Figure 1.--Here almost all the boys in this class, probably at a gynasium, wear knee pants with long stockings. The portrait is not dated, but was probably taken in the early 1920s.

Most German boys wore long stockings with knee pants. This is because the popularity of knee pants and long stockings overlapped. Knee pants were most pronounced when long stockings were commonly worn. While knee pants appeared at mid-century, they did not become common for older boys until the 1890s. we have noted wearing kneepants in the mid-19th century wore long stockings, although because the kneepants were often quite long, it is difficult to assess the length of the stockings. We simply do not know how long the stockings were in many 19th century portraits. It is likely that at least some boys of the yonger boys weating long pants also wore long stockings, but this e can not yet substantiate. We notice white and stripped stockings at the time. We assume the boys were wearing long stockings, but given the long length of the kneepants, the stockings did not need to be very long. By the turn of the 20th century we can see boys weating both socks and stockings. Hosiery becomes more pronounced in the 20th century, but the popularity of knee pants declined sharply after World War I.

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Created: 5:58 AM 12/6/2008
Last updated: 5:58 AM 12/6/2008