Figure 1.--This German boy wears a kind of casual Easter outfit, including a sweatr, short pants, and white long stockings. The sweater and pants seem to match, but we are not sure about the color. The snapshot is undated, but was probably taken about 1960.

German boys did not commonly wear tights with short pants, largely because by the time tights appeared in the 1950s, short pants were still quite common, but becoming warm weather, casual wear. This had become the case by the 1960s. There was an exceoption here. The principal reason for wearing tights (as for long stockings) was for warmth. Many but a decreasing number of boys still wore short pants year round in the 1950s. We note boys wearing tights at home, both with and wihout short pants in informal suituations during the late-50s and early 60s. These would have been winter photographs although it is not always obvious in indoor photographs. There was another reason--formlity. Thus we see a few boys in the 1950s ad early 60s wearing short pants suits and tights for formal occassions. And for formal dress, tights were not just worn during the winter. So boys were more likely to be wearing short pants, at least in the 1950s and 60s. Here in formal situations we see boys wearing white tights. A good example is an unidentified German boy wearing white tights with a white suit for his First Communion. Getrman boys did wear tights in the 1960s, but not commonly with shorts. This was because by the 1960s boys were wearing long pans in the winter. We rarely see boys wearing tights with short pants by the 1970s. There is one exception, but we are not sure about the chrinology. We do note tights being worn with shorts for sport in the 1990s. EWe are not sure when this usage developed. This has continued into the 2000s. It seems especially the case of boys playing soccer in the winter.

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Created: 8:58 PM 12/4/2008
Last updated: 10:54 PM 12/5/2008