On the point of knickers, I seem to recall that was the term used for the short to the knee pants that little boys wore in the early days of the 20th century.
It could well be - that item of clothing was called knickerbockers, so it seems likely. Ah, here we go - from Wiki:
Knickerbockers were a men's or boys' baggy knee trousers particularly popular in the early twentieth century. Golfers' plus twos and plus fours were trousers of this type. Before World War II, skiers often wore knickerbockers too, usually ankle-length.
Until after World War I, in many anglophone countries, boys customarily wore short pants in summer and knickerbockers or "knickers" (or "knee pants") in winter.
LabRat
