Figure 1.--This school portrait was tken in 1946. It is marked GGS. I'm not sure what the name of the school was, but it appears to be a grammar school. The school seems to have been a lot more strict about the girl's uniform than the boys' unifom. I wonder if War-time shortages or rationing was a factor here.

Few new trends appeared in the 1940s. World War II (1939-45) of course had a major impact. Rationing and the focus on the War precluded much attention to fashion. For the most part school uniform trends continued unchanged from the 1930s. Some English observers report that rationing regulations caused manufacturers to produce mostly short pants for boys, but I do not have details on this. Shorts continued to be long and baggy. Most primary school boys wore sut jackets and short pants to school, but few scools required uniforms. Primary boys often wore school sandals and usually kneesocks. Britain inituiated a new state secondary system in the 1940s. The younger boys going to these schools often wore short pants. I do not know if this was a requirement are simply what the boys wore. Schools that did have uniforms such as private schools and grammar schools had trouble maintaining uniform standards with rationing and shortages. There were also a lot of transfers because of the evacuations. Almost all children were back with their parents by 1945, but shortages and rationing continued.

Created: November 13, 2003
Last updated: November 13, 2003