Figure 1.--This boy wears a dressy pair of checkered long pants with a tie and sweater. Note the closed-toe sandals and dark ankle socks. I believe this is a French image.
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Figure 1.--This boy wears a dressy pair of checkered long pants with a tie and sweater. Note the closed-toe sandals and dark ankle socks. I believe this is a French image. |
A new style of longer shorts for younger boys first appeared in France in the late 1980s. Short pants are usually defined as pants cut to knee-length or above. The 1990s style of long shorts appears to be an exception. I'm not sure precisely what this style should be called. These shorts were not the late 19th century styles of kneepants as they did not have the three buttons at the hem of each leg. They also differed from hip hop shorts because they weere no nearly as baggy and had conventional pocket arrangements. These shorts have various cuts, some cut relatively tight while other versions quite roomy. The length varies from knee-length to well below the knees. In many cases they are longer than the Capri pants that briefly appeared in the 1960s. They are not worn larger sizes than normal and they are made in as variety of materials. They are also made in casual styles as well as dressier versions that can be worn with sports jackets or sweaters with or without ties. Many versions had cuffs.
A new style of longer shorts for younger boys first appeared in France in the late 1970s. For some rason they did not begin crossing the channel until the late 1980s. HBC did not notice these shorts in Engkand during most of the 1980s and thought at first that the appeared in France during the mid-1980s. Inforation from France, however, shows boys clearly wearing te onger style in the late 1970s. Why the style took so long to cross th Channel or appear in the United states is not clear. In the early 1990s they began becoming popular in England and elsewhere in Europe, replacing the very short-cut shorts that had been popular. They reached America in the mid -1990s and Japan in the late 1990s.
Short pants are usually defined as pants cut to knee-length or above. The 1990s style of long shorts appears to be an exception. I'm not sure precisely what this style should be called.
These shorts were not the late 19th century styles of kneepants as they did not have the three buttons at the hem of each leg. They also differed from hip hop shorts because they weere no nearly as baggy and had conventional pocket arrangements. These shorts have various cuts, some cut relatively tight while other versions quite roomy. The length varies from knee-length to well below the knees. In many cases they are longer than the Capri pants that briefly appeared in the 1960s. They are not worn larger sizes than normal and they are made in as variety of materials. Many versions had cuffs.
They are also made in casual styles as well as dressier versions that can be worn with sports jackets or sweaters with or without ties. The dressier versions are commonly made with cuffs.
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