Figure 1.--Belgian boys commonly wore sailor suits to school at the turn of the century. Even after World War I in the 1920s, sailor suits were still popular for boys.
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Figure 1.--Belgian boys commonly wore sailor suits to school at the turn of the century. Even after World War I in the 1920s, sailor suits were still popular for boys. |
Belgian boys have not commonly worn formal school uniforms like their across the Channel English cousins. The smock became a type of uniform in several European countries,
especially Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain. I believe the use of the smock in Belgium was influenced by its adoption in neighboring France. Beginning with the French Third Republic in the 1870s through much of the first half of the 20th century, elementary school boys in Belgium and France wore black, dark, blue, or grey school smocks over their clothes. As this was a very common practice, it gave the appearance of a school uniform. Not all French schoolboys wore smocks--serving to obsure social differences. One account from 1900 describes a French boy who began the lycee wearing a sailor suit with long curls his mother dearly loved. I believe
that such styles and experiences would have been quite similar in Belgium.
The decision to require French boys and girls to wear smocks was a decision implemented by French authorities during the 1870s. It was in keeping with the styles of the day as both boys and girls commonly wore smocks. I have no specific information on Belgium. I do not know if the Belgian Government officially followed the French example and
required school children to wear smocks. It may have been left to individual schools or parents. There may also have been differences between Flemish and Waloon areas of Belgium. The style was, however, so common that I assume that Begium, which like France, had a centralized educational system may have required it.
HBC at this time has little detailed information on Belgian school uniforms and attire. Hopefully Belgian contributors to HBC will provide some detailed infprmation. HBC believes that Belgian boys began wearing smocks at about the same time as French boys in the 1870s. This is just specualtion, however, at this time. I'm not sure when Belgian boys began wearing kneepants, probably in the 1860s. They were widespread and normally worn with three-quarter length socks by the 1870s. Short pants appeared with the Scout movement in the 1900s and began replacing kneepants by the 1910s. School uniforms were not common in Belgium. but were required by some private catholic schools. Shorts were very commonly worn by the 1920s. Older boys might wear knickers. Smocks were commonly worn by school children through the 1940s, but declined in popularity in the 1950s. Shorts dominated boys' wear throughout the 1950s, but began to be replacec by long pants in the late 1960s. Some conservative schools still required shorts pants in the 1980s, but this had largely disappeared by the 1990s.
Figure 2.--Belgium schooboys used to wear smocks, but not uniforms. Smocks generally disappeared in the 1950s. In this 1963 photograph, none of the boys wear smocks, but they all wear short pants. Note that all the boys wear shorts even though it is chilly enough for coats and sweaters. Click on the image to see a similar picture takem in 2000. Notice the American influence in both fashions and company signs. Also note that despite the fact it is a bit chilly, none of the boys wear kneesocks. |
One complication in Belgium is that there is both a French (Waloon) and Dutch-speaking (Flemish) population. There are, as a result, schools for both groups. I'm unsure how clothing standards may have differed. It is likely that smocks were most common in the French schools. HBC does not, however, have any information on differences in school attire in the two different areas of Belgium.
Belgian schoolboys over the yeras have worn a wide variety of styles and garments. Boys in the late 19th century generally wore kneepants. Sailor suits were very common. Many boys wore smocks. Fauntleroy suits were popular with mothers, but probably not commonly worn to school. Short pants began to be worn in the 1900s with the adventbof the Scout movement. School uniforms were not common in Belgium and as a result svhoolwear is generally a reflection of ordinary boys' clothes. Some private Catholic schools did require uniforms. Boys have worn many differentbtypes of clothes to school. Most boys into the 1960s wore short pants, but knickers were also worn until the 1950s. Sailor suits were still popular, although not as much as at the turn of the century. Many types of hosiery were worn. Boys wore both ankle and kneesocks. White socks were popular. Some boys wore long over the knee stockings. Shorts were very commonly worn by the 1920s. Older boys might wear knickers. Smocks were commonly worn by school children through the 1940s.
Available information on Belgian school uniforms includes ij different types of schools include:
French elementary boys through the 1950s wore smocks to school, almost always black, dark blue, or grey smocks. I am not sure what Belgian schoolboys wore before the 1870s, but the school smock, as we now know it, was commonly worn in the 1870s.
Educators thought that the smock was an ideal school garment. Not only did it protect clothes, but it hid differences in clothing resulting from social class. Thus boys and girls from affluent families could not show off with expensive clothes. (Sound familiar?) I'm not sure how the style was introduced, whether there was a national policy or if local schools had any disgression. Also I am not sure to what extent the Government spelled out the style of the smocks to be worn. It does look like most of the early smocks were black or dark blue and buttoned at the back. Available images confirm that Belgian and French boys were wearing berets and smocks well before World War I--although I have no 19th Century images. The smock was generally worn with short pants and often a beret. The image of a boy going off to school in a beret, smock, and book satchel on his back is a nostalgic one for many French people. Schools smocks were still commonly worn in the 1940s because many World War II images exists of Belgian boys in smocks. I believe they were also commonly worn in the 1950s. A French contributor to this site tells me that he wore smocks as an elementary schoolboy during the late 1950s and early 60s, but did not wear a betet. Smocks began to disappear in the late 1960s, especilly after the Paris student riots of 1968. Of course it was not the elementary children rioting, but actions of the older children soon filtered down to the younger children.
I have less information about what secondary school children wore to school. Boys began secondary school at fairly young ages, about 11. Thus it is possible that some of the younger boys wore smocks in there first year of secondary school. I do not know if secondary schools had any requirement on wearing smocks or other clothing styles. I do not believe that state secondary schools required uniforms.
Figure 3.--Some Belgian Catholic secondary schools had uniforms consisting of blue sweaters, short pants, and white kneesocks, similar to uniforms worn in France. |
The Belgian Catholic schools are not really private schools in the Anglo-American sense of being entirely apartfrom the state-controlled system. they are very largely paid for by the State though there may be some small feescharged to the parents. Most of the curriculum and what now is pretty much controlled by the State like all theother schools. It's just that they have a strong religious dimension (with priests often providing thepastoral/counselling side of school life, which would be unthinkable in the ordinary state schools). The Catholic schools also had muchstricter discipline standards. In the past, te Catholic schools also required uniforms while the state schools did not, other than smocks in elementary schools. Currently the Catholic schools have generally relacced uniform standards, especially reqquiring short pants.
Both Belgium and France are of course are 98 percent nominally
Roman Catholic, but the
question of control of education by the Church has been a major
political issue in the past and was largely resolved
in the 1950s and 1960s by the present compromise under which the church
schools are largely funded by government.
There is a partial parallel with the so-called "voluntary aided" sector in the United Kingdom, like the grammar schools many academically capable British boys once attended. Some of these schools still exist, but the "11+ exams" to select the most capable students. These schools are now entirely funded by the local education authority but retainiedng some degree of autonomyover its internal affairs (but in that case an ancient Anglican foundation).
I have little information on uniforms instituted at catholic elementary schools. Apparently there were no elementary school uniforms as in British schools, but many Catloic schools required the students to wear smocks.
Many Cattholic secondary schools also did not require uniforms. Several Catholic
secondary schools during the1950s-70s had uniforms of sweaters, short pants, and white knee socks. The shorts and white knee socks, however, became less common in the 1980s. Although several schools retained them for the choristers.
I have no infornation on private schools. Most French private schools were Cathloic schools. The extent of secular private education in Belgium is unavailable. In France and Belgium I have never heard of any "private" schools that aren't Catholic schools, except here in Brussels there are one or two "international" schools for kids of expatriats etc. which are outside the Belgian system.
We do not yet have much information on individual Belgian schools. We do note the
Institut Saint-Boniface-Parnasse is a school in Ixelles. We do not know a great deal about the school, but know that it was founded in the 19th century. Hopefully our Belgian readers will provide us some information about individual scools.
Figure 4.--In this film, boys at this Catholic Belgian school all wear grey shirts, short pants, and smocks. I am not sure how common this was at Belgian schools. |
HBC has little information on actual regulations concerning clothing at Belgian scgools. We believe that smocks were required schoolwear in the late 19th century, but in fact have little information to confirm this. Belgian school children for the most part did not wear actual school uniforms. We note some schools portraits, however, in the 1920s and 30s which suggest that there were some requirements, perhaps more commonly at private than state schools. After World War II some private schools had uniforms, especially Cathloic schools. We are not sure just when these uniforms were instituted, but believe that it was after World War II. The earlist images we are note are from the 1950s, but it could be earlier. These uniforms varied. Some may have required smocks. There were various other uniforms. One of the most commom was blue shirts, blue sweaters, blue short pants, and white kneesocks.
Belgian films look remarably similar to French ones. I do not know of
particularly classic Belgian films, but HBC correspondents have provided
some sample images. Belgians boys are often shown wearing short pants
and until the 1950s schoolboys are commonly seen in smocks. Berets are
also worn, presumably in the French speaking areas. Modern movies
show boys wearing the same pan-European styles.
The 1890s: A lycee
The 1950s-60s: A state elementary school and Catholic secondary day school
The 1960s: Catholic boarding school
The 1960s: Antwerp secondary school
The 1970s: British boy in Belgium
Related Links: Careful this will exit you from the Boys' Historical Clothing web site, but both sites are highly recommended .
Boys' Preparatory Schools: A lovely photographic essay on British Preparatory Schools during the 1980s with over 200 color and black and white photographs.
New Zealand Schools eBook: Apertures Press Digital eBook book on New Zealand schools available
British Preparatory Schools: Apertures Press Digital eBook on British Prepasratory Schools (Volume I) available
British Preparatory Schools Apertures Press Digital eBook on British Prepasratory Schools (Volume II) in progress
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
