|
Adverisements are helpful because they came in catalogs and magazines that can be dated. Unfortunately some items have been separated from the original publication and we do not have the date. We can usually determine the decade and have found some from the 1960s. Determining the precise year is usually not possible.
Headwear was no longer required for boys, except as part of school uniform, but even thatwas declining. The onipresent peaked school cap was largely gone except t some chools nd or Cub uniforms. TheAmerican basse-ball cap had not yet made its appearance.
Sweaters are very popular England, both for school and casual wear. We note a Sirdar advertuisement for sweaters. Sirdar was a company that made yarn, but they also offered knitting patterns. This sweaters shown is number 705 and for both v-neck and crew neck sweater styles. The colors shown mean that they are non school sweaters. The sweaters are for both school age boys and guirls. The pattern is undated, but the 9d price we think means the old monetary system which would means it dates to thev 1960s. We can't read the rest of the text. Sirdasr is still active in England
The 1950s was the last decade that short pants were dominant for British boys, although the term used was short trousers. (Pasnts meant underpants.) We still see a lot of British boys wearing shorts in the 1960s, but increasingly boys were wearing long pants, even younger boys by the 60s. Even the Scouts adopted long pants in the 60s, although the Cubs continued wearing short pants--the same grey shorts that were so common for school wear. That way Cubs didn't need special uniform pants. We see shorter cut shorts in the 60s, basally adopting continental styling. There were still flannel shorts and some cord shorts, but easy to care for Terelyn shorts were becoming standard. Shorts were still common for school wear. They were most common for primary schools. Some schools required them as part of the uniform--grey shorts were the most common. We also see shorts in preparatory schools and for the some younger boys in public (elite primary boarding) schools, and grammar schools. Schools were also still common for little boys play cloths and casual summer wear.
British fashions were somewhat more formal than American fashions, including for boys. Boys in America were wearing suits less in Britain where suits continued to be more important in the 1960s, especially for school. Boys short pants suits were common in England during the first half of the 20th century. In the late 19th and early 20th-century we see knee pants and knicker suits, but after Wold War I (1914-18) in the 1920s we see mostly short pant suits for younger boys and long pants suits for boys after the early-teens. (In Britain the proper term is trousers.) This continued into the 1950s. After World War II (19039-45), long pants suits began to become increasingly common. By the 1960s this long pants suits were becoming more common. And the short pants suit that we still see were increasingly school m uniform suits. Some schools had suits s school uniforms rather than blazers which were seen as somewhat more casual. Some schools had both, but by the 60s schools were beginning to simplify uniforms requirements.) The advertisement on the previous page is an English advertisement for school suits (figure 1). We are not sure where and when it appeared. It looks like an early 1960s ad to us. The use of the old monetary system helps to date it. We are not sure how the sizes here compare with age. Note that 'knicker' is being used in the sense of short trousers. This is an older term which we do not notice being used after the early-60s.
We do not yet haveva lot of information on English coats and jackets durng the 1960s. We do a full page of Kays overcoats. This is the most formal style of cold weather outerwear. There are several different styles, suggesting that overcoats were a popular style at the time. The depiction suggests that they are a school or dress up style. We are not sure boys would hve worn them to state primaries. We are not sure how to interpret the popularity. The many different styled do suggest that there was considerabe demand for oovercoats. Boys going to pribate schools probably would hgave bought an overcoat through the school outfitter rather than a mail order company, meaning that overcoatswere much more widely worn than in America where jackets were more common.
Notice the different hosiery here (figure 1). Ankle socks were becoming the standard. Knee socks once prevalebt were mostly worn for schoolwear. They were often called long or school socks. Notice the boy's knee socks here, they were usualy grey and often done with the school colors as the top. Despite the depiction here, by the 1960s they were much less common with casual clothing.
We also have some undated shoe advertisements. We note molded-rubber soles with animal and other foot prints. Here is the first page of an ad for Wayfinders which offered children shoes with animal foot prints. Notice thht the ad only features boys. Black shoes were common. Blck went better with the omnipresent standard grey school clothing than brown. The primary excptin was sandals whihwere were mostly brown, perhaps red for younger children.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing catalog/magazine pages:
[Return to the Main English 1960s catalog page]
[Return to the Main English mail order chronology page]
[Main photo/publishing page]
[Store catalogs]
[Fashion magazines]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossary]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits]
[Sailor hats]
[Buster Brown suits]
[Eton suits]
[Rompers]
[Tunics]
[Smocks]
[Pinafores]
