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We do not yet have any information on Italian school wear in the 19th century. This is complicated by he fact that Italy was not unified until the second half of the 19th century. Before that there there were different Italian states with important parts of the northeast still a part of the Italian Empire. We do not yet have information on education in those different polities. Even after unification, Italy did not have a a very well developed education system. Much of the working class did not attend any form of school And photography was not as well developed because much of the population were relatively low income which is why so many Italians emigrated, especially to the United States. Photography is important in assessing clothing and fashion because it is a readily available. It is especially important in our website. Also important in the prevalence of children going barefoot is Italy's warm climate. Because the Italian 19th century photographic record is rather sparse, we have difficulty assessing 19th century trends. We have not yet found 19th century school photographs. This is especially the case for footwear bcause it is the single most expensive garment. If working-class children did attend school in the 19th century, they would probably have come to school barefoot. We have much more information on the 20th century thanks to the far greater prevalence of photographic images. Especially important is the number of school photographs that we have found after the turn of the 20th century. And we see school attendance becoming prevalent even among working-class families. Most notable is the number of children who come to school barefoot. This was the case throughout the first half of the century. And reflected the endemic poverty in Italy, especially southern Italy. We also see children wearing sandals, especially inexpensive Roman sandals rather than English school sandals which are more like shoes. This did not change until after World War II when the Italian Economic Miracle began to transform the country (1950s). Also at this time we begin to see flip-flops, very inexpensive footwear. By the 1960s we begin to see far fewer children coming to school barefoot and the practice began to be seen as related to poverty.
We do not yet have any information on Italian school wear in the 19th century. This is complicated by he fact that Italy was not unified until the second half of the 19th century. Before that there there were different Italian states with important parts of the northeast still a part of the Italian Empire. We do not yet have information on education in those different polities. Even after unification, Italy did not have a a very well developed education system. Much of the working class did not attend any form of school And photography was not as well developed because much of the population were relatively low income which is why so many Italians emigrated, especially to the United States. Photography is important in assessing clothing and fashion because it is a readily available. It is especially important in our website. Also important in the prevalence of children going barefoot is Italy's warm climate. Because the Italian 19th century photographic record is rather sparse, we have difficulty assessing 19th century trends. We have not yet found 19th century school photographs. This is especially the case for footwear bcause it is the single most expensive garment. If working-class children did attend school in the 19th century, they would probably have come to school barefoot.
We have much more information on the 20th century thanks to the far greater prevalence of photographic images. Especially important is the number of school photographs that we have found after the turn of the 20th century. And we see school attendance becoming prevalent even among working-class families. Most notable is the number of children who come to school barefoot. This was the case throughout the first half of the century. And reflected the endemic poverty in Italy, especially southern Italy. We also see children wearing sandals, especially inexpensive Roman sandals rather than English school sandals which are more like shoes. This did not change until after World War II when the Italian Economic Miracle began to transform the country (1950s). Also at this time we begin to see flip-flops, very inexpensive footwear. By the 1960s we begin to see far fewer children coming to school barefoot and the practice began to be seen as related to poverty. Sandals and fip-flops were very common. While many children had some form of footwear, quite a few children did not wear some kind of hosiery.
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