Figure 1.--This French mother in 1901 thought leggings a good idea for Autumn and Winter outings to the park for the children. HBC had thought that the older child was a boy, but some readers do not agree. I'm not sure what material wasused for the leggings. Notice that the children's leggings as well as their shoes, appear to be identical. Also notice the white gloves.

This French image is unidentified. We do not know who the children are. We do know that the photograph was taken in 1901. It is an interesting photograph for a variety of reasons. Not only does it illustrate cold weather fashions in France at the turn of the 20th century, but it provides a glimse of the life style of city children, visits to the park and playing with hoops.

Chronology

We do know that the photograph was taken in 1901.

Location

We do not know where the photograph was taken. We believe that it was taken in Paris. The climate looks right for Paris in the Winter and the children's fashionable outfits look Parisian. This is, however, only a guess.

Family

This French image is unidentified. We do not know who the children are. The children look to be from a prosperous family because they arequite well dressed. Some children might have been taken to the park by a governess or nanny. The woman here because of her dress looks to be their mother. This suggests that the family was not wealthy, but certainly look to be prosperous. A French reader writes, "It is difficult to judge the statue ot this familly, because in Sunday many children and adult were well dressed. What we can affirm is that this familly was not poor.

The Children

The children are almost ceratinly siblings because of the similarity of their clothing. They look to be about 9 and 5 years of age. What we are unsure about is their gender. HBC had assumed that the older child was a boy. Our assessment here is based on a varierty of factors: 1) the child looks like a boy, 2) the sailor cap was a boy's style, and 3) the hoop and stick which was primarily a boy's game, although some girls did also roll hoops. We note the child has long hair, but many French boys in the late 19th and early 20 century had long hair. For boys, however, curling the hair into ringlets was less common than in America--but not unknown. The child for a boy does seem a bit old to still be wearing ringlets so this does causecus to question the gender. We do not think that he would have gone to school wearing ringlets, but the children may have been tutored at home. Not all HBC readers agree that the child s a boy. A French Canadian reader writes, "I believe that the older child at the left is a girl. First, note that the sailor coat buttons on left. Second, the hair is done in ringlet curls. This was mainly for girls at that age." A French reader writes, "It is almost sure , the both children are girls. First, the hoop and stick was played by both boys and girls, Second, leggings ( guêtres or jambières ) were for boys and girl. Third, ringlets at this age were only for girls. Fourth, the coat buttons on the left were only for girls. This convention was still respected since a long time. About the buttoning on left or on right, from around 1930 to the late 1950s, coats for little children " Manteau baby " wree often made in the same style for boys and girls. During this period some had a double buttonning arrangement so that they could be buttoned right or left. In addition, this right-buttoning convention was not always applied for the smocks or blouses of the boys."

The Clothing

The photograph here is a good illustration of turn of the 20th century cold weather clothes for prosperous French children. Both childrenn wear warm caops with heavy coats, leggings, and gloves--in this case white gloves. The white gloves do not seem a very practical choice for children visiting the park.

The Park

The city park was an important part of the recreation available to urban children at the turn of the 20th century. THe photograph here not only does illustrates cold weather fashions in France at the turn of the 20th century, but it provides a glimse of the life style of city children, visits to the park and playing with hoops. Few children living in Paris would have yards or gardens where they could play outside. Fir this they went to parks where they could roll hoops, sail boats in the pond, or engage in other activities. Larger parks might have a Punch and Judy shows.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Satellite sites] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: July 22, 2003
Last updated: July 24, 2003