German Boys' Clothes: Coordinated Outfits


Figure 1.--These German brothers look to have had their portrait taken in the 1930s. They are dressed in matching sailor suits. We note countless German portraits like this. This convention was declining in popularity in the 1930s, partly because the NAZIs did not care for sailor suits.

We have noted that many German mothers liked to dress their children in identical outfits. We have noted this practice in many countries, but it seems to have been especially popular in Germany. We do not have any subtantiation that this practice was more popular in Germany than other countries yet, but we have noted numerous photographs of brothers and sisters wearing identical or coordinated outfits. The sailor suit was one of the most popular styles used for coordinating the outfits of brothers and sisters. While sailor suits were often used for coordinated outfits, we note very manu other outfits beig used as well. It was most common to dress brothers or sisters in identical outfits, but sometimes both brothers and sisters had coordinated outfits. The children might for example wear identical middy blouses, but with pants for the boys and skirts for the girls. We do not have a complere chronology yet, but we begin to note this practice in the 1870s and it continued to be popular into the 1950s.

Popularity

We have noted that many German mothers liked to dress their children in identical outfits. We have noted this practice in many countries, but it seems to have been especially popular in Germany. Our principal indicator here is the number of family portraits we have found. Most of these images are 20th century portraits. We do not have any subtantiation that this practice was more popular in Germany than other countries yet, but we have noted numerous photographs of brothers and sisters wearing identical or coordinated outfits. Thus seems more true of Germany than any other country. Often for these coordinated outfits, traditional styles were chosen.

Garments

The sailor suit was one of the most popular styles used for coordinating the outfits of brothers and sisters. While sailor suits were often used for coordinated outfits, we note very many other outfits being used as well. The German imperial princes wore short pant tunic outfits. We also notice boys wearing similar suits and sweaters and in some instances folk outfits in various styles.

Gender

It was most common to dress brothers or sisters in identical outfits, but sometimes both brothers and sisters had coordinated outfits. The children might for example wear identical middy blouses, but with pants for the boys and skirts for the girls. An example here is a middle-class family in 1909. Identical outfits for boys and girls, except for sailor suits, were much less common. We do see quite a number of brothers and sisters dressed in matching or similar silor suits, wiyth the boys wearing pants and the girls skirts. It is just a preliminary assessment, but it seems that it ws more common to dress brothers in identical outfits than sisters.

Chronology

We do not have a complete chronology yet, but we begin to note this practice in the 1880s and it continued to be popular into the 1950s. We first begin noting this convention in the photographic record during the 1870s. A good example is three brothers we note in identical velvet suits. It could have begun earlier, but our archive of 19th century German photographic images is limited. One factor her is ready made clothing. Dressing children identically was a simpler matter when ready made clothing became more common. Thismeant that precisely the same garments were readily avilable in a range of different sizes. There are numerous examples of the children in the family eing dressed alike at the turn of the century. The German princes in numerous portraits before World war I were photographed in identical outfits. This was not only the case of the imperial princes, but the princes in the many Germn principalities within the Empire as well. Similar conventions were followed in Austria-Hyngary. We also note it after World War I. We have numerous portrairs of Herbert and Kurt Hender in the 1920s wearing many idetical outfirs, mostly sailor suits, during the 1920s. The boys here were photographed in the 1930s (figure 1). We notice another German family during the 1930s. The common outfit was not always sailor suits. We notice the Herbert Heim family in 1939 with the children all wearing identical H bar short pants. children After World War II the practice becomes less common, but we still note it in the 1930s.

Variations

We note endless variations here. Some parents dressed their children in exactly the same styles without variations. Other parents selected the same basic style, but allowed for minor variations reflecting the child's gender or age. The children might, for example, wear the same sailor blouses, but with pants or skirts, depending on the child's gender. Or the parents might have the same basic style and make varying degrees of alterations associate with age. Younger boys for example might wear a suit with a ruffled collar or large bow. There were also many ways in which sailor suits could be altered to reflect age differences.

Sibling Relationships

There were several permutations of the family identical or coordinated dress approach which were commonly adopted along age and gender lines. And of course the common apprach was most xommon with small families close in age. Larger families posed more complications. There were families in which all the children were dressed identically or in coordinated outfits. We do not see a lot of these instances, but we do see some. Other families dressed all of the younger children alike. Here the age line varried. And this could be a mix of brothers and sisters depending on the ages of the children. Almost always thus was an older sister and yonger brother. While we say dressed alike, of course when we say alike we mean the boys wearing pants and the girls wearinf similarly cut skirts, often pleated skirts. Much rarer wre younger sisters and older brothers. In some families all the boys or all the girls of a certain age were dressed alike.







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Created: June 3, 2001
Last updated: 12:11 AM 5/11/2011