Figure 1.--This studio portrait came from a family album. The children are not identified, but look to be a brother and sister. We think the younger child is a girl, but we are not certain. The little boy is wearing a tie with a sports collar shirt and above the knee knickers. The white outfit and short socks suggest it was taken during the summer. The high-top shoes suggest the 1910s or early-20s. The girl is wearing a rather fancy romper suit with a large collar and mock tie. Put your cursor on the image for an enlargement of the romper suit.

Romper conventions seem to have varied somewhat over time. We note early rompers in the late-19th century that have somewhat of a dressy look to them. Of course rompers were not very common in the 19th century, even the late-19th century. But we do note a few examples. Conventions at the time, of course, were more formal than during the 20th century. We are unsure as to just where American children would have worn dressy romper suits and for what kind of occasions. We only see them in studio portraits. American romper conventions were different than those in Europe. Dressy rompers are very rare in America. And both girls and boys in America wore them. It is very rare for girls ro wear anything except dresses when dressing up. This convention continue until the 1960s. We have found only a few examples of American boys wearing dressy rompers. A reader thinks the child wearing rompers is a boy. He writes, "I think the younger child is a boy. He is wearing a white neck tie. It is not very well tied as the wide end is much shorter than the thin end. I don't this a young girl would have worn a neck tie."