Figure 1.--This German boy wears both a belt and suspenders. We are not sure why he would have worn both, but probably reflects the transition going on at the time.

Belts seem especially common for German boys by the 1930s. Lederhosen with halters were worn in the 19th century, but not so commonly by boys. We see many boys wearing them in the 1930s. Belts do not appear to have been very common until after World War I. We see both belys and suspebnders in the 1920s, but suspenders seem to hve been more common. This seems to have shifted in the 1930s. Again we see both belts and suspenders in the 930s, but now belts seem more common--especially by the late 1930s. Here the Hitler Youth may have been a factor in popularing the belt during the 1930s. Hitler seized power (1933) and he quickly turned the Hitler Youtrh (HJ) into a mass movement. Virtually all German boys soon had to join the HJ at age 10. And the belt buckle was an important part of the uniform. Suspenders could not be worn with the HJ Youth uniform and most boys wanted the special belt buckle. We believe that boys who wore belts as part of theor HJ uniform would have wanted to wear belts with other outfits as well. We note many yoinger boys wearing H-bar shorts and to a lesser extent suspender shorts. Many younger boys had H-bar suspension shorts tht were not Lederhosen. We note some button-on styling, but not as many as in the 1920s. The belt by the end of the decadec seems to have emerged as the main trouser suspension device.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Girls]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [Essays] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 5:01 AM 11/20/2008
Last updated: 5:01 AM 11/20/2008