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The British school uniform as we now know it became widely worn in the 1920s as soft collars and ties replaced Eton collars. These basic styles have been little changed since the 1920s. The styles were primarily set at the prestigious public schools and followed at state schools. Primary schools did not require uniforms, but clothing styles were strongly affected by hat was being worn at Public and prepartory schools. Boys at state primary schools began wearing the closed-toe sandals to school that had become popular after World War I. State secondary schools were still relatively limited until after World War I. Many of the schools that did exist began requiring uniforms, usually following styles adopted at the public schools.
English school uniforms and dress evolved after World War I (1914-18) away from a man's formal clothing - black coat, grey or striped trousers, stiff white collar, and black tie. The formal uniform at Eton and other public schools like Harrow was very influential in setting standards. A British reader maintains that "the evolution after the war was driven by the appreciation of the importance of physical health, and of sporting activities as a means of achieving it. (Public opinion had been shocked during the War by the lack of physical fitness of the young men who were serving in the army, and in the 1920s there was an upsurge of attention to sport as encouraging both physical health and qualities of teamwork and leadership. The philosophy has been referred to as 'muscular Christianity'.)" HBC does not disagree with this although both health concerns and "Muscular Christianity" pre-date World War I. The health of men enlisting in the Bohr War shocked many. We believe that in addition to what our reader describes is that the war undemined the old ruling class and the standards associated with them. Rgis included very formal dress standards. There was a virtual fashion revolution after the War. School uniform was one part of this. The basic shift was away from formal clothing and toward more informal, sporty styles. Attention to sporting activities encouraged the notion of "teams" and the idea of wearing distinctive coloured clothing spread in the 1930s into the wearing of a blazer - a lighter and freer form of the former coat - and the use of school colours. Blazers were not new - the idea is supposed to have originated in the Royal Navy about the time of Trafalgar - and had earlier been an informal coat to be worn when attending social sporting meetings - there are famous paintings of Henley (rowing) regatta showing blazers. The adoption of school colours implied adoption of a uniform - this had previously been resisted by the wealthy because children in orphanages wore uniform clothing. The trend increased towards practicality, ease of washing (necessary as boys were being more exposed to outdoor situations), and freedom of movement, and as the 1930's wore on, school uniforms reached their zenith, consisting of blazer and flannel trousers, shirt with an attached collar, tie and cap. The blazer might be grey, or in more or less elaborate school colours, or grey with a colored edging. The cap and tie would certainly be in the school colours. Younger boys wore short trousers, although the sporting and freedom of movement philosophy moved some schools to insist on shorts for all their boys. The school shirts were grey with a semi-soft collar for the younger boys. The standard outerwear was a navy gabardine raincoat, double breasted and belted.
Here you can view English school uniform trends decade by decade during the inter-War era. There was a high degree of similarity throughout the inter-War era in school outfits. This was especially the case in the private schools. It is somewhat less true in the state primry schools as they dd not have uniforms. Thus schoolwear was a matter of overall fashion trends. But even here there were a substantual degree of similarity. It is easy to tell the difference between the 1920s nd 40s, but the period in between is more difficult. And unfortunately while we are archived quite a numbr of school portraits, many are undated. We can roughly date the images, but those at the decade changes (late-20s/early-30s and late-30s/early-40s are very difficult to date with any certainty. So what we are going to do is make our best effort at dating. And the allows readers to agree or disagree. We can easily change the date assessment as appropriate. Actually as we will point out fashion changes in the caption, this will help develop the chronological indicators. As we add actual dated impages, this will help with the dating. There are several useful garmebt indicators, but none are fool proof. Collars are useful. We still see Eton collars in the 20s, but they were much less common in the 30s. Double-breasted jackets were still popular in the 20s, but by the 30s, single breasted jackets were becoming standard. Another very help indicator are the shoes. High-top shoes wre very common in the 20s, but sandals and low-top shoes were more common in the 30s. We notice both open collars nd ties, but re not yet sure about the chronology. Some schools may have had seasonal rules. And at state schools it was up to the parents. We hope to develop other indicator as we develop this section. Now they are not absolute indicators, but they do suggest probability, especially is multiple indicators are present. If differing indicators are found we are probably close to decade changes.
The British state education system was mostly primary schools In the inter-War period (1920s-30s). The primary system was an 8-year program, menaning childen 6-14 years of age. Part of the system included state supported Angican and Catholic schools. Most English children finished their education when they completed the 8th year. There wrre secondary schools, but only a small portion of the children attended. At the time the tripartite system existed to streaming children of varued acafemic ability into different schools suitable for their abilities. Three were three types of state secondaries. Grammar schools were for the academically talted children ro prepare then for possible university entrance. We are not sure how that was assessed. Later the 11-plus exam was itroduced to assess academic talent (1944). Central schools provided artisan and trade training, as well as homemaking skills for the girls. Girls at the time were not expected to pursue careers. Secondary schools provided a basic secondary education, but without the intention of university entrance. The English at the end of World War II made major changes in the secondary school. The introduced the secondary modern school which tool pupils who did not do well on failed the 11-plus examination. They concentrated on practical and vocational rather than academic subjects. Rhere were also private schools. Preapratory schools covered the primary years. Most were noarding schools to preare the children for the public schools. There were also private secondary schools. There were private day schools, both private and secondary. The best known were private schools were the elote boarding chools--the public schools.
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