Figure 1.--This English boy grew up in northern England in the 1960s-70s and has provided us some details about his boyhood and schooling. |
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HBC readers have also provided several accounts of their personal experiences in the 1960s, describing their clothes and school uniforms. Most are from English boy, but a Scottish boy who moved to England has provided us an especially detailed account at his experiences in sevral different areas of England. Most of our contributors note that boys fashions and the attitudes of boys toward their clothing changed substantially during the 1960s.
My earliest recollections of the clothing I wore as a boy, were of my school uniform. I remember really wanting to have one of my own, after my elder brother got his and I think I was very jealous of him at that time. We both went to prep school, and the uniform as described in my previous e-mail was every day wear from the ages of 5 through 12, including the school cap I forgot
to mention.
a HBC reader from northern England has provided us some details about his boyhood clothing in the 1960s and 70s. He attended a state primary school and the Lancaster Royal Grammar School, one of the oldest schools in England.
When I started secondary school in the 1960's I had to wear the standard uniform of the time and of the school. It was made up of cap and blazer in navy blue,a tie of two tone blue, grey knee socks with a dark blue band at the top, black shoes and
grey shorts. This was the uniform at the age of eleven and continued like this until I was thirteen and a half.
I found your HBC website while trying to refresh my memory for a novel I'm writing, that is set during my own childhood. It was very interesting, and brought back a lot of memories of my boyhood in the 1960s. I just thought I'd pass on some of my own memories of the significance of certain clothes to certain age groups when I was a child in the 1960s.
I attended grammar school in the 1960s. The photographs shown here were taken was 1964. My mates and I were 12 years old and attending South Shields Grammar Technical School for Boys. Our uniform was a navy blue blazer, grey trousers, dark blue and yellow tie. We had caps for the first two years from 11 years old upto 13 years. Rules about the uniform were strict at our school when we first entered school as an 11 year old but became very lax after 3/4 years. We always had to look smart coming to and leaving school which meant fastening blazer and wearing cap. In school you could never remove your jacket without permission from a member of staff. The pupils were selected (11+ exam) from about 12 primary schools. None of the primary schools in our area required a uniform.
I was reminded of my own schooldays when it was perfectly normal for boys to wear short trousers as part of their school uniform well into secondary school. I wore them until I was nearly 14 and a few other boys wore them longer than that. The last boy in my class to switch to "longies" did so at the beginning of the fifth form. Nobody
thought anything of it really.
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.
As promised, some recollections about what I wore as boy in Scotland
and England. Apologies for writing so much, I don't know whether a lot
of the subjective stuff about attitudes, likes/dislikes and social
connotations is really useful to HBC. I was born in 1955. I can't
remember really thinking about my clothes until I was about 9, and after the age of 15 my clothing probably no longer reflected "boyhood" (unless one counts the school uniform, which was however no different to what 18/19-year-olds wore). So my personal experiences cover the
approximate period 1964-1970. As you'll see, the long/short pants issue
left quite a mark on my life so perhaps that's why I can remember so
much detail. I asked my wife to help me edit it down, but she thought I
ought to send the lot (she's a psychologist, which probably explains it!), so here it is.
I have been very interested to read the information on the Historical Boys' Clothing site regarding the traditional school gaberdine mackintosh. I feel that I may be able to add some information for you, as I wore a school 'regulation' gaberdine from the age of 4 until I left school at age 18. This period covers the late 1950's until 1973. I must agree that it was usual for boys to wear a navy blue gaberdine, but at the private primary school in England that I attended we originally had to wear a brown gaberdine. This was soon replaced by a navy blue gaberdine. They were always double brested, with a belt and only the girls had hoods.
My account covers the greater part of the 1960’s. It starts in Africa where there were still British colonies and ends in a city in Northern England. It is a tale of contrasts. I was born in Africa to older parents and I am an only child. I was in a school in Africa which was modelled entirely on an English prep school. It had about a hundred and twenty boys, all of whom were being groomed to pass the common entrance exam so they could go to a major public school in Britain. Although we never thought of it as such, it was obviously a school for privileged boys being prepared to enter elite schools. To us it was the only place we had known so it seemed completely normal; as did our manners, interests and the way we dressed and spoke.
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