Figure 1.--Belgian boys still commonly wore short pants to school in the 1960s, especially the early-60s. were commonly worn in primary schools. And we also see the younger boys in secondary schools wearing them. A reader has provided us some information about his private Catholic school in Antwerp during the early-1960s. Our reader tells us, "Uniforms were not mandatory at our school, but it was rather an elite school, jeans were strongly discouraged. Many of us wore suits. Boys wearing short trousers were not the majority, but were not uncommon." Notice that this was not the sunner term, but a cool day with many boys wearing jackets. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the class.

Belgian boys still commonly wore short pants to school in the 1960s, especially the early-60s. Weno longrcsee smocks to any extebt. Shorts were commonly worn in primary schools. And we also see the younger boys in secondary schools wearing them. This changed significabntly during the 1960s. We see boys mostly wearing long pants by the end of the cade. Seasonality was a factor. At first we mostly see long pants during the winter months. By the end of the decade they were common even in warm weather monthhs. A reader has provided us some information about his private Catholic school in Antwerp during the early-1960s (figure 1). Our reader tells us, "Uniforms were not mandatory at our school, but it was rather an elite school, jeans were strongly discouraged. Many of us wore suits. Boys wearing short trousers were not the majority, but were not uncommon." Many of the boys here are wearing suits or sweaters with ties. Several werar knee socks with short pants. One boy wears white knee socks. Notice a few boys still wear high-top shoes. Short pants began to be still common, but began to be replaced by long pants in the late-1960s. The French student movement and Paris student riots in 1968 were very influential in both social attitudes and fashions. The trends in conservative Belgium were slower to develop. We see many French boys wearing jeans and long pants in the late-60s even in primary schools. This was somewhat slower to develop in Belgium.

Boys' School (1960)

All we know for sure about this school is that it was taken at a boys school (Ecole des garçons) during 1960. We do not know where in Blgium it was located. It seems to be some kind of primary school. They are almost all younger boys, although there seems to be a substantial age disparity. We woud say the children are about 4-8 years old. One boy looks a good bit older. This means that it was not a class, there is too great a disparity. But the group looks much too small to be an entire school. So we are not at all sure what this group is. It was clearly a photograph taken after the weather had turned warm. All the boys seem to be wearing short pants, at least the younger boys in the front. Some of the younger boys wear blouses (one with puff sleeves) and extremely short pants, but we do not see any smocks or rompers. A few boys wear supender shorts. One boy wears bib-front shorts.

Private Catholic College in Antwerp (early-1960s)

A reader has provided us some information about his private Catholic school in Antwerp during the early-1960s (figure 1). Our reader tells us, "Uniforms were not mandatory at our school, but it was rather an elite school, jeans were strongly discouraged. Many of us wore suits. Boys wearing short trousers were not the majority, but were not uncommon." Many of the boys here are wearing suits or sweaters with ties. Several werar knee socks with short pants. One boy wears white knee socks. Notice a few boys still wear high-top shoes.

Ecole Mixte (1963)

We note an unidentified Ecole Mixte in 1963. The children are very warmly dressed, including the boys wearing sweaters and long pants. Even some of the girls seem to be wearing long pants. We don't think that this would have been common in tge 1950s. The childremn look to be the younger children in the school, poerhaos te first year or even younger Kindergarten students. While we do not know anything about the school, exceot the year, we do have the name of the children.