Figure 1.--These 12 year old English boys wear their grammar school uniform. This is Form 2 and is the boys' second year at the school. The photograph was taken at the beginning of the year in Setember 1953.
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Figure 1.--These 12 year old English boys wear their grammar school uniform. This is Form 2 and is the boys' second year at the school. The photograph was taken at the beginning of the year in Setember 1953. |
English grammar schools in the 1950s tended to have formal school uniforms. Photographs show, however, some variations in the style of blazer, kneesocks, and shoes. This may reflect to some degree the difficult economic conditions. Grammar school boys were generally middle-class boys who parents couldn't aford the fees at a private school. Photographs from the early 1950s show all the junior boys, the Form 1 and 2 boys wearing short trousers and kneesocks. In 1953, for example, there were no exceptions for the taller boys as was the case by the 1960s. Older boys could wear long trousers, but a few still wore shorts.
This photograph was taken in September 1953. This was the beginning of the school year. Many of the boys would have been taken to the school outfitter in July and August to boy their school kit. Some of the items like the blazer they could wear from the previous year.
Although World War II ended in 1945, the English economy was devestated by the war. Clothes rationing continued into the 1950s. This may be why you seem some variations among the boys, such as a non-regulation double breasted blazer or a boy wearing dark kneesocks rather than the regulation grey school stocks. Grammar school boys were generally middle-class boys who parents couldn't aford the fees at a private school.
Figure 2.--The Form 2 boys mostly wear the regulation school kneesocks with the school colors in the top band. Note the boy on the left has darker socks with a different top color pattern. (Note the cental band is dark not light. Also notice the same boy wears a jumper, with colored neck trim, under his blazer. |
Forms are the terms the British use to designate school classes. It generally is a term used in secondary rather than in primary schools. Preparatorty schools (private elementary schools), however, do use the same terms. Thus the form level can be used to desinate chidren at various age and academic levels--depernding on the school.
Form 1 is the entry year for boys beginning secondary school. They would be boys 11 years old at the breginning of the school year. Boys at private schools generally remained in an elementary level school (prep school) at this age, but in the state system they begin secondary school. At a grammar school these boys are academically capable (or clever as te British say) who did well on their 11-plus exam in primary school. At the Harrow County School, the new boys were required to wear short pants and kneesocks. The images here are all Form 2 boys, but presumbly there would not have been any difference with what the Form 1 boys wore. The ne exception might have been that more Form 1 boys may have worn sandals.
Boys in their second year were mostly 12-years old at the beginning of the school year. Like the Form 1 boys, they were required to wear short trousers. There does not appear to have been any difference in the uniforms worn by the Form 1 and 2 boys. Boys in the rivate system at this level were also still at their prep schools rather than in a secondary school.
Boys beginning in Form 3 at 13 years of age were allowed to wear long trousers. Most did so. But a few Form 3 boys might alo wear short trousers. A few such boys might have preferred shorts, more likely it was their parents. In some instances in may have been a financial matter. Mothers may have decided that the short trousers worn in Form 2 were still good. Boys at this age in the private sector entered their public schools.
English grammar schools in the 1950s tended to have formal school uniforms. The boys at the Harrow County School wore green caps, blazer, tie, an optional jumper, short or long trousers, kneesocks (if wearing shorts), and school sandals or lace up shoes. Photographs show, however, some variations in the style of blazer, kneesocks, and shoes. This may reflect to some degree the difficult economic condtions.
HBC is unsureas to just how common it was for these boys to wear short pants at home. We believe that it was at about 12 or 13 years of age that English boys in the early 1950s began wearing long trousers. Unlike the situation today, short trousers were not sasonal warm-weather wear. Rather boys wore shorts and older boys and men wore longs. English boys at the time wore short trousers all year round--even in the winter. Thus once a boy got long trousers, he would wear them all the time and not wear commonly shorts--except perhaps for Scouts.
Figure 3.--All the boys wear green blazers with the school creast. One boy wore a double-breasted blazer rather than the official single-breasted blazer. Notice the one boy with a badge on his lapel. Some boys in the other pictures also have them. I'm not sure what they represent. |
The older boys at the school had some special differences in their uniform to destinguish them from the younger boys. The differences were the older boys could wear special colored ribbon trim on the sleeves of their blazers. The upper sixth may have had a special black blazer. Few of the older boys would have worn short trousers.
HBC has few first hand accounts indicating what the boys thought about their school unifornm. The two most unpopular items apperar to have been the school caps. This seems to be the case because boys by the 1950s would take off their caps as soon as they were away from school. They would in fact only wear their caps hen at school. Boys by the 1950s never seem to wear such caps unless required to by a school. The other unpopular item seems to be the shoft trousers. We know that shorts were nt very popular because with a few exceptions, the only boys that wore shorts were the juniior boys that were reqwuired to wear them.
Some information can be observed concerning the uniform that the boys were wearing in these photographs.
The boys of course are not wearing their caps in the pohotograph. Caps at the school, however, were worn COMPULSORILY for the first 4 years, outside of school--until about 1968. Although some boys would take them off when out of sight of the school, you were punished if caught.
The school had a green blazer which all boys had to wear. The uniform blazer was a single breasted one. As boys were unlikely to own a green blazer before, virtually all wear the same style of single breasted blazer which was bought from the school outfitters. One boy, however, wear a double breasted blazer that was obvtained elsewhere. Apparently the school had no objection to this.
A few boys wear grey jumpers, pullover sweaters, with colored trim at the neck.
All of the boys wear the proper school stripped tie.
Figure 4.--The boy in the middle appears to be wearing a rather worn pair of sandals. The boy on the left also seems to be wearing sandals, although the image is unclear. Both boys, however, are wearing the regulation school kneesocks. Also notice how long and baggy they were. The boy on the left is a good example of a pupil wearing long baggy shorts. Also note the form master's academic gown. |
All of the second form boys at Harrow wear short trousers. It was a requirement that boys wear shorts during their first two years. Afterwards shorts were optional. Most boys, but not all, chose to wear long pants beginning in the third form. HBC has no other photographs to show what boys in other forms were wearing. Photographs from other years, however, show that a few boys in the older forms did wear shorts. HBC does not, however, know why they chose to do so when almost all of their mates chose to wear long trousers.
Most English schools adopted grey shorts for the school uniform. Many of these boys, however wear shorts that are very light colored. Certainly lighter than Harrow boys were wearing a few years later. HBC is not sure just what color and type of shorts the boys are wearing. Some of them certainly are long and baggy. Those boys would be right in style in the 1990s.
The Harrow County School in 1953 had grey kneesocks with clored bands, one light colored cebtal band bordered by two thiner dark bands. One source suggests that the colors are blue and green. The central band, however, is a very light color. Almost all the boys wear the school socks. There are, however, a few exceptions. Apparently the school did not struictly enforce the uniform code when it came to kneesocks. Presumably if these non-regulation kneesocks were allowed for the school picture, they would be allowed during the regular school day. HBC was not sure just when schools began adopting kneesocks with top colored trim. Clearly the fashion was well established by 1953. At the Harrow Countuy School boys had to wear kneesocks, but the sSchool was flexible as to the color and top band colors.
Most of the boys wear black lace-up oxford-style shoes. A few bous wear school sandals. Clearly 12-year old boys are still commonly wearing school sandals. Notably in the 1960s none of the junionr boys are wearing school sandals. They had clearly become a style only worn in primary school or boys in preparatorty schools. However in 1953 it seems acceptable for junior boys in secondary school to wear sandals.
One interesting aspect of this view of the Harrow County School is the form master's clothes. Note how he wears an academic gown. Grammar schools often followed the example of the public schools. It is likely, for examlple, that masters at the famed Harrow Public School also wore such gowns. They were less common in secondary modern schools and generally disappeared in the 1960s. Also note his trousers--it almost looks like he is wearing bell-bottoms.
Figure 5.--These two boys wear the regulation uniform, including the proper kneesocks with bklack lace up shoes. Notice, however, how light the short trousers are on the boy on the light. Judging the colors in blackmand white photographs is virtually impossible. But if these are grey shorts, theybare a very light grey. |
As was the case of many grammar schools, it is apparent from these photographs that the school very strictly enforced the rules on uniforms. Such observations and cmments from old boys provide an insight into the fllowing rules. Each of the boys is carefully togged out in the uniform. Not one boy has turned up without the blazer or tie. There are some aspects, however, that the school does not appear to have been strict about.
Caps: Boys in the firstvfour forms had to wear the sdchool cap.
Blazer: The boys had to wear green blazers. They all appear to be the same style, presumably because a boy was unlilely to have a green blazer before he became a student. Thus the school does not seen to have minded if the style was different. One boy wears a double breasted blazer and it seems fully acceptable
Short trousers: The junior boys in the first two forms had to wear short trousers. Shorts were optional for younger boys. The boys wear shorts of many different shades, but presumably all grey. There seems to have been no rule about the length of the shorts.
Knee socks: Socks with the school color were persceibedm, but the school appears tionahve acceopted viryally any color and toop color as long as the boys wore kneesocks. Boys in Form 2 wore both solid colored dark knee socks as well as grey kneesicks with different top colors
Shoes: Boys had to wear leather footwear, no sneakers could be worn to school. There was no color required. Boys wore both black oxfords and brown school sandals.
NBC has compiled informnation on school wear trends over time. Information on Harrow School provides an especially complelet look at these trends.
No information is available yet on the uniform worn by the Harrow boys in the 1940s.
An English HBC contributor reports that "... short trousers on English and European boys were such a given when I was a kid in the '50's. It seemed they all wore them until they were about 14 years old. American kids had mostly abandoned them by 7-8 years. So it surprises me to see that in 1961, only half the 11-12 year olds are in them. Changes must have been well under way even then." Images at Harrow show that all the first year boys wore shorts. There were no exceptions for the taller boys.
An English HBC contributor reports, "I know when I first moved to London in 1964 that the local catholic school had all the first year boys in short trousers. Almost all of the second year boys when shorts became optional chose long trousers. There may have been a few second year boys wearing shorts, almost certainly because their parents insisted, but there were not very many."
Figure 6.--All of these three boys wear school sandals. Note the difference in the kneesocks. One boy wears dark solid colored (ciolor unknown) kneesocks. Another boy wears kneesocks from a different chool with two solid colored bands instead of the Harrow school socks. |
A decade later the changes mentioned above can be clearly seen at the Harrow School. Almost all the boys were wearing long pants in 1972. At least one of the first year boys, however, was still wearing short pants.
A still unanswered question is whether selevtice education (like the grammar school) or comprehensives are more effectice. This debate is beyond the capabilities of HBC. One old boy, however, points out, "The group of boys in the 1962 photo grew up to include two
professors, a judge, several lawyers and an author of 18 books!"
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals