Figure 1.-- These rather serious German children seem to be wearing white long stockings, although light beige is possible. It was taken somewhere in Bavaria, probably about 1935. We think it is almost certainly the 1930s--later I would suppose rather than earlier because of the length of the girl's dress and the rather elaborate style of the Lederhosen--also because of the very long length of the stockings, clearly worn with a Strapsleibchen and four garters. The girl looks about 7 years old and the boy about 11 years. We do not see a lot of boys wearing white long stockings with Lederhosen, although beige was common. we do se quite a few boys wearing white knee socks with Lederhosen.

One aspect that is difficult to assess concerning Lederhosen and long stockings is color. We see both light and dark stockings, but it is difficult to assess the actual color shade, other than black and white. We see some boys wearing white long stockings, but white knee sovks were more common, especially for older boys. A problem here is that the beige long stockings that appeared in the 1920s or sometimes difficult to differentiate from white, especially if they had been laundered a few times. We think that the lighter shades were mostly beige/tan shades, but there were also grey long stockings. We do not know if mothers attempted to match the long stockings and Lederhosen colors. We rarely see boys wearing black long stockings with Lederhosen. Black even more than white as associated with dressy, formal wear. Thus we rarely see boys wearing Lederhosen with black long stockings We see boys wearing Lederhosen with suit jackets, but often with Bavarian Tracht jackets, never with formal jackets. We do see dark colors, but we are not sure just what those dark colors were.

White

We see some boys wearing white long stockings, but white knee sovks were more common, especially for older boys. A problem here is that the beige long stockings that appeared in the 1920s or sometimes difficult to differentiate from white, especially if they had been laundered a few times.

Lighter Shades

We think that the lighter shades were mostly beige/tan shades, but there were also grey long stockings. We do not know if mothers attempted to match the long stockings and Lederhosen colors.

Black

We rarely see boys wearing black long stockings with Lederhosen. Black even more than white as associated with dressy, formal wear. Thus we rarely see boys wearing Lederhosen with black long stockings. We see boys wearing Lederhosen with suit jackets, but often with Bavarian Tracht jackets, never with formal jackets.

Dark Shades

We do see dark colored long . We believe that they were primarily brown shades. German readers cinfirm this. Unfortunately the black and whire photography of the day provide few clues as to the actual shades. Quite a few examples are archived on HBC. A good example is an unidentified boy photographed near Kile, probably about 1957.

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Created: 12:24 PM 2/10/20111
Last updated: 12:24 PM 2/10/201110:24 PM 2/10/2011