Romper Usage: Dressy Rompers

boys rompers
Figure 1.--These Frech family in Marakesh, Morocco are celebrating a boy's First Communion in 1950. The younger boy wears a dressy romper outfit for his older brother's First Communion. We are not entirely sure how the younger boy is dressed. He seems to be wearing some kind of white outfit wit black romper pants. We have never seenanything quite like it. Also notice his curled hair. The family is unidentified, but e know that the younger boy was 5 years old. An aunt fixed his hair for his older brother's First Communion celebration.

Although created as a play suit, dressier versions of the romper eventually appeared. I am not sure just when the romper was made into a dressy outfit. We have seen dressy rompers from the 1950s, but they presumably existed in earlier decades. Dressy styles eventually developed so they could be worn at even formal occasions. Some mothers chose dressier more formal outfits in the romper style for a variety of outings. This seems most common on the Continent, especially Italy and France. Dressy versions were worn by children up to 5 or 6 years of age for very formal occasions during the 1940s and 50s. These look like mostly expensive, handmade fashions. The dressy outfits often have Peter Pan collars or the most formal ones ruffled or lace collars. Plush velvets were the most popular materials for this style. They were often trimmed with lace around the collar front and bloomer pants. They were almost always worn with white knee or short socks with strap shoes or sandals. These dressy rompers were generally cut short, like the shorter cut short pants worn by French and Italian boys. Even plain rompers have something of a dressy look, especialy to our more casual eyes.





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Created: 3:15 AM 2/15/2014
Last updated: 3:15 AM 2/15/2014