Figure 1.--Two major fashion shifts in the early-20th century was a shift from straight leg knee pants to knickers about 1908-09. Younger boys continued to wear tunic outfits. The other major shift was from button to lace up shoes. The portrait here is undated, but would have been taken in the early-1910s. The knickers clearly suggest the 1010s, but we still see button shoes so suspect it was he early part of the decade.

Late 19th century styles continued after the turn of the century. Little boys continued to wear dresses, although not usually not as with such elaborate trim as their sisters wore. The age of boys wearing dresses began to decline, especially by the 1910s. We also no longer see kilt suits after the very early-1900s. Tunic outfits were popular for pre-school boys or boys in the first year or two of primary school. Little Lord Fauntleroy suits were still popular at the turn of the century, but rapidly declines in popularity during the 1900s. After the turn of the century Fauntleroy suits with short pants (rather than knee pants) began to appear and were increasingly worn with white stockings or white knee socks. The size of the jackets increased to cover the blouse entirely. In addition large lace collars began to be replaced with ruffled collars and smaller bows. Some ruffled collars were wore with open necks. The most notable change was that suddenly staight-leg knee pants were replaced with knickers but were still mostly worn with long stockings. Younger boys might wear knee pants with three-quarter socks furing the summer. Short pants became particularly popular in Britain and Europe while knickers became more popular in America during the 1910s. America was a much more rural society in the late-19th and early-20th century than it is now. Many Americans still lived on the farm or in small rural towns. When they dressed up they followed the same dressy styles as boys in the cuties wore--although the latest styles probably took a little longer to reach rural America in the days before television. Fashion magazines and mail order catalogs made sure that rural America was never to far removed from the latest fashions. Most of the time rural boys would be likely to wear work clothes like overalls. They would often wear such clothes to school--at least elementary school. They were not called jeans at the time, and of course the idea of designer jeans could not even be conceived in the early 20th century, but Levi Straus dungaree overalls were widely worn by men and boys. Another major change was that thev button shoes which dominated late-19th century footwear were replaced by lace up shoes. This change occurred about the same tim as the change from knee pants tonknickers, but was unrelated.

Headwear

Headwear was diverse in the 1900s, but along with the advent of knickets we see the flat cap suddenly becoming the standard headwear for American boys. The flat cap along with corduroy knickers became almost universal.

Skirted Garments

Little boys continued to wear dresses, although not usually not as with such elaborate trim as their sisters wore. The age of boys wearing dresses began to decline, especially by the 1910s. We also no longer see kilt suits after the very early-1900s. Tunic outfits were popular for pre-school boys or boys in the first year or two of primary school. Little Lord Fauntleroy suits were still popular at the turn of the century, but rapidly declines in popularity during the 1900s.

Juvenile Suits

After the turn of the century Fauntleroy suits with short pants (rather than knee pants) began to appear and were increasingly worn with white stockings or white knee socks. The size of the jackets increased to cover the blouse entirely. In addition large lace collars began to be replaced with ruffled collars and smaller bows. Some ruffled collars were wore with open necks.

Pants

The most notable change was that suddenly staight-leg knee pants were replaced with knickers but were still mostly worn with long stockings. Younger boys might wear knee pants with three-quarter socks furing the summer. Short pants became particularly popular in Britain and Europe while knickers became more popular in America during the 1910s. America was a much more rural society in the late-19th and early-20th century than it is now. Many Americans still lived on the farm or in small rural towns. When they dressed up they followed the same dressy styles as boys in the cuties wore--although the latest styles probably took a little longer to reach rural America in the days before television. Fashion magazines and mail order catalogs made sure that rural America was never to far removed from the latest fashions. Most of the time rural boys would be likely to wear work clothes like overalls. They would often wear such clothes to school--at least elementary school. They were not called jeans at the time, and of course the idea of designer jeans could not even be conceived in the early 20th century. People would have laughed at the idea. Levi Straus dungaree overalls were only worn by working-class men and farmers. Boys were a little different. Farm boys wore overalls, but we see urban boys wearing overall-like coveralls with bib fronts.

Footwear

Another major change was that the button shoes which dominated late-19th century footwear were replaced by lace up shoes. This change ocurred at about the same time as the shidt to knickers, but was not quite as abrupt. Both boys nd girls made this change. This change occurred about the same tim as the change from knee pants to knickers, but was unrelated. We also boys weating what were called barefoot sandals. Quite a few boys wore them during the summer, but this declined in the 1920s. And we do not see many boys wearing sandals again until the the end of the century, first in Clifornia, but gadully in the rest of the country as well. Many boys went barefoot, espcially in rurl areas and the South. For some reason we begin to see barefoot boys in studio photography. We do not see this earlier or later. And by the 20th century we have the snapshot and can make some assessments of the relative importance of various forms of footwear or going barefoot. Until this we only know how people dressed up for a studio portrit and only those who could aford a portrait. This is especially imprtant for footwear as it is the most expensive clothing item.

Created: 10:55 AM 8/9/2014
Last updated: 1:55 PM 4/15/2017