During world war two people were rationed to clothes and food they were allowed to buy. Clothes rationing began in June 1941 this meant that you were not allowed to make or buy long trousers in boy's sizes. Some boys stayed in shorts until they were 16!

Boys clothing in the 1940s changed a lot in America, but there were not many changes 
in Europe. The disaster of the War left little time for fashion, either that of children or adults. Interestingly though several important fashion trends emerged from the War. Finally by the late 1940s new fashions began to appear.

The disruptions of the War meant that a lot of families didn't have a lot of money for clothes of any kind. As a result, some teenagers wore their short  suits longer than they might have if money had been available for a new suit.

So fashion stayed much the same as in 30s with boys wearing short trousers, long socks, jackets shirt and tie they also wore a cap and a raincoat.

Caps
Most boys wore school caps even at play, caps came in a large range of colours.

Raincoats
These were called gabardines. Usually they were  navy blue but came in all kinds of colours which often matched the colour of the school blazer underneath. Gabardines were raincoats, but could double up as a winter coat with a removable lining

The evacuees

Because of the frightening air raids in London children and some woman were sent into the country to get a way from the bombs. Goodnight Mr Tom  is a description of one of these. These were called the evacuees. When they went they always carried a wooden box tethered to a piece of string this box contained a gas mask.

SEE HIGHDOWN SCHOOL WEBSITE

In England clothes rationing continued until March 1949 so boys clothes did not change after the war.

America After the War

In America World War II was not important to most  boys. American children were away from the war, life was the same except for dad being away.

After the war American Women stayed at home and had babies.

The boys had jackets with the velvet collars. They wore white shirts and the mothers complained a lot about having to iron them. American boys and teenagers virtually lived in their jeans, wearing them every where that they could get away with it--but almost never in high school. Teenage boys wanting to look "cool" wore them low on the hips with the new hair fashion--crew cuts.

SEE THE HISTORIC BOYS CLOTHING WEBSITE

Jeans
During World War II jeans were worn by ammunition factory workers and were part of the war effort. Blue jeans were only available to defence workers. U.S. soldiers and defence workers wore their Levi's® jeans and jackets overseas so they were bought in other countries.

American boys after the Second World War began wearing jeans. At first they were only worn for play. Little boys were allowed to wear them to school, but they were banned at most secondary schools. Despite the fact that jeans were widely worn by boys of all ages in the 1940s and 50s, they were always long trousers. Jeans were no available as shorts. In many cases during the 1950s, boys might play in jeans and then dress up in a shorts suit to go to church or parties.

T SHIRTS

World War II also started the "t" shirt fashion. It started as soldiers' underwear. At the end of the 1940s a "t" shirt with bright coloured horizontal stripes became popular with American boys. Most boys lived in "t" shirts, jeans, and sneakers

The war in Asia had a big impact on women's fashions. Shipments of silk were cut off. This led to the production of synthetic fibres like nylon, which would eventually, filter through to men and boys' fashions

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