Figure 1.--Here we see two English boys wearing suspender shorts. They look to be about 3-5 years old. Notice that the suspender straps are sewn on, there are no buttons. The photograph is not dated, but since we have learned that the older boy is Paul McCartney (1942- ) with his younger brother Michael. With his birthdate, we can tell that the family snapshot was taken about 1947.

HBC has noted that British boys did not commonly wear suspender shorts, at least not nearly as commonly as boys in France, Germany, and other counties on the Continent. Here we are primarily going by the photogrphic record. And our Ebgolisdh rchive is ine of our largest, manuing that assessmengts are more valid than for countries where we have just a few images. What is curious is that in the early 20th century we notice quite a few English boys wearing suspenders (braces), just as in Germany. While the Germans began wearing suspender shorts, this was not very common in England. It was not unknown. We cdo see some, but just not very commonly. Suspender shorts appeared to have been called strap shorts in England. One HBC reader recalls a pair of strap shorts his little brother wore in the 1960s. They were not, however, ready made clothes, but sewn by a friendly elderly lady. While suspender shorts were not common, we do notice younger girls wearing suspender skirts, especially as part of school uniforms.

Created: 10:03 AM 7/1/2021
Last updated: 10:03 AM 7/1/2021