Figure 1.--Here we see a boy and his grandfather. The snapshot is undatedm but looks like the early-1930s, in part because of the car. The boy wears loud knee socks with his knickers suit. He looks about 13-14 years old. Notice how you almost see low-cut oxfords with these louc knee socks. Yhis was primarily a chronological connection.

American boys wore a variety of hosiery with knicker suits. We notice three types of hosiery, including long stockings and knee socks and to a lesser extent ankle sicks. American boys mostly wore knickers with first long stockings in the 1910s and 20s and and then knee socks in the 1930s. Black long stockings were very common especially in the 1910s and 20s. They became less common in the 1930s, but might be worn for formality. The shift from plain flat colored long stockings to loud knee socks was quite a shift. We are not entirely sure why this happened. Long stockings were almost never bought with patterns. Knee socks were often patterned, frequenly loud patterns. There were all kinds of patterns done in different colors. We are not sure how common flat-colored knee socks were. Our preliminary assessment is that they wee not very common, but this needs to be confirmed. It is not clear why this difference developed. We also note some boys in the 1930s wearing knickersuits with ankle socks--especially during the Summer. This was more common with boys wearing just knickers not as part of a suit.

Long Stockings

American boys mostly wore knickers with first long stockings. Knee pants were for several decades standard for American boys. And they were mostly worn with long stockings. Fashion shifted in the 1910s and se see American boys mostly wearing long stockings. These stockings varied, but in the 1900s they were mostly black long stockings. nd when fashions shifted to knickers, we commonly see them being worn with black long stockings during the 1910s and 20s. We see some beige/tan long stockings in the 1920s, but school age boys wearing knivkers suits still wote motly black long stockings. Both boys and girls wore these black long stockings. Girls might wear white or beige long stocking, but only younger boy wore these color, especially the white ones.

Knee Socks

The standard hosiery worn with knicker suits began to change in the late-1920s. We thus see boys mostly wearing knee socks with knicker suits in the 1930s. The boy were wiyh his grandfather is a good example (figure 1). Black long stockings were very common especially in the 1910s and 20s. They became less common in the 1930s, but might be worn for formality. The shift from plain flat colored long stockings to loud knee socks ith bright colors and patterns was quite a shift. We are not entirely sure why this happened. Long stockings were almost never bought with patterns. Knee socks were often patterned, frequenly loud patterns. There were all kinds of patterns done in different colors. We are not sure how common flat-colored knee socks were. Our preliminary assessment is that they wee not very common, but this needs to be confirmed. The photographic record suggests that in America the patterned knee socks wre much more common. It is not clear why this difference developed. The pttrned knee socks, especially the loud pattern were lss common for girls.

Ankle Socks

We also note some boys in the 1930s wearing knickersuits with ankle socks--especially during the Summer. Striped stockings were common. This was more common with boys wearing just knickers not as part of a suit. We do, however, see some boys wearing ankle socks with knickers suits. We mostly see this in th late-1930s and early-40s as knickers were going out of style.

Created: 9:02 PM 5/21/2008
Last updated: 4:57 AM 5/25/2014