from a rich family, he might wear his school uniform like a regular suit. We are still not sure if there were basic differences between school uniforms nd sthe standard suits worn by boys. At the time most boys except the well-to-do did not attend school by the time they reached their teen years. We notice fewer knicker suits in the 20th century, especially after World War I. They became seen as mpre of a sporty outfit for golf or country outings. Some teenagers wore them, but they were not commonly worn by boys. We notice German tailors using the term"knickers" as a generalized term for shortened-length pants in the early-20th century, perhaps because knickers were so common in the 9th century. The usage of this term declined as the British began to use it meaning ladies underwear. The term for knickers as a type of trousers became "knickerbockers".

Knee Pants

We begin to see younger English boys wearing knee pants suits in the mid-19th century. We see knee pabnts before jknickers. England was very important in setting male fashion. We are not sure to what extent England led the fashion changes that resulted in the development of shortened-length pants. We know very little about English knee pants suits at this time. We see them being worn with a variety of jackets. Boys wore both knee pants and knickers with suits. We do not yet know about age conventions or to what extebt they differed between knee pants and knickers. Many of the images we have found show boys wearing knicker suits at school, but as our English archive is still limited, we can not yet draw any firm conclusions. Knee pants suits continued to be popular in the early-20th century, but not universal. We do not see them after World War I when boys primarily wore short pants suits in the 1920s. We have not yet archived enough 19th century images to know just how common knee pants suits were in England. They were primarily worn with long stockings.

Short Pants

We have no definitive historical information on the origin of short pants for boys worn with knee socks leaving the knee bare. They seem to have first appeared in England before the turn of the century. We believe that they may have originated with the British Army at tropical postings like India. They were given great popularity by Lord Baden Powell and his nascent Boy Scout Movement. I am not sure when the first shorts pants suits for boys appeared, probably the 1900s. It is a little difficult to tell the difference between knee pants and short pants, especially because short pants were at first cut quite long. The original shorts were generally worn quite long, often faling to the middle of the knee. Many English boys after World War I wore short pants suits. They were very common during the 1920s-40s. The popularity of short pants suits began to decline after the war, especialluy by the late-1950s. English boys continued to wear long, relatively baggy cut shorts until the 1960s. The continental cut shorter cut became common in the 1970s. At the same time it became less common for older boys to wear shorts. Short pants were still available for younger boys in the 70s, but rarely seen since except as part of school uniforms.

Created: 3:07 AM 10/24/2008
Last updated: 6:10 AM 12/6/2016