Figure 1.-- This portrait may have been taken in the very early 20s, but it seems to illistrate 1910s tends better. Most boys wore knicker suits, but younger boys night still ware knee pants. Norfolk suits were especiallybcommon in the 1910s. And noth knee pants and knickers were worn with black long stockings. The AZ0 stamp box (2 triangels up and 2 down) date the photo back post card to 1918-30.

American boys by the 1910s were primarily wearing knickers. The 1910s and 20s were the two decades in which knickers were most common. This was a major shift from the 1900s when knee pants still dominated, We see this shift developing very suddenly in the late-1900s decade. The shift from knee pants to knickers was very marked as shows up very definitely in the photographic record. We are not sure why this change took place, but it was virtually universal for school age boys. We see some boys wearing straight-leg knee pants in the 1910s, but this was mostly younger boys. We note juvenile outfits like Oliver Twist suits done with knee pants. Almost all school age boys wore knickers. This was nearly universal in primary schools. We see this very clearly in the phonographic record. The exception was the rural boys wearing overalls--which appeared for some reason about the same time as knickers. We see younger rural boys wearing knee pants in the 1900s decade, but then by the 1910s overalls became virtually universal in rural schools. For some reason, rural boys rarely wore knickers, although some better off may have had knickers suits when dressing up. They definitely did not wear them to school. We also see knickers in secondary schools especially with the younger teens. This was very common in the 1910s, but began to decline in the 1920s. They were commonly referred to as 'knickerbockers' at first, but during the decade, 'knickers' became common parlance. We are not sure just what brought about such a rapid change. Mothers and boys began to see straight-leg knee pants as old fashioned. Most wanted the new knicker style as soon as they appeared. Knickers suits existed before the 1910s, but were a relatively small part of the boys' suits worn in America. In the 1910s, most boys wore knickers suits. Older teenagers were increasingly likely to wear long pants suits, but younger teenagers commonly wore knickers suits. This all varied from family to family, especially by the 1930s, We notice boys with smart looking creases in their knickers. Suits were still a very important part of a boy's wardrobe. They were worn for occasions that are now seen as more appropriate for casual attire. Boys commonly wore knickers suits to school. Flat caps became strongly associated with knicker suits and became if not universal very common. Younger boys might still wear knee pants. Short pants appeared after World War I, but knickers were more popular and the standard boys' pants type. As with knee pants, American boys mostly wore knickers suits with long stockings. Boys did not wear knickers without long stockings unless going barefoot during the 1910s. We see some boys having studio portrait taken barefoot, but it was much less common than with knee pants in the 1900s and largely disappeared during the 1920s. We see a few boys wearing knee socks by the end of the decade, but dark long stockings were much more common.

Created: 2:41 AM 8/9/2026
Last updated: 2:41 AM 8/9/2026