French Boys Clothes: David (1980s)


Figure 1.--.

David has provided us this account about the clothes he wore as a boy. He woreshort pants to school in the 1980s. At the time, shorts in France had become mostly casual clothes worn during the summer. The account is in French. HBC has made this preliminary translation, but it needs some more work.

French Trends: Short Pants

In France, up until the 1960s many boys wore short trousers all year round--even in the winter months. As well as being a question of fashion, leaving their young tearaways knees uncovered saved their mothers the trouble of maintenence who, already very busy with domestic tasks, didn't have to repair the trouser legs nor lengthen the hems as the children grew. In addition a good pair of cottton or cordouroy shorts got dirty a lot less quickly than trousers with long legs. It should also be said that, at that time, one worried less about a child's comfort and, even if he had cold knees, he didn't have the right to long trousers before the age of 13 or 14 years. But as time passed, short trousers in Winter gradually gave way to long trousers, but only in the coldest months--from the springtime boys put on their shorts again. Also in the 1970s and 80s shorts were very brief, leaving the legs completely unprotected from the weather--this was ideal for Summer but, other than the scouts, very few boys stayed in shorts for the winter ... except me.

Boisterous Child

In 1981 I was 8 years old and, according to my mother, I was a very boisterous child running about all the time and often falling over. I was always ruining my clothes--especially the knees of my dungarees and the elbows on my shirt sleeves. Summer was a godsend for my mother who no longer needed to mend the torn knees on my pants. I didn't graze my elbows and knees any the less but, as my father used to say, "You just need to take more care".

Sollution

But that year I had ripped up so many pairs of trousers that my father took a decision himself and said to my mother, "Because he is tearing his trousers he'll have to wear shorts!". My father was fairly stict and regularly punished me, in contrast to my mother who often defended me. But this time she was in agreement and, being a good seamstress, cut down my torn trousers and made them into shorts.

Winter

Here thus why I was the only boy of my class which wore only shorts. When one is 8 years old, wearing short trousers is no big deal. Younger boys are not too concerned about wearing shorts, but all the same I remember some difficult moments. One day when it was really cold I asked my mother for a pair of long trousers - I had never yet had the right to choose my own clothes. "I'll buy you long trousers when you take more care", she replied. So I stayed in shorts all Winter. I remember putting on woollen socks so as not to have frozen feet, but my legs were still bare - at the mercy of the snow and the icy north wind - my overcoat wasn't long enough to protect them. In the mornings when I arrived at school I had purplish-red knees and I used to rub them vigourously to try to warm them up.This made some of my more mouthy classmates laugh - "Are your legs cold legs then?", they'd snigger. I always proudly told them no. It was a pain though.

My Clothes

I didn't have a proper short trousers suit, but for special occaisions like weddings, baptisms or communion I used to wear a white cotton shirt, black cotton shorts and a grey wollen v-neck pull-over with marroon stripes or a navy-blue waistcoat. For my communion I wore a white alb. Otherwise my everyday shorts were cotton, denim or cordouroy - dark brown, beige, navy-blue or grey of variable length - below the knee or very short, at the top of the thigh. I can't remember who made them - except two cotton pairs that my grandmother made herself. In Summer I also wore little brief-cut sports shorts (soccer shorts). Generally I always wore a long-sleeved cotton shirt and a pullover in winter and a short-sleeved shirt or a t-shirt in the summer.

Growing boy

I was growing bigger, very quickly for my age, and I was still wearing my shorts which soon became really too short. I had, however, got used to the cold weather.

Teasing

I was now nearly 12 years old and the other boys had nicknamed me "Shorty". Everyday I had to put up with their teasing and jeers - "So,Shorty - still in shorts - it's not a warm day!", or "Hey, I saw some jeans in the sale yesterday". Often this ended in a fight, which did nothing to help convince my father of my good behaviour. He still punished me occaisionally.

Long Trousers

Luckily the following Winter my mother took me to buy two pairs of long trousers,and I promised not to tear them.I had been bare-legged for nearly 5 years - but the worst was not the biting cold but the mocking glances of the other boys.

Other Boy--the 1990s

Since then I've only seen one other boy wearing short trousers in Winter, other than some scouts. It was in the winter of 1998. The kid must have been about 12 and every morning when I was waiting for the bus he was going to school with his friends.They were all warmly dressed with gloves, hats, scarves, overcoats and,of course long trousers, except that one boy who despite the snow and the cold was bare-legged,in short trousers and ankle socks. A nostalgic mother or a boy who didn't feel the cold? Anyway, this kid reminded me of my own childhood.

French Text

En France jusqu'aux années 60, beaucoup de garçons portaient des culottes courtes toute l'année, même les mois d'hiver. En plus d'un phénomène de mode, laisser les genoux nus de leurs garnements, évitait bien de l'entretien aux mères qui, déjà très occupées aux taches ménagères, n'avaient pas à repriser les jambes de pantalon ni à rallonger les ourlets quand les enfants grandissaient. De plus un bon short de toile ou en velours côtelé, se sali beaucoup moins vite que les bas de pantalon. Il faut dire aussi qu'à l'époque, on se souciait moins du confort de l'enfant, et même s'il avait froid aux genoux, il n'avait pas droit à la culotte longue avant 13 ou 14 ans. Mais au fil des années, les culottes courtes d'hiver furent lentement remplacées par des pantalons, mais juste les mois les plus froids, dès le printemps, les garçons renfilaient leurs shorts. Dans les années 70 et 80 les shorts étaient d'ailleurs très courts, laissant les jambes entièrement non protégé, c'était idéal pour l'été, mais à part les scouts, très peu de garçons restaient en short l'hiver...Sauf moi !!

Reader Comments

A French reader writes, "In the 1970s and much more in 1980s, the clothing and the mentality in France began a real change. That was de consequence of the 1968 Paris Student Riots and other factors such as television.

David











HBC





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Created: November 24, 2002
Last updated: December 26, 2003