** girls' school uniform garments specific garnments










Girls' School Garments: Specific Garments


Figure 1.-- Perhaps the most destinctive girls' school garment was the gym slip, mormally worn with a white blouse. The gym slip is a skirted garment intermediate between a skirt and aress. The gym slip had a bodice like a dress, but like a skirt had to be worn with a blouse. We do not see grey shirts like the boys wore. While the gym slip originated in Britain, we now see it being worn around the world. In some countries it is more common than in England. The girl here does not wear a tie, but ties were very common with blouses and gym slips.

Girls until the 1970s mostly dresses or blouses and skirts to school. While this is no longer the case, actual school uniforms still are mostly dresses or skirts. The girls school uniform dresses are both solid colors and patterns--almost always plaid. Perhaps the most destinctive girls' school garment was the gym slip, mormally worn with a white blouse. The gym slip is a skirted garment intermediate between a skirt and aress. The gym slip had a bodice like a dress, but like a skirt had to be worn with a blouse. We do not see grey shirts like the boys wore. While the gym slip originated in Britain, we now see it being worn around the world. In some countries it is more common than in England. At non-uniform schools in recent years girls have begun wearing pants, both jeans and shorts. Soviet girls wore dresss and pinafores. Some schools with unforms allow the girls to wear shorts and long pants, but this is not very common. Hosiery and footwear often differed. Many schools have the girls wear white socks, both ankle and knee length. Few schools use white socks for boys uniforms, although we note one school in Brisbane where the boys wear white knee socks. Some have shoe requirements such as strap shoes or sandals, but this varies.We notice substantial differences in these garments over time and among countries. Not only did the actual garments change, but the gender conventions for wearing them.

Headwear

We note girls wearing a wide variety of school headwear. The major types are: berets/tams, boaters, rounded-crown hats variously styled, and stocking caps during the winter. Except for the berets, they are largely of English origins. These main types are all caps and hats derived from the headwear boys wore, although the chronology and styling for the girls can be different. Only boys for some time wore berets in France, but in other countries they were popular for girls. We note tams were popular for a time in several countries. There are other headwear styles of lesser importance. And some countries have destinctiove national styles. This is somewhat complicated by the fact that both secular education and girls education are Western innovations. As a result there are fewer non-Western school styles for girls than boys. Just as boys headwear has become less importabnt since World War II, the same is true for girls' school headwear. Although in some countries, sun-safe clothing including headwear has been adopted. Stocking caps are important seasonally in countries with a seasonal winter, mostly northern hemisphere countries. Boys also wore stocking caps, but colors and decoration like a pom could be different.

Coats


Blazers

The blazer was primarily a boys' garment, but we see girls wearing b,lazers at schools with uniforms, mostly in Britain and former British Empire countries. Theu were worn over dresses and blouses, usually with ties just like the boys.

Blouses

We do not see grey shirts like the boys wore.

Neckwear

We see girls wearing a range of neckwear. Interestingly we do not see girls wearing the large floppy bow ghat boys wore in the late-19th century. Ties were a male garment. We see many boys wearing ties to school when school dress was nmore formal and suits were common. The tie became a major school uniform item in Britain. And an important symbol of the school boys attended. As girls' school became more common in the late-19th centuty, they adopted the educational curriculum and methods of the boys' schools. This included the unifiorm. Skirted garments replaced pants, but many other garments, including ties were worked into the uniforms. The girl here wearing a gym slip has no neckwear, but often ties were worn with gymslips (figure 1).

Skirted Garments

Girls until the 1970s wore skirted garments to school, primarily dresses or blouses and skirts to school. They still do, but no longer exclusively. Girls only wore skirted garments in the 19th century. And this continued for much of the 20th century. Many European girls wore smocks to school, over smocks and dresses. This began in France as a Republican measure to reduce outward appearances based on family income among school children (1870s). Many other countries on the Continent, especially Italy, adopted smocks as a school garment. Pants of any kind were not seen appropriste for girld to wear to school. While this is no longer the case, actual school uniforms still are mostly dresses or skirts. The girls school uniform dresses are both solid colors and patterns--almost always plaid. Perhaps the most destinctive girls' school garment was the gym slip--a British innovation. It was normally worn with a white blouse. The gym slip is a skirted garment intermediate between a skirt and a dress. The gym slip had a bodice like a dress, but like a skirt had to be worn with a blouse. While the gym slip originated in Britain, we now see it being worn around the world. In some countries it is more common than in England. At non-uniform schools in recent years girls have begun wearing pants, both jeans and shorts. Pinafores were common in the 19th century, a protective garment at a time ghat cloing was relatively expensive and lundry laborious. Pinafores rapidly disappeared after the turn-of-the 20th century. An exception was Soviet girls who commonly wore starched white pinafores with dresses into the 1980s.

Pants

Some schools with unforms allow the girls to wear shorts and long pants, but this is not very common.

Hosiery

We note girls wearing a variety of hosiery. We see boys and girls wearing different types of hosiery and footwear in the 19th century. Hosiery and footwear often differed for boys and girls in the 20th century. Many schools have the girls wear white socks, both ankle and knee length. Few schools use white socks for boys uniforms, although we note one school in Brisbane where the boys wear white kneesocks.

Shoes

Some have shoe requirements such as strap shoes or sandals, but this varies.We notice substantial differences in these garments over time and among countries. Not only did the actual garments change, but the gender conventions for wearing them. Sneakers were at first discouraged for school wear and primarily for boys. We see girls beginning to wear sneakers to school in America (1970s). Most scholols with uniforms discoraged them. Japan was an exception.

Gym Uniforms

Schools in Europe began introducing gym/physical education (PE) programs in the early-19th century. The developing American education system followed suit. And America became a leader in punlic education at a time when it was still a largely agrarian society. Formal PE was a matter for secondary schools. At first they were only for boys. This began to change toward the later part of the century. Boys at first wore their regular clothes. This was not possible for the girls. Less restrictive garments for gym were needed and the result was gym uniforms. We suspect this developed in part because the schools wanted to carefully control wgat the girls wore for gym. Many schools adopted middly blouses, voluminous bloomers, and black long stockings for the girls. These outfits were common until after World war I into the inter-War era. Greadually we see these outfits replaced with one-piece romper outfits and eventually short pants like the boys wore. This varied over time and fom country to country. There were also variations within countries from school to school as gym uniforms were commonly a decesion made locally. We do not yet have much information on girls' gym/PE programs and gym uniforms, but have begun to collect information. We do have an American page.








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Created: 12:08 PM 8/14/2011
Last updated: 12:43 AM 3/29/2019