Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy wearing long stockings with self-belted shorts. He looks to be about 6 years old. The snapshot is undated, but was provably taken in the 1930s.

German boys wore long stockings with all kinds of pants. We can tell this from the photographic record, with the exception of long pants. They were worn with short and long pants during cool and cold weather. It is easy to tell if boys wearing short pants and fairly easy to tell if boys wearing knee pants and knickers are wearing long stockings. It is not possible to tell, however if boys in long pants are wearing long trousers. For this we need personal accounts. A British reader in the 1950s tells us his friend Mathias in a boarding school wore long stockings with long trousers during the 1950s. Boys wore them to school and for play. While worn with short pants, they were not commonly worn with lederhosen. I'm not sure why this was. It could be because lederhosen were oftenm made quite short and the long stockings were not long enough. Or it could be because lederhosen were popular for roughing it and outdoor wear and boys saw short socks and kneesocks as more suitable for this purpose as you did not have to worry about stocking supporters and keeping the long stockings up. While less worn with lederhosen tha other types of short pants, we have noted that some boys did wear them with lederhosen.

Short Pants

It is easy to tell if boys wearing short pants with long stockings. Boys wore them to school and for play. While worn with short pants, they were not commonly worn with lederhosen. I'm not sure why this was. It could be because Lederhosen were oftenm made quite short and the long stockings were not long enough. Or it could be because Lederhosen were popular for roughing it and outdoor wear and boys saw short socks and knee socks as more suitable for this purpose as you did not have to worry about stocking supporters and keeping the long stockings up. While less worn with lederhosen tha other types of short pants, we have noted that some boys did wear them with Lederhosen.

Knee Pants

It is fairly easy to tell if boys wearing knee pants and knickers are wearing long stockings.

Knickers

Long Pants

German boys wore long stockings with all kinds of pants. We can tell this from the photographic record, with the exception of long pants what type of hosiery was being worn. They were worn with short and long pants during cool and cold weather. It is not possible to tell, however if boys in long pants are wearing long trousers. For this we need personal accounts. A British reader in the 1950s tells us his friend Mathias in a boarding school wore long stockings with long trousers during the 1950s.