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Many of the trouser types were popular in many different countries, but there were also differences among countries. We noticed some differences in the 19th century, but the differences were most pronounced in the early- and mid-20th century. Notably by the 1970s there appeared to be a return to the 19th century situation when boys in Europe an North America tended to wear similar styles. While we can identiffy some of these differences, we are not at all sure why these differences developed. We suspect that this was not mere chance, but reflect a range of social and economic conditions. Here we will look at the different types of pants and assess country differences.
Knee breeches were commonly worn by men and boys throughout the 18th century. Until the late 18th century when boys' skeletin suits appeared, there was no difference between the pants worn by boys and adults. Knee breeches were widely worn throughout Europe and in the Americas. We know of no major differences among countries. We notice frontiersmen in America wearing long trousers, but in the settlements boys and men wore knee breeches. In France knee breeches began to be seen as symbolizing aristocracy. The Parisian mobs were at first dersively referred to as the sans-cullottes. Even so, Revolutionary leaders like Robespierre (1758-94) continued to wear knee breches as did Napoleon after he seized power.
Boys were the first to wear long pants as part of the skeleton suits that appeared in the late 18th century. We do not notice much difference among countries, but the style first appeared in Western Europe. Men of substance did not begin to wear long pants until later, well into the 19th century. Boys wore long pants both with skeleton suits and tunics. Again this appears to have been a trans-national trend throughout Europe and the Americas. Thus in the early 19th century men and boys (after breeching) wore long trousers. This continued into the mid-19th century when we begin to see younger boys wearing shortened=length pants, often bloomer knickers. Knee pants also gradually became popular. Agains this appears to have been a trans-national trend and not restricted to any one country. Long pants continued to be standard for most boys until the late 19th century when more and more boys wore kneepants and to a lesser extent knickers. Here American boys mostly wore straight knee pants. And we notice older boys in America wearing kneepants than in Europe. Long pants were not common for boys in the early 20th century. European boys began wearing short pants and American boys knickers. By the 1930s many American boys were wearing long pants, but this was less common in Europe. The trend for long pants continued in America after World War II. Shortpants persisted in Europe, but by the 1960s long pants were beginning to become more popular there as well. There were differences from country to country. Jeans in particular made a major impression. By the 1970s a kind of trans-European style began to take hold and this consisted of long pants to a great extent.
We begin to see bloomer knickers about the mid-19th century. They were widely worn by ypunger boys after breeching in Europe and Ameica. It was at first a style that was worn by boys from relatively affluent families with fashion conscious mothers. Bloomer knickers appeared at about the same time as knee pants. They were at first worn with juvenile suits. They seem to have been mote popular in Europe than America, but we have little country information at this time. We do notice American boys commonly wearing bloomer knickers with tunic suits during the early 20th century.
Knee pants first appeared in the mid-19th century, but were at first only worn by younger boys. Boys in the America and Europe commonly wore knee pants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was the dominant style of pants for boys in most Western countries for most of the late 19th century and the early 20th century. We have archived thousands of images from many different coutries. Many were American boys. They were very common in America in the late 19th century. More boys and we think older boys wore knee pants than in any other country. A good example is a chicago boy, Robert Mason Hamilton, in 1897. We have not yet developed many country pages on kneepants, but this is one of the many projects underway at HBC. They were commonly worn in many other countries.We note a Canadian boy in 1885.
Knickers appear to have been worn more widely in America than many other countries. This was in part because fewer boys wore short pants than in European countries. Knickers were, however, widely worn in Europe. While trends varied from country to country, in the inter-war years, most American boys wore knickers. In Europe, knickers were mostly for older boys while younger boys wore short pants. This was a common practice in France. Some European boys who normally wore short pants, wore knickers during the colder winter months, this was the case in Germany. Knickers appear to have been less common in England than in many other countries. The trends each country also varied substantially over time.
Conventions for wearing short pants varied greatly from country to country since they were introduced for boys in turn of the Century England. They rapidly became popular in Europe, undoubtedly affected by the rapidly expanding Boy Scout movement. Shorts were not popular every where. Most American, boys, except for the youngest didn't really like them and most American boys, even Scouts, wore knickers instead. They were widely, however, in most countries even outside Europe, with a few exceptions. They were not popular in Latin America or in countries like Russia with cold climates. They were continued to widely worn in Europe until well after World War II. As shorts declined in popularity in many European countries, they became increasingly popular in America, but as warm weather casual clothing and not as a part of a suit or other dressy outfit. While it is relatively easy to identify trends in various countries, much more complicated is assessing why these differences existed and persisted over time. These differences may to an extent reflect hapanstance, but we believe that a range of cultural factors are also incvolved. HBC has collected an archive of personal accounts from various countries. Some of these reoprts include the experiences of boys with short pants. Many of our personal accounts come from America, Enggland, France, and Germany, but we have accounts from other countries as well.
Rompers were widely worn in both Europe and America. I have so far, however, collected little information on rompers in different countries. Some limited information can be deduced by available photographic images. Significant differences appear between America and Europe. European boys continued to wear rompers into the 1950s for both play and casual wear and dressy outfits. They were often worn with white socks and strap shoes. I know Italian boys wore them and French boys might have also wore them. I'm not sure about the age deemed apporopriate, but I would think they were worn much as American boys wore shortalls in the 1960s. After the 1930s American boys except the vary youngest no longer wore rompers. Other styles tend to replace them for most boys. An American boy in the 1950s and 60s, for example, might wear shortalls instead of rompers. Boys in other countries continued wearing rompers longer than in America. Little French boys seemed to have continued wearing rompers through the 1950s and even in the 1960s.
