Figure 1.--This school photograph shows a London grammar school about 1975. This is a first year class. The boys wore grey kneesocks with the school color on top bands. The girls wore white kneesocks.
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Figure 1.--This school photograph shows a London grammar school about 1975. This is a first year class. The boys wore grey kneesocks with the school color on top bands. The girls wore white kneesocks. |
Boys wearing shorts generally wore grey knee socks, or turn-over-top socks as the British might say. We have noted one image of an English boyweaing red kneesocks, but believe that this was unusual. Almost all boys wore grey kneesocks of various shades. I am not sure why grey was so common. Probably like grey shirts and shorts, it was a color that did not show dirt and matched the grey shorts and shirts. While there was little differce in the color of the kneesocks worn by English boys, there was some differentiation in the turn-over-tops. Many schools employed stripes or band in the school colors. It was mostly private scholls that employed the school colors on the turn-over-top cuffs. British boys of any age never wore white socks with shorts, except for sports. English boys never wore white socks, except for cricket, as white socks, both ankle and knee socks, were generally worn by girls and thus seen as girls' socks.
English boys wearing short trousers generally wore grey knee socks, or turn-over-top socks as the British might say. We have noted one image of an English boy wearing red kneesocks, but believe that this was unusual and as it was an illustration perhaps fictitious. Almost all boys wore grey kneesocks, albeit of various shades. It is almost as if there was a national school uniform. No other school uniform garment was so structly chosen in a single color. Grey short trousers were very common, but there were some other colors. I am not sure why grey was so common. Probably like grey shirts and shorts, it was a color that did not show dirt and matched the grey shorts and shirts. Nor am I sure why there were no other colors worn. While there was little differce in the color of the kneesocks worn by English boys, there was some differentiation in the turn-over-tops. Some boys also wore ankle soks, almost always grey ankle scoks.
We note boys in the 1930s wearing grey kneesicks with patterned turn-over tops. This was not a unigorm item, but just a decorative type of hosiery that was available at the time. We no longer see them by the 1930s. Many schools employed stripes or band in the school colors on the turn-over-top cuff. It was mostly private scholls that employed the school colors on the turn-over-top cuffs, but some state schools had them as well. Thete was quite a range of different color combinations..
Boys at some schools in England may have worn colored kneesocks. I am not sure about this. I have never noted it, but it seems likely that they may have been some. Boys did wear colored soks for sports. In many cases these were striped socks.
British boys of any age never wore white socks with shorts, except for sports. English boys did wear white socks for cricket. Generally boys wore white flannel long pants for cricket. Some younger boys wore white shorts and white kneesocks. White socks were, however, very commonly wore white socks. Girls wore both white ankle socks and white kneesocks. At some schools girls wore grey kneesocks like the boy, but white socks seem to have been a much more common option.
