Figure 1.--This English newspaper advertisement from the 1960s shows popular school sandal and shoe styles.

As an English child growing up in the 1960s, I found that I absolutely hated the very things boys in England seemed to have to wear, especially short trousers and sandals. From as early as I can remember right up to the age of 11 I always had to wear shorts to school even though there was no official uniform. And it seemed as though it was compulsory to wear sandals to school and at home from around April right through to the first icy weather of Autumn.

My Primary School

Virtually all the boys at my primary school of some 200 pupils wore shorts until they left at the age of 11 years. Only a handful of boys in the final year tended to wear long trousers all the time. I would estimate about 60 percent of the boys wore sandals too.

These were worn most of the year round except for the very wet, cold days of autumn and winter when we swapped them for black shoes. Those of us who wore shorts in summer also endured them during the winter--there was no mercy in those days. It was freezing and your knees could turn red and numb on those days when the car which picked us up arrived late because of the snow or ice.

I wore plain light grey 3/4 length socks to school most of the time although I also had darker grey ones in the same length with twin blue stripes at the top which was the colour of the school uniform, for those who chose to wear it. I hardly ever wore short socks. Some boys only ever wore short ones, again in various shades of grey. There were few exceptions though I do rememember one lad who always wore 3/4 length dark blue socks.

My Primary School Clothes

We had many arguments about both items, my mother and me. Sometimes I managed to sneak back to my room and slip on my trusty, battered old jeans and a pair of plimsolls before we left for the drive to school. Very occasionally mum would give a wry smile and say 'okay then, just for today' and I would be allowed to actually go to school in jeans and plimsolls.

It was a different story if, as mostly happened, she said 'No' to my attempts to abandon my shorts and the sandals I considered soppy footwear. Mother would very firmly order me back to my room to change back into what I was supposed to wear and I would pout, cry, yell, and stomp about a lot...and then do as I was told, get changed back again, and sulk all the way to school.

I think I hated shorts because I felt very conscious about my legs. It was quite irrational because they were no different to anyone else's scrawny white limbs.

My Sandals

I had the Alex sandals shown in the copy of the advertisement attached. Mine were in the dark brown textured leather called "antique" and were very popular during the 1960s. I think at my junior school they were the style most boys wore although the Wonder Sandal also shown were also very common.

Us Boys

I think many of my friends and classmates probably wore sandals as a matter of course like any other kind of footwear. It seemed to be just me who took exception to them but there did seem to be an unspoken but acknowledged age among boys when you stopped wearing such things. I do recall one of my friends remarking on a boy who sometimes played football with us that he "still wears sandals". The boy who had made the faux pas was probably about 13 years old--meaning well into secondary school. To my mind all sandals were humiliating things to wear, regardless of style.

Sandal Styles

The whole style of sandals suggests youth and therefore childishness, which is perhaps why they were regarded with such loathing past junior (Primary) school age. During the 1960s and early 70s I think any sandals for boys still came with the traditional narrow center strap. I don't recall the wider strap appearing until some time in the 1970s, a style for boys which has continued to the present day.

A few boys did wear the double strap style, but these were rare. It's hard to think back after all this time, but I can recall only ever seeing two boys wearing sandals with double straps. I don't believe they were at all popular and the double strap would have been pretty pointless anyway so I don't believe they would have lasted beyond the early 1970s.

Sandal Colors

Colour made considerable difference. Boys sandals were brown--they came in various shades of brown but heaven help the lad who wore anything different once he began school. I recall one boy turning up to my junior school in blue sandals and had a terrible day of it because they were regarded as a girls' style. Although sandals for boys were also often worn by girls, some manufacturers made styles specifically for girls and these came in blue and red leather too--so the colour must have been as significant as the style.

Secondary School

The short trouserss came to a sudden end when I finally left junior school for secondary modern ... no-one wore shorts at that school in 1972 although there were pictures on the wall from the school's early days in the 1950s which showed what I presumed were first-years who did wear them.

My last-ever pair of sandals, though, were not abandoned until a few months later, after my 12th birthday. Some boys did wear sandals at that age, and even older. Some of them wore sandals to secondary school, which surprised me, although this was rare and the few who actually wore sandals which looked like typical kids' ones were mercilessly teased.

One boy I remember turned up in a brand new pair, spent a whole day being followed around by a bunch of his fellow pupils laughing their heads off...the following day he arrived in an old pair of black shoes and that was that.

Family Party

I hadn't worn my sandals at all since leaving junior school but a time came when matters came to a head. My parents and I were getting ready to travel to a family party somewhere. My mother had ironed a pair of brown corduroy trousers and an outfit my parents considered 'smart' and it was all laid put out for me to wear. ('You have to look smart, no you can't go in jeans, no you can't stay at home on your own, your aunt wants to see you, no you can't wear training shoes' - you get the picture).

And as far as my parents were concerned the brown sandals in the shoe cupboard would go better with those brown corduroy trousers than anything else. My parents took the view that my sandals were not very old, were still in good condition and as they still fitted me perfectly, there was no good reason why I shouldn't get more use out of them.

We had a massive row. I shouted, I protested, I almost resorted to tears but I knew the battle was lost when my dad, as ever, waded in on my mum's side. When I had grudingly put them on and we left the house I had to check outside carefully to make sure nobody was around to see what I had on my feet. That walk from the door to the car in the street outside was one of the longest of my life, even though the distance was only a few yards.

At least when I was at primary school it was easy to forget I was wearing sandals because those of us sporting a pair were probably in the majority. When you're 12, a pupil at secondary school and nobody either at that school or of your age group wears such sissy things any longer, it's a whole new kettle of fish. I relaxed a bit in the privacy of the car on the three-hour journey to my aunt's home where the family do was taking place.

My cousins arrived shortly after us and I could see the glances at my feet and then the look of what seemed to be embarrassment on my behalf. I was on a knife-edge the whole time...they'd all noticed and it was only a matter of time before the laughing and teasing started, I thought. I felt a little more at ease when none of them actually said anything about the sandals...I just couldn't wait for the day to end and the moment we could leave.

I don't know if my favourite cousin planned to cause such embarrassment and outrage but that's exactly what happened when we were outside in the garden chatting together and playing around and he said: "I didn't know you still wore those things - they're for little kids." His words struck like an arrow to the heart. I could hardly argue with him - I agreed with him. But I could hardly say 'My mum and dad made me wear them' so I hurled some of my best swear words in his direction to try to cover my embarrassment and humiliation, and stomped off to hide away amongst the adults. There was little sanctuary there either because my two youngest cousins, a boy and girl aged about 4 or 5, were there inside and I could tell they'd noticed their older relative was wearing this unusually childish footwear.

In the car going home I was quiet. It was over but I did say my cousins had laughed about the fact that I was wearing sandals at my age. My parents said lots of boys my age wore sandals, they were good for your feet and anyway, what was wrong with them. Even so, the sandals went back into the shoe cupboard and I never wore them again. Eventually they disappeared altogether, their fate probably the same as my old school shorts, but I never asked where they went- just in case.