Figure 1.--This school photograph is unidentified, but was probably taken in the southern Ukraine at the end of the school year, probably in the late-1970s or early-80s. Because of the warm weather the boys are not wearing their jackets. In this class, all the girls except one wear the 'parade' school uniform (dark brown dress with a white pianfore), but one of them wears parade Young Pioneer uniform (white blouse and dark-blue skirt). A Russian reader tells us, "In Soviet schools, the children were usually were allowed to wear their Young Pioneer uniform instead of school uniform." Hair bows seem optional, but many girls wore them. especially in south regions, where the weather is usually warmer. School short pants were common for boys who lived in southern regions (Ukraine, Caucasus, and the Crimea), but less common in Russia. Long trousers of the standard school uniform were too warm, and teachers usually allowed boys to wear short pants to school. Notice one of the boys wears tights with his short pants. Most of the children wear sandals.

We note Soviet era girls wearing both both dresses and pinafores and blouses and skirts to school. Its a little difficult to describe the styling of the dresses as they are commonly covered by the pinafores. We see a few girls wearing blouses and shirts, but the dresses seem more common. The blouse and skirt was the Young Pioneer uniform. Girls were usually allowed to wear the YP uniform to school. They were worn without the pinadore. The YP was a school-based youth group. I'm not sure if any other dresses or colors were involved. The pinafores we had seen were primarily fancy white ones, but a Russian reqader has sent us images of black pinadores. We note girls of all ages wearing them, both in primary and secondary school. We notice many Soviet-era class photographs in which all or nearly all the girls wear pinafores. We notice differences in the styling, some were fancier than the others. The white ones seem to be fancy and many of the black ones as well. We are not sure if there were any differences as to wearing these pinafore for the difference age groups. The pinafores disappeared in the late-1980s, not because there was a change of regulations, but because large numbers of the older secondary school girls refused to wear them. We see girls wearing socks, stockings and tights with their school uniforms. White was very common.

Dresses

We note Soviet era girls wearing both both dresses and pinafores and blouses and skirts to school. Soviet girls were not allowed to wear pants to school. Its a little difficult to describe the styling of the dresses as they are commonly covered by the pinafores. Wevthought that the dresses were both blue and brown. A Russian reader tells us that they were brown. I'm not sure if any other dresses or colors were involved.

Blouses and Skirts

We see a few girls wearing blouses and shirts, but the dresses seem more common. The blouse and skirt was the Young Pioneer (YP) uniform. Girls were usually allowed to wear the YP uniform to school. They were worn without the pinadore. The YP was a school-based youth group.

Pinafores

The pinafores we have seen were primarily fancy white ones. Here is a good example (figure 1). We note girls of all ages wearing them, both in primary and secondary school. The pinafores we had seen were primarily fancy white ones, but a Russian reqader has sent us images of black pinadores. We note girls of all ages wearing them, both in primary and secondary school. We notice many Soviet-era class photographs in which all or nearly all the girls wear pinafores. We notice differences in the styling, some were fancier than the others. The white ones seem to be very fancy and many of the black ones as well. Apparently the girls were allowed a degree of individual difference in the pinafores. A Russian reader tell us that this was not the case. Apparently our limited archive of Soiviet images has mislead us. Our Russian reader tells us, "In Soviet schools and pioneer camps there were two types of school uniform and Young Pioneers uniform casual ("povsednevnaya forma") and parade ("paradnaya forma"). Parade meany formal or dress uniform. For parade uniform girls wore white pianfores (for casual - black ones). For parade uniform both boys and girls were required to wear white (only) shirts & blouses, socks, knee-socks, stockings or tights. For casual uniform children could use any color of shirts and blouses and hosiery." We are not sure if there were any differences as to wearing these pinafore for the difference age groups. The pinafores disappeared in the late-1980s, not because there was a change of regulations, but because large numbers of the older secondary school girls refused to wear them.

Hosiery

We see both boys and girls wearing socks, stockings and tights with their school uniforms. The only basic difference between boys and hirls was thast older boys did not wear tights and thst white was more common for the girls than the boys which can be seen in the phoyograph here (figure 1). White was very common among the girls and our Russian reader tells us was the color for the parade uniform.

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Created: 10:17 PM 8/16/2006
Last updated: 7:24 AM 3/17/2010