Figure 1.--Thi unidentified French boy was we think photographed in he 1950s. He is wearing a short-slleved shirt suggesting summer along with heavy woolen knickers and matching knee socks--note the colored band on the knee socks. The knickers were probably suit pants, probably worn during the summer because the boy waned to look a bit grown up. A reader writes, "When I see the heavy weave knickers, I suspect, like you, that they were part of a suit and that the knickers were chosen because they were more dressy as were the heavy knee socks even though it probably was summer." Photographer: Karel Egermeier.

Knickers or more correctly knickerbockers were a type of baggy trousers that were gathered at the knee or below and fastened with a button or buckle. They varied greatly in just how baggy they were. A related type is bloomer knickers which were gathered wih a string arrngement. This was style for younger boys, generally done in a lighter material than commonly worn for pants. Researching knickers is a little complicated as 'knickers' have a hugely different meaning in American and British English. And our assessment is further limited by a relatively small 19th century French archive. We know very little about the early- and mid-19th century. French boys as best we can ell in the late-19th century wore both knee pants and knicker-type bloused pants which we term 'bloomer knickers'. The knickers worn in the late 19th century generally had no crease and bounced at the knee rather than having buckle closures. They were generally worn with long stockings, although we see more socks in France than in America where long stockings were standard for an extended period. We see older French boys wearing proper knickers in the 20th century, especially during the inter-war era. Boys knickers to a degree were associated with age. Boys commonly wore short pants, often with smocks to school. Some boys beginning secondary commonly stopped wearing smocks, but continued wearing shorts. Older boys at secindary schools would often wear knickers and there mext suit by be a knicker suit. Knickers became a kind of bridge for younger teens between short pants and finally long pants. Gradually even younger boys begn wearing long pants suits. Knclers were less commonly worn as casual clothes. They were also worn seasonally during the winter. At least in the 20th century they were sometimes called 'pantalon de golf', but this was more most commonly used for the knickers worn by adults involved in outdoor actvities. They were fashionable for teenagers and adults during the 1920s-40s and into the early-50s. We notice them being worn in the mid-1950s, but they were clearly going out of style. School photographs around 1955-56 show some boys wearing knickers, but such images are quite rare by the late 50s. A lycee in French Algeria is a good example.Some younger boys might wear them, but short pants were much more common. There may have been some knickers worn in the early-60s, but they were not very common.

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Created: 1:14 AM 1/24/2025
Last updated: 9:56 PM 1/26/2025