Romper Types


Figure 1.--This French boy wears a one-pience romper suit. The image is undated, but we would guess was taken about 1950. Notice the front pleats, more common was front smocking. These romper suits were very popular in France, nostly for pre-school boys. French romper suits often had bows in the back, but I am not sure about this one. Click on the image for more information about this boy.

We note several different types of rompers. The standard romper suit was a one piece garment with top and bottom combined. Several one-piece suits are pictured here on this page. This was the srandard suit wore in America and later France and other countries. We also notice various types of romper bottoms and pants that were designed to wear with both casual shirts or dressy blouses. The sun-suit version could be worn without a shirt. There were suspender rompers and bib-front rompers. I have not notedH-bar rompers, but they may have exsted. The bib-front type was often called a sunsuit. There were also plain bottoms which often had buttons for suspender straps that were not permanantely attached. Some rompers may have also been done in the button-on style. While American boys commonly wore one-piece romper suits in the early 20th cenury, the two-piece romper suits popular in France and Italy during the mid-20th century were rarely worn by American boys.

One-piece Suits

We note several different types of rompers. The standard romper suit was a one piece garment with top and bottom combined, but they wre done in a vzriety of stylistic variations. The one-piece suit was the standard suit wore in America and later France and other countries. The one-piece suit pictured here on this page was a popular French style.

Two-piece Suits

We also notice various types of romper bottoms and pants that were designed to wear with both casual shirts or dressy blouses. The sun-suit version could be worn without a shirt. There were suspender rompers and bib-front rompers. I have not notedH-bar rompers, but they may have exsted. The bib-front type was often called a sunsuit. There were also plain bottoms which often had buttons for suspender straps that were not permanantely attached. Some rompers may have also been done in the button-on style. While American boys commonly wore one-piece romper suits in the early 20th cenury, the two-piece romper suits popular in France and Italy during the mid-20th century were rarely worn by American boys.

Reader Comments

A French reader writes, "This garçonnet has a typical French face. His hair style was very commun in the 1950s. It permitted his mother to do sometimes do a choupette for special occassions. I would guess that on Sunday his hair was done in a choupette. He had just the right shaped head for that! It is not sure he was a - petit garçon modèle - but he could well have been. HBC has very detailed and correct informationon the French romper! Your decriptions are quite correct. It is true tat the rompers with emboiteries, smocking, were very popular. That is in part due to the fact that girls in school were taught emboiteries and smocking as a required subjct. Here the pleating is especially interested. This little boy wears a romper that was probably made by his mother or granmother because the pleats are symmetrical. My Parents who operated a clothing plant specialing in children's clothes make this style of romper, but always with with asymmetrical pleats for both the the top and the pants. The styles found in the magazines also almost described the asymmetrical pleats. Smocks were also made with asymmetrical pleats, but only for boys. Girls smocks were generally made with smocking or other decorations. Boys also had smocks with smocking, but girls never wore smocks with top pleats. That was one of the differences between boys and girls smocks."






HBC





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Created: January 4, 2004
Last updated: January 5, 2004