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Styles of school smocks and policies for wearing them have varied from country to country. The school smock which was once common in several countries has disappeared except for very young children in most countries. The traditional back buttoning smock in particular is now rarely worn in most countries--especially by boys. HBC has cpllected information on the school smock in quite a number of countries, but there are still many countries where we yet have no information. We hope that HBC readers from those countries will provide us information.
Argentine children wear white smocks, although private schools may have colored smocks. Girls wear back buttoning styles with Peter Pan collars. Boys wear front buttoning styles. This appears to be a reflection of the Italian influence as Argentina was
one of the major destinations for Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century, but smocks are worn by school children in other latin American countries such as Bolivia and Uruguay. The children in state schools did not require uniforms and children wore their own clothes under their smocks, however, many private schools did require uniforms.
HBC at this time has no information on the wearing of school smocks in Austria. We have no information either about the old Audtro-Hungarian Empire or the modern state od Austria which emerged after the fall of the Hapsburg dynasty at the end of World War I (1914-18). This is important as a very large number of current European countries emerged from Austro-Hungary fter World War I. Hope fully our Austrian readers will provode some information here.
Smocks styles and usage in Belgium generally followed the pattern in France. Smocks were very commonly worn by Belgian school children. Unfortunately, HBC has not yet been able to find any information on Belgian smocks. This is a serious limitation on out national smock coverage because we believe that Belgium is one of the countries where smocks wre most commonly worn. Hopefully a Belgian reader will contribute some information on school smocks. We do have some information on smocks on one of our Bdelgian school uniform pages.
Bolivia is one of the Latin American countries where school children wear smocks. Al of the children appear to wear crisp white smocks to school. There are different styles for the boys and girls, but both wear smocks. I'm not sure when this begun or what the origins are.
HBC has wondered just how influential French fashions were in Canada, especially amomh French Canadians. As far as HBC can determine, French Canadian boys never wore smocks at home or at school as was common for French boys. A HBC reader has done some research on the topic. His efforts to search for information on smocks ("tablier") in Canada has only yielded information on girls wearing smocks. He concludes that the French style of school smocks was apparently not imported to Quebec. We do not yet have a page on Canadian school smocks, but we have some infornation on an prphanage page. We have noted them at what appear to have been cahrity institutions in Canada such as oprphanages. HBC has little information on Candian orphanages. We do note one Catholic orphange in Montreal where the boys were dressed in white smocks. Although the 1909-10 image is not very clear, it is apparent that the younger boys wear pinafore-like white smocks.
A Bulgarian reader writes, "I saw your articles about school smocks and I would like to
add, that school smocks survived in Bulgaria as boys' wear till the late 70s-beginning 80s. I wore a black shiny satin school smock, buttoned at the back, with pockets in front, when I was 10-12. It was a great fun for me, because till my third year I lived in Moscow, Russia, where smocks weren't worn in schools at all. When we moved to Bulgaria in 1978, and I went to school in Sofia, this dress-like uniform looked a little bit strange to me first, but I found it very comfortable then. In 1982, when I was 7th grade, the smocks were replaced by Russian-pattern uniforms--navy blue suits with trousers and coat. But on my opinion, black satin smocks were the most comfortable uniform I wore-
especially in hot weather."
No information avaiable.
We do not believe that school smocks were commonly worn in Denmark, but at this time have no information.
There are countless illustrations in children's books of English boys and girls wearing gayly colored smocks. Most of these illustrations beginning with Kate Greenaway appear highly imaginative. We simply have no evidence yet to confirm that boy commonly wore smocks to school in the late 18 and early 19th century. (Of course tht does not mean that they definitively did not.) We have noted boy at home wearing smocks during the late 19th and early 20th century--generally boys from affluent families. We know more about this period as there are many photographic school portraits. English schools for the most part, however, not require smocks. State schools did not require iunifoms. Boys rarely appear in these images wearing smocks. Private schools did require uniforms, but we do not know of a school requiing the boyhs to wear smocks. A few private schools did use smocks for the pre-prep boys. One choir school, St. Mary of the Angles Song School, used smocks as the everyday uniform.
The classic schoolboy dress in France is the
beret and smocks. Most
French schoolboys by the turn of the century were outfitted in smocks, originally back-buttoning smocks. French boys trudging to school with their smocks and school satchels (book bags), as French schools requited extensive home work, is a common image in France. Schools smocks were still commonly worn after World War II, but most schools apparently no longer required them. It seems to have been left to the discretion of the mother. They began to disappear in the 1950s except for girls or younger boys. French visitors to HBC indicate that as older boys they were teased for wearing smocks because French boys began to look on them as girls clothes.
German boys did no commonly wear school smocks nor did German schools reqwuire smocks. The school smock, however, was not unknown in Germany. Some individual boys in the late 19th and early 20th century did wear smocks to school. Generally these were younger boys. Presumably there were areas of Germany where smocks were more common. Presumably smocks may have been worn to some extent in Alsace-Loraine, the area of France sized by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This was, however, before smocks were required as schoolwear by the French Government.
HBC has little early historical information about Greek school smocks. Smocks were introduced in French and Italian schools in the late 19th century. We are less sure as to when Greek children began wearing smocks to school and how common it was during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Smocks for boys have been primarily an elementary school garment, although girls at times have been required to wear them in secondary schools as well. Many elementary school children, both boys and girls, by the 1950s appear to have wore smocks to school. The school uniform for the Demotiko in the 1950s and 60s consisted of blue smock with white collar for girls and boys. I'm unsure if the Government actually specified the specific style as there are some differences in the smocks worn by the children. The few images avaialble at this time suffests that the boys and girls wore smocks of similar style and color. The term used for the school uniform in Greece is "Scholiki podia" or simply "Podia" which means "Apron". This was the standard uniform but in many cases it was acceptable for boys to wear a blue sweater with blue or grey short or long trousers instead. In poor and/or isolated regions teachers and school authorities tolerated non-uniformed students. As a result almost none of the children in those areas wore a uniform in school. The democratic Karamanlis government of 1974 changed the shool uniform requirements. Now, boys and girls in Demotiko had to wear the blue smock with a large white collar and there were theoretically no exceptions to the rule. School photographs during this period, however, show considerable divrsity in what the children wore. This varied greatly from school to school and over time. There were no regulations as to what children wore with their smocks. More and more boys began wearing long pants to school during this period--especilly in the cooler winter months. In 1982 the social democrat government of Andreas Papandreou abolished the school uniform once and forever. Smocks continued to be worn at some private schools for a few years. Greek children, especially the boys, never wear smocks to school any more. They much prefer the popular "formes".
A 1969 film shows Hungarian boys wearing blue front-buttoning school smocks. HBC is unsure how common this was. In the film. the smock was required as all the boys were wearing them. Hungary at the time had a Communist Government with a very centralized school system. School regulations such as weraing smocks might have been set by the central Government rather than each individual school, but few details are currently available. Given the fact that the boys tended to unbutton them after school, they do not seem to have been very popular.
HBC believes tha Iranian elementary school children wore smocks, as was common in other Middle Eastern countries, but have few details. News reports from Iran in 2000 inducated that elementary school girls were being allowed to wear lighter-colored smocks rather than the dark smocks imstitued after the victory of the Islanic Recolution in 1979. HBC is unsure if boys still wear smocks in Iran.
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Italian schoolboys in the 20th century also commonly wore smocks. The Italian boys generally wore dark-colored smocks with large white collars and floppy bows. Such smocks were commonly worn through the 1960s, but became less common for older boys in the 1970s. There is no national standard. The decision to require a smock is up to the individual school. Many state and private schools, especially schools for the younger children, do opt for smocks. Many younger children still commonly wear school smocks. The colors are now much more diverse. It is all up to the school, but brighter lighter colors are now common as are patterns such as checks or gingham. Some schools have different colors for boys
and girls. Mothers have different attitudes toward smocks. Some just went along with what the schools required. Other found them a handy way of dressing children for school. One Italian boy tells HBC that his mother insisted he wear a smock for the first year after primary school. He was the only boy in his class who wore a smock and was teased about it. Smocks are still worn in Italy, unlike many ther countries like France where they are now rarely seen.
Japanese school boys do not wear smocks. Younger boys and girls in kindergarden and day care, however, do often wear brightly colored smocks and beanies. Japanese Nursery Schools (hoikuen) are primarily for children whose parents both work. Tuition, registration and entrance fees vary considerably, depending on whether public or private. Uniforms (smocks and caps) required. Parents take and pick up the children, and provide lunches and bedding for naps. Saturday is a half-day. HBC does not know of any primary schools that use school smocks, but they are often used at both nursery schools and kindergarden.
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We have no information on Lebanese schools at this time. France played an important role in Lebanon. Lebanon had been a part of the Ottomon Empire until the British drove them out at the end of World War I. France created a protectorate for Lebanon and thus help found the modern school system. While we have little information on Lebonese schools at this time, we do have some information on the French schools in Lebanon. French schools in Lebanon appear to have been very insistant that boys and girls wear smocks to school. Most of the smocks appear to have been a light color, perhaps blue. Styles varied widely. Curiously many girls wore front buttoning smocks. The boys appear to have more commonly wiorn side or back buttoning smocks. Given the warm climate they were usually worn with short pants. The girls always wore dresses.
We do not have very much information about smocks in Mexico, We have noted a few images of younger boys wearing smocks to school. This appears to have been primarily a convention at private schools. The younger children apprarently wore smocks instead of a unifirm. We do not have any information on how common it was or the chronology involved. It is still a convention at some schools.
HBC has little information about Dutch boys wearing smocks. We do not believe that they were as common as in some areas of neighboring Belgium. Images from the turn of the century do show Dutch boys wearing pinafore-like smocks. A Dutch source reports that boys did wear smocks, but not as a part of the school clothing like in France/Spain/Italy. Smocks are called "boerenkiel" (kiel=smock for boeren=peasants) and were common in rural areas until about the mid-1930s. We do not believe this was very common, but do not have adequate information at this time for any definitive conclusions.
HBC has no information on New Zealand school smocks. We have no indication that New Zealand school children wear smocks now or have done so in the past. It is possible that some nursery school children have in the past worn smocks, but we can not at this time confirm this. We do know that some schools, especially private schools incourage the children to bring smock-like garments to art class to protect their clothes. Usually the children bring one of dad's old shirts.
Younger Palestinian boys and girls wear school smocks. The ones I saw were gingham. They were mostly worn with long pants. School smocks are worn in many other Arab countries from Syria to Morocco. I believe that this is at least in part the impact of French and Italian colonial rule and innfluence. I'm less sure about the origins of the smocks Turkish school children wear. The smocks were usually light colors and not the dark colored smocks worn by French school boys. The Arab children almost always wear them over long pants. We had thought that both boys and girls wore smocks, but our information is admitdly limited. 2001 press report from the Fras market in the Daza Strip indicated had a bief description of Mohammed Masmiyeh's school-clothing store. According to the report, "Masmiyeh sells blue-striped smocks for girls and blue shirts with clip-on ties for boys. He reduced the price for smocks from $5 to $2.50, and for shirts from $7.50 to $5. "I ordered only the cheapest clothes, from China," Masmiyeh said. "I should be doing $150 to $200 business a day, but I am doing no more than $75. And no one is buying new school bags." [Williams]
Communist authorities after World War II introduced black later changed to dakk blue smocks which were called fartuszki. There were different styles fgor boys and girls, the brincipal diiference wa the length. They were worn by both primary and secondary students of all ages. Styles varied somewhat. The children wore a school badge on their sleeve or breast pocket. There was also a badge for the best student in each class.
Portuguese children at private schools, both boys and girls, in 2000 still coonly wear school smocks. HBC believes that children in public school formerly also wore smocks, but in 2000 they are only commonly worn at private schools. Boys commonly wear them to about 10 years of age, but some schools use them for boys up to about 12 years. Colors vary with each school having destinctive colors.
No information available.
We do not notice many Russian school children wearing smocks, either during the Tsarist or Soviet period. We do note one image of what looks like Soviet kindergarden children wearing smocks. We are not sure how common this was. Nor do we know if it was a local or regional convention. We also do not know if smocks were used only for kindergrden children. A reader who went to school in Moscow during the 1970s reports that smocks were not worn at any school he recalls.
HBC has no information on wheter smocks are worn in Slovene schools. There certainly have been many changes influencing Slovene education in recent years, including Austro-Hungary, the Yugoslav Kingdom, German NAZI and Itlaian Fascist occupation, Communist Yugoslavia, and now an independent republic.
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Spanish school children were commonly wearing smocks by the 1930s, although I am not sure when this paractice first began. Young kindergarten age children still commonly wear smocks in Spain. It is no longer common, however, for older boys to wear them--but some still do. A Spanish contributor to HBC in 1999 reported seeing school boys about about 7 or 8 years old still wearing the smocks over their street clothes.
Switzerland is a multi-cultural and linguistic country. Smocks were commonly worn by Swiss-Italian and Swiss-French boys, but less so than the Swiss-German boys. They were mostly worn to school. As far as boys clothing is concerned, the French speaking part of Switzerland was comparable to France. It was compulsory for boys to wear a smock
until 9-10 in the years 1930-1960, about one third would then continue up to end of primary school around 12 years. The style and colors of these smocks were left to the parents discretion, there was no uniformity but a wide variety in mainly three styles: back buttoning, side buttoning, and a pinafore style.
Turkey has a similar school uniform smock for elementary children, both boys and girls. I'm not sure just when this style was first implemented, but I believe it continues to be worn today. It appears to be a European style adopted as part of secular educational reforms. Blue was the most common color, but there appears to have been some variation. The children appear to mostly wear a back-buttoning style--some ith pleats. They are usually worn with Peter Pan collars.
American schools have, for the most part, not require smocks. A few private schools did use smocks for the pre-school children, mostly in the 1920s and 30s. But even this was not very common, in part because few mothers dressed boys in smocks at home. Although not unknown, espe ially by wealthy families, they were much less common than in Europe. School smocks have never been worn to any extent in America. American boys, in fact, saw smocks as suitable for girls, but certainly not for themselves. Many even resisted wearing them in art classes.
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Uruguayan children, both boys and girls, mostly wear white smocks to school. This is a national standard set by the Government for all state primary schools. Large numbers of Italians have immigrated to Uruguay and the smocks are a reflection of the Italian influence on Uruguayan education. The style of the smocks vary as several companies supply smocks. They are, however, uniformly white. Uruguayan children wear their smocks with large blue bows. The bows are not very popular, especially with the older boys who can often be seen removing them as soon as possible after school.
Daniel Williams, "Conflict deepens despair for Palestinians in Gaza," Washington Post, August 20, 2001.
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