German Pants Types: Knickers


Figure 1.-- This German portrait is undated. The boy wears sporty striped knickers. The shirt is also striped. I have not noted matching outfits like this very commonly. We believe the portrait was taken in the the 1910s. He would have been more likely to wear short pants for tennis in the 1920s. The short tie also lookss more like the 1910s. We would guess the portrait was taken in the early 1910s before the War. Also notice the cap and dark long stockings. Wew onder if he really played tennis dressed like this. The hightop shoes in particular do not look very appropriate for tennis.

We notice a lot of German German boys wearing knickers in the late 19th century. They seem to have been especially common with boys fashionally dressed boys from affluent families. Boys from working-class families more commonly worekneepasnts or their fathers cut-down long trousers. After World War I, short pants became more common for boys from all social backgrounds. Older boys might wear knickers. German boys beginning in the 1920s might wear short pants well into their teen years before receiving a knicker suit for best wear or for school. It was also very common to wear knickers instead of shorts during the colder winter months. HBC has not noted German boys commonly wearing knickers into the 1940s. The one exception was the Hitler Youth boys who had a knicker-like ski pants (longer-knickers) uniform for the winter. We are not sure what term was used for German knickes. One source suggests "Pumphose". We note boys wearing knickers into the 1950s. They didnot entirely disappear even in the 1960s, although the style changed. An American reader writes, "I recall seeing boys and young men wearing the close-fitting knee breeches or tight knickers in Austria and Bavaria in the 1960s when I made a trip to Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Munich in 1963. One also saw this style of pants in Copenhagen, Denmark. They were usually worn with woolen knee socks (gray, dark blue, or even white) but sometimes also with tights. They were, I think, considered rather dressy and were sometimes worn with suit jackets. The material was usually gray or brown worsted, but perhaps corduroy was also used. The knee closures always had buckles, not elastic. It was very much a young man's and teenager's style. It was popular with boys and men who rode bicycles because long trousers (unless worn with bicycle clips) tended to get caught in the bike chains." We notice these trim-cut knicker-length pants in German catalogs. I'm not sure what they were called."

Terminology

We are not sure what term was used for German knickers. One source suggests "Pumphose". A German reader tells us, "I myself had "Knickebocker" (as we called the 'knickers') from about 1946 (11-year old) to about 1952 (17-year old), in winter, for school and as a casual clothing. Up to 1949 I wore long brown stockings below them. It was very common in Southern Germany, too."

Chronology

We notice a lot of German German boys wearing knickers in the late 19th century. They seem to have been especially common with boys fashionally dressed boys from affluent families. Boys from working-class families more commonly worekneepasnts or their fathers cut-down long trousers. After World War I, short pants became more common for boys from all social backgrounds. Older boys might wear knickers. German boys beginning in the 1920s might wear short pants well into their early teen years before receiving a knicker suit for best wear or for school. It was also very common to wear knickers instead of shorts during the colder winter months. We note boys wearing knickers into the 1950s. They didnot entirely disappear even in the 1960s, although the style changed. An American reader writes, "I recall seeing boys and young men wearing the close-fitting knee breeches or tight knickers in Austria and Bavaria in the 1960s when I made a trip to Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Munich in 1963. One also saw this style of pants in Copenhagen, Denmark. They were usually worn with woolen knee socks (gray, dark blue, or even white) but sometimes also with tights. They were, I think, considered rather dressy and were sometimes worn with suit jackets.

Styles

HBC has not noted German boys commonly wearing knickers into the 1940s. The one exception was the Hitler Youth boys who had a knicker-like ski pants (longer-knickers) uniform for the winter. We notice these trim-cut knicker-length pants in German catalogs. I'm not sure whst they were called.

Material

An American reader reports in the 1950s see knickers, "The material was usually gray or brown worsted, but perhaps corduroy was also used."

Construction

The errly bloomer knickers from the mid-19th century we belive had what look like draw-string cThe knee closures. Proper knickers w thinj by the 1870s had always had buckles, not elastic.

Age Trends

Boys and nmen after the early-19th century mostlyn wore long pants. Knickers or knicker-like garments first appeared in the mid-19th centutury. They were ar first worn by younger boys, often pre-school boys or boys just beginning primary school. Gradually older boys began wearing knickers, but until the 1890s, most German boys beyond the primary school years wore long pants. This begins to change in the 1890s as knickers and knee oants bgan to become more popular. It is not until after World War I that knickers become more asociated with older teenage boys and knee oants / short pants more with yonhger boys. The NAZI take ovr of Germany (1933) resulted in manyn more boys weraing the knickers/ski0ants durung the winter. This continued during the War years (1939-45). After the War, short pants bcome more prevalent and worn by biys that might have workn knickers before he War. We see some boys of various ages wearingbknickers in the early-50s and evn-mid-50s, but the style had pertty much died out by the nd of the decade. An American reader reports in the 1950s that "Knickers were very much a young man's and teenager's style, as I recall. It was popular with boys and men who rode bicycles because long trousers (unless worn with bicycle clips) tended to get caught in the bike chains." We no longer see boys of anyn age cwearing knickers by tyhe 60s, except for below he knee Lederhosen.







HBC






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Created: 7:17 PM 12/1/2005
Last updated: 12:59 AM 12/13/2013