Figure 1.-- The portrait is interesting in that all the boys are wearing the same identical suits, or virtually all. There are a few obvious variations in the school cap. Few of the early prep school portraits we have seen show the boys so uniformily outfitted. All of the suits that the boys are wearing are the same color and most are the same double breasted style. We assume this is the headmaster picyured with them. The headboy is almost surely in this image. Can you spot him. |
The portrait is interesting in that all the boys are wearing the same identical suits, or virtually all. There are a few obvious variations in the school cap. Few of the early prep school portraits we have seen show the boys so uniformily outfitted. All of the suits that the boys are wearing are the same color and most are the same double breasted style with high cut lapels. I'm not sure what color it was, perhaps a light grey. They are all wearing identical Eton collrs. All the same size and perfetly starched. They obviously had instructions to put on brand new collars. There was probably a prefect assigned to be the collar monitor. They all seem to be wearing neckties, although that is difficult to make out. It looks like a stripped necktie. Neckties were just beginning to apper in the early 20th century. At some schools the Eton collar was worn without a necktie. All of the boys are wearing these stripped ties, except one. The boy in the solid color tie almost certainly is the head boy. There are some differences in the uniform. While most boys wear double breasted suits, some of the suits are single breasted. There are also differences in the lapels. Most boys wear dark caps with light-colored piping. A few boys have caps without the piping and a round badge. Presumably these are boys who have won win their "colors"--meaning that they have played on the school sports teams for a certain period of time. Also notable are the large trouser cuffs. Also all of the boys wear low-cut oxford shoes.
The portrait is interesting in that all the boys are wearing the same identical suits, or virtually all. There are a few obvious variations in the school cap. Few of the early prep school portraits we have seen show the boys so uniformily outfitted.
Several of the garments the boys are wearing are notable.
The peaked cap was almost universally worn by English school boys in the early 20th century. The design was basically the same, but there were dizzing variety of colors and designs. Primarily the color and design selected identified the school. But there were differences within school. At first glance the boys here all seem to be weaking dark caos with light-colored piping. A closer examinatioin leads us to a few boys who have caps without the piping and a round badge. Presumably these are boys who have won win their "colors"--meaning that they have played on the school sports teams for a certain period of time. A HBC reader believes that the boys with the solid-colored caps are the prefects, which is also quite likely. He writes, "There are two types of cap worn. The older boy's seem to have a badge on it. I suspect that these are the school prefects.
Eton collars in the late 18th and early 20th century were very common at prep schools and for the younger boys at public (private secondary) schools. They were also commonly worn at state schools. The boys at this school are all wearing identical Eton collrs. They are the classic Eton collar, which was a stiffly starched or celuloid material worn as a detachable collar to their shirt waists. Even the boy in the window dressed in a smock wears an Eton collar. All the Eton collars are the same size and perfetly starched. They obviously had instructions to put on brand new collars. There was probably a prefect assigned to be the collar monitor. The boys at this school wore their Eton collars with neckties. There was a wide variation at British schools as to whether to wear a tie or other neckwear with Eton collars. The boys here allwear neck ties. The neck tie at the time was a relatively new form of neckwear. Interestingly the boys at the school do not seem to be very skilled at tieing their necktie knots,
They all seem to be wearing neckties, although that is difficult to make out. It looks like a stripped necktie. Neckties were just beginning to appea in the early 20th century. At some schools the Eton collar was worn without a necktie. Almost all of the boys are wearing these stripped ties. We note, however, a few other ties. There is at least one solid color tie and a tie with very narrow white stripes. This is discussed on the headboy page. We note in particular that many boys have not pulled their toe knots tight up to their collars. By the 1920s this would have considered to be slovenly. At this school, no one seems to have made an issue of it. Which is interesting because in other aspects the headmaster here appears to have been quite strict about the uniform and how it was worn.
Nitice that the headmaster wears a floral buttonaire. It has become a convention in England for children and teachers to wear a poppy buttonaire to school on November 11 in honor of the fallen soldiers of World War I. Modern children wear fake poppies, but poppies nine the less. Poppies were chosen because they were so common in Flanders where many British soldiers died and where poppies grow among the toumbstones of military cemetaries. This portrait, however was taken before World War I, so the buttonairs are more of a fashion statement. Interestingly, a few of the boys also weat buttonaires. This is intersting because the fact that only a few boys have them, means that it was not a convention supported by the school. We doubt if many boys this age were all that concerned about having flowers in their bitton holes. At these prep schools, the boys came from families that were for the most part of comforatable circumstamnces. Some of the boys were quite wealthy. We suspect that the boys wiyth the buttonaires are from wealthy families. They were probably accustomed tom all kinds of refinements. I assume that knowing about the school portrait that they sent out for flowers. Perhaps some of our British readers may no more of just how and where the buttonaires were suggested.
All of the suits that the boys are wearing are the same color and most are the same double breasted style with high cut lapels. I'm not sure what color it was, perhaps a light grey. There are some differences in the uniform. While most boys wear double breasted suits, some of the suits are single breasted. There are also differences in the lapels.
The uniform at this prep school was long trouser suits. At the time, kneepants were commonly worn by English boys this age. The uniform at many public schools (private secondary schools) was commoknly knickers for the younger boys although long pants uniforms were common. The older boys at public schools at this time almost always wore long trousers. We do not have a lot of images of turn of the century prep schools, but the ones that we do have suggest that long trouserrs were not particularly common as a prep school uniform garmnt. Also notable are the very large trouser cuffs. I for get now what the English term is.
Also all of the boys wear low-cut oxford shoes. High top shoes at the turn of the century were much more common for boys.
English schools with uniforms are notable for making small or sometimes very significant differences in the uniform to reflect a boy's status in the school. One very common method of doing this was changing the school tie. There was a standard tie the school would use, but boys who gained their colors or wre appointed prefects might wear a differebt color tie. At this school, the cap seems to have been used more to identify these boys. There is, however, one boy with a different color tie--a solid rather than stripped yie. We had thought that the boy in the solid color tie to the headmaster's left was almost certainly the head boy. An English reader, however, writes, "The headboy would as like as not be next to the headmaster and I think he is the boy at the back on the head's right." While we were fairly sure the solid color tie identified the head boy, our English reader is correct that logically the head boy would have been placed to the headmaster's right. Another English reader writes, however, "I think the head-boy would also be standing beside the headmaster--I noticed two boys with dark ties in the photo, perhaps they were in mourning for someone." HBC detects one boy toward the right of the image in a prefects cap that looks to be wearing a solid colored tie. We are not convinced, however, that his tie is not tied so that the dark diagonals have come together so that it looks like a solid colored tie. Unlike the boy in the back row, only a small part of his tie is available. We do not yet see the third boy in a solid-colored tie. We do see a boy on the left side by the bush. He looks to be wearing a solid colored tie, but in fact there seem to be narrow white stripes in it. Also he does not have a prefects cap.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1890s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer]
[School sandals]