Bill: Christmas Outfits and White Knee Socks


Figure 1.-.

I specifically remember my cousin an myself being dressed up in those shorts one Christmas. It was a family get toogether on Christmas Day at my Grandparents. People commenting on the fact that we had matching shorts as they really stood out. My Grandmother had bought me a red bowtie and pullover with white socks to look “Christmassy”. (It was Christmas so that was probably her idea of making me look "angelic"!). She thought that red and white would look "Christmassy". I guess we did. The red sweathers were really bright and stood out. People commenting on the fact that we had matching shorts as they really stood out. As much as I disliked those checked shorts, that was not what really bothered me. All this I could tolerate--with rhe exception of the white knee socks. It was those white knee socks I hated. White socks to an English boy, especially white knee socks, is a completely different thing to French boys like I have seen in photograohs and catalogs. Thecsame I think was trie of Germany. As I'm sure any red-blooded English boy would tell you, white knee socks are for girls. You never see English school boys in paeticular wearing white knee socks. They are, however, commonly worn by girl. Even today, white kneesocks are rarely worn by boys. White socks were thus no-no for boys - but little boys sometimes wore short ones and I once had to wear long ones due to my Grandmother.

Nativity Play

It's a bit early for a Christmas story but I can write about our Nativity play costumes if you like nearer the time.

Visits to Our Grandparents

Our mum was from Yorkshire and grew up there. We would take the train or bus up from London to Yorkshire to visit them three times a year. One of those trops was always for Christmas. We had been taking those trips up to Leeds for Christmas at our Grandparents for as long as I could remember. Thus we boys spent our Chritmasses with our grandparents and cousins. And it was always quite an adventure as we went by train or coach which took a lot longer back then - especially when the coach broke down as it did that year! I remember those Christmases even today very clearly. Mum always insisted that we were on our best behavior for these visits. And she wanted us to look our best. So these were dress-up occassions. This meant wearing our best clothes. And this especially mean items that Grandmother had purchased for us.

Our Clothes

Mum bought our clothes. She had a definite idea about what boys should wear and for the most part we boys had no problems with what she bought for us. Raising three boys and being familar with our schools ad what our friends were wearing, she had a reasonable idea about what boys at the time were wearing. And the principal concern for most boys was not to stand out from the other boys. She understood that, but my grahdmother did not.

Prince of Wales Check Shorts

Our major "dress up" occaisions were the thrice yearly visits to our grandparents in Yorkshire. For these my Mum always dressed me in a pair of "Prince of Wales check" shorts which I HATED. The term was derived from the check pattern--a sort of grey/white/black/green. A very distictive pattrn which made me stand out. This check pattern was made popular by the Prince of Wales (future Edward VII) in the late 19th century. As HBC point out, Bertie as he was called in the family had a major impact on both both boys' and mens' clothing. It became a standard for hunting and outings in the country by the Victorian elite. Sherlock Holmes was often portrayed in a cape and deerstalker hat in this pattern. The shorts thmselves were the normal style for the time. I think some wealthier men wore Prince of Wales check suits. I want to make clear that Mum was only doing what she thought best for all of us and was certainly more understanding than some Mums - I have already said in the past that she only made me wear the check shorts on the trips to Leeds yet to get the wear out of them she could have made me wear them to school Christmas Parties,birthday parties and so on down in London which she did threaten to do sometimes when I was acting up she but never did.

Preparing for the Trip

Mum always started preparing for the trip some time ahead – which mainly meant deciding on which clothes we were to wear both for travelling and whilst up there. Because Gran in particular was always on at Mum to move back up to Yorkshire with us because she thought that London was some sort of bad influence on us Mum always made sure that we were dressed smartly and warned us to be on our best behaviour. This year in particular I was already in trouble with Mum over various things and the confrontation over the white socks in many ways brought things to a head which was not a bad thing looking back. As usual we were up early on the day we were to travel and it was extra early this time as we were to travel by coach [bus]. My elder brother had started at secondary school and Mum had had to buy his uniform so she was short of money and the coach was cheaper but she didn't tell Gran that. We always had a bath the morning before we left which was only normally true on a Sunday as otherwise we bathed at night and had a strip wash in the kitchen in the mornings before school and so on. Mum had already packed our clothes which we were to wear up in Leeds. As it was always so early when we travelled we weren't that hungry and Mum was always in a rush so we had toast and tea rather than our normal porridge and boiled eggs. After breakfast Mum left us to go back down and brush our teeth while she finished ironing our travelling clothes. Mum was always pretty strict about toothbrushing. Anyhow it was then that we found out what clothes Mum had selected for us to wear. I knew that the main item for me when we were going to Leeds would be the hated check shorts that my Grandmother had bought for me and posted down to London a year or so previously and there was no getting out of that! My elder brother escaped all of this as, as I say, he was trusted to get himself ready now but he was waiting to see the fun. Then what I saw as quite an ordeal started! At that age I normally dressed myself. The check shorts I had never voluntarily put on myself though. The first time that they had appeared on her ironing board (about a year or so earlier as I said) I was horrified and hoped that they were for my elder brother. We were going up to Leeds then and as usual Mum was in a hurry to catch the right train and when I simply refused to wear them and begged to be allowed to wear school shorts like my brothers she simply held them out near to the floor and told me to “step in quick sharp” or she would fetch the wooden spoon. I always felt miserable though and that year my elder brother was wearing a suit that my Grandfather had bought for him with slightly flared long trousers and was acting all “grown up” since he had started at secondary school.

The Coach Trip

Anyhow I'll tell you more about the train and coach journey's some other time if you like because I was supposed to be writing about Christmas Day up in Leeds and what I have written so far is about when we travelled which was normally 2 days earlier (the day before Christmas Eve as the trains and coaches were less busy but still were pretty full). Suffice to say that on this occaision the coach broke down and we had to wait for a replacement. While in the service station my elder brother got talking to a group of Scouts from up North and whether he instigated it or not they began teasing me about the check shorts (asking me if I was going duck hunting or something) and when my little brother joined in I punched him which earned me a smack across the back of my legs from Mum and a warning that I was going to be in big trouble if I didn't behave myself.

Developing Situation

I'm just telling you this to set the mood – I had been in quite a lot of trouble with Mum in the weeks leading up to this trip and she was gradually getting fed up with it. I can't blame her but I wanted more independence now not least over what I wore! That started the previous Summer when I went to Germany and for the first time did wear what I wanted rather than what Mum decided – she was horrified that I was wearing my long school socks and grey shorts when she saw the photographs of me over there because she had bought me short Summer socks and lightweight shorts to wear! Anyhow when school started back my elder brother was allowed to stay up later than me and my little brother as he was at secondary school now and had more homework and I thought that that wasn't fair! My Mum had also bought me some lightweight coloured briefs to go away with and I really liked them as they were specifically for me and not at all like the white ones that we had always had and I shared (like many clothes up until then (when we were both at primary school)) with my elder brother. Needless to say the green ones were my favourite and Mum did always try to have them ready for me to wear to school first thing on a Monday morning as it made me feel “lucky” to start the week in them! When Winter came along though Mum as usual got out Gran's thick Winter underwear and packed my “lucky” briefs away and we had a real argument over that that year.I felt that at eleven year's of age I was entitled to wear what underpants I wanted to and also now being in the “top class” at primary school I was being treated more maturely by the teachers and wanted Mum to do the same especially as she was doing so with my brother who was only a year older! I was more lumped in still with my younger brother who I was nearly 3 year's older than! Anyhow that cut no ice with Mum but I am just filling in the background.

Arriving in Leads

By the time that we arrived at the coach station in Leeds everyone was in a bad mood (my Mum had told my brothers off for teasing me but they hadn't been smacked like I had and in front of those Scouts made it worse but Mum didn't bother too much about that given that I had punched my little brother first which she saw as bullying!). My Grandfather was waiting and he was in a bad mood as he had had difficulty finding out when the replacement coach would actually arrive and he told my Mum that she should have come by train and he'd have sent her the money. Grandmother of course was all of a fluster (as my Mum would say!) and insisted on Mum sitting down and having a cup of tea before anything and it was only after that that she had a good look at us and told us how we's grown and so forth. At this point my elder brother escaped with my Grandfather into the back room and I was left with my little brother, Mum and Gran while she (Gran) asked what we had been up to. My little brother was full of chat and made Gran laugh, but I was still in a bad mood and didn't say much. When Mum went on to tell her (half-jokingly) that I was getting a bit “above myself” Gran brought up the fact that “that's what you can expect living in London”. Finally once she was satisifed with the toothbrushing Mum took us into the bedroom to put on our pyjamas. Finally we went down to say goodnight to my Grandfather who to my chagrin was sitting by the fire talking away to my elder brother who was still fully dressed of course and looked like he was going to be allowed to stay up for a good while longer.

Christmas Eve

The next day was Christmas Eve but I didn't feel very Christmassy as I still felt tired after a long day the day before. Anyhow I woke fairly early and listened to my Grandfather getting up and brining a cup of tea up to my Grandmother which he always did. Then I heard voices downstairs and guessed that my elder brother had got up too which annoyed me. We weren't allowed out of the bedroom until Gran or Mum came to wake us and I wanted to know what was going on. Finally I heard Gran running our bath and then she came in to get us. We had baths both in the morning and at night at Gran's but I wondered if my elder brother had had one early or he had got away with a wash downstairs this time? This time when Mum came in to supervise the toothbrushing she gave me a look when she handed the brush to me which meant “Don't you dare say a word!” Then it was back to the bedroom where Mum had put out our clothes for the day. At Easter or even Summer this could lead to her and Gran arguing while we just stoodn there waiting for the final decision but seeing as it was Winter they more or less agreed on our clothes. We had breakfast sitting in the kitchen (bacon sandwiches normally) and then I hoped to go out, but my little brither and Inhad to stay in. After lunch I was allowed out into the garden but it was frosty still and I nearly slipped so I came back in. Me and my little brother went to bed early again that night as we always did on Christmas Eve “to make Christmas Day come quicker” as Gran used to say but this time my elder brother was staying up again I was sure.

Christmas Day

The white knee socks were awful as for us white socks were as we boys instantly realized for girls only. Of course Gran had no inkling of this. Mum I think nunderstood somewhat as she would never buy them for us. But mums being mums, she did not fully understand how we felt and at any rate was more concerned about my behavior in front of the family. Mum made me wear them both Christmas Day and Boxing Day and it caused a lot of trouble that year! The ones my Grandmother bought me did not have turn-over-tops so I didn't wear garters and kept trying to push them down to hide them. As they were new, the elastic holding them up (woven in to the top of the sock themselves) was still quite strong. So Mum didn't believe me that they had fallen down by themselves and after the thrid time she saw them pushed down, I had smacked legs and a warning to keep them up. She just didn't understand how embarrassing it was for me to be wearing them and nor did Gran but my brothers and cousins did and enjoyed every moment of my ordeal! That got me into further trouble both from Mum and my Grandfather and all over a pair of socks, but to me it was important to at least make my protest known as I would never have voluntarily worn white kneesocks!

Boxing Day

I didn't get to talk much with my cousin but the next day, Boxing Day, we always went up to Richmond where they lived so I could look forward to that. However things didn't go to plan and I'll write about Boxing Day some other time as I have gone on far too long already. Because I had been stubborn over the socks on Christmas Day and had to go to bed Mum made me wear those auful white socks on Boxing Day too when we went up to Richmond where my cousins lived. That was unusual because Mum always had us in clean socks, underwear, and shirts every day (which is why we had a pile of washing to do at weekends getting all of our school clothes ready and making sure that we had enough clean socks and so on for the week) but I had hardly worn the white socks for long on Christmas Day before being sent to bed and Mum was making a point that by sulking and upsetting Gran and my Grandad and to some extent spoiling Christmas Day it didn't mean that I was going to get my own way - she was pretty upset with me! Anyhow because quite a lot came out of the Boxing Day trip I will write about that seprately.

Lookingback

I had been meaning to write about the white socks for some time but I only wrote so much as I think it only fair to Mum (and Gran too) to try to see it from their point of view too. As discussed Mum did know how much I hated the check shorts and even more would the white socks and didn't make me wear anything like that in London, Shee was in Leeds under pressure from her parents and thought that I should co-operate just for a couple of days to help her out. I wasn't perfect in the situation either and by sulking made the situation worse both for her and me. She would never have made me wear white socks in London. As I say she herself had to act differently up in Leeds to placate her parents and she expected us to do the same without too much fuss which was reasonable I think - but of course I was only 10 years old and didn't fully understand that then. Because I had behaved so badly on Christmas Day (and as I also wrote had been being awkward for some time leading up to the Christmas trip) Mum wanted to put her foot down especially as Gran was criticising her over my behaviour and thought it was due to Mum staying down in London. If Mum had moved back up to Leeds with us Gran would have been buying even more of our clothes like she did for my cousin Robert and that would have been worse so I should have thought myself lucky that I only had to wear those clothes for a few days. In fact it was because Mum did allow us more freedom including over clothes that it was a bit of a shock to me that Gran thought children should have no choice at all in what they wore and of course I now understand that that is how my Mum and uncle must have been raised (I know that Gran used to make clothes for my Mum and uncle that they hated to wear but they didn't have any choice and my Grandfather wouldn't have stood for any arguments from his own children and thought that I was being indulged by Mum which was not good for me). My Uncle understood a bit more about the white socks and he did have a word with Mum and tried to cheer me up but I still have to write about that.





Bill









HBC






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Created: 3:11 PM 9/30/2004
Last updated:3:11 PM 9/30/2004