Figure 1.--Here we see an English boy playing the cello at school, we think in the 2000sd. The boy is dressed is the every day school top and short pants. The image is not real clear, but he looks to be wearing dark tights. We do not know how common this was. As far as weknow, tights were not very common for boys in England. Perhaps he was preparing for an upcoming concert which might also explain what look like patent leather shoes. We know that tights are often worn in Japan and Russia for children's concerts, but we have not seen this before in England.

Tights were also worn at British schools, although we do not have a lot of information about them. Tights began commercially available in rge late-1950s. We do not know when schools first began adding them to the uniform lists. We did not notice them very commonly at prep schools, but believe that they were more common at public schools and state secondary schools. We see girls at some schools wearing tights, often dark colors. They were most common during the winter. Tights do not seem to have been as common as we noted in America. We are not sure just why this was. Age and chronological factors were involved here. Older girls at some schools might wear them year round. A reader has sent a photograph of a boy in the school band wearing tights in the 2000s. As far as we know, this was relatively rare. A British reader writes, "This picture is most unusual for a U.K. school. If shown it and asked to guess the country, i would have said this was a Russian school. Most curious and unusual. A very brave boy!" Another reader writes, "I was a little surprised to see this. I have not noted English boys wearing tights before. A thought occurs to me. If the boy ordinarily wore short trousers, tights may have been mandated by his mother or the school to avoid the chafing of bare thighs when the cello was between his legs. Violinists often put a cloth between the violin and their chins for the same reason. So the choice of tights could have been a matter of practicality. But it is still quite unusual in England." Another reader writes, "I was surprised at this. It certainly looks as though he is wearing tights. He looks to be about 10 years old."

Created: 12:44 AM 1/8/2011
Last updated: 2:34 AM 1/9/2011