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Russian elementary children used to wear distinctive uniforms, both before and after the Revolution. School uniforms for girls did not change greatly after the Revolution. Girls' uniforms consisted of a black dress with an Edwardian style pintafore white apron. Boys before the Revolution often wore a Russian revival style bloused tunic. Many schools during the Soviet era had military style uniforms. After the breakup of the Soviet Union children no longer wanted to wear the Soviet-era uniforms.
Russian elementary children used to wear distinctive uniforms, both before and after the Revolution. Only since the disolution of the Soviet Union in 1992 did Russian school children stop wearing uniforms. HBC has little information on school in Imperial Russia. Girls were less likely to attend school. For the most part it was middle-class boys attending school. Rich children were educated at hone. Peasant and working class children often did not attend school. Many boys had their heads shaved. Russian revival style bloused tunic or military-style uniforms were often worn to school. A Russian artist has left us a fascinating imge of a rural school about 1865. Girls began attending school in large numbers after the Revolution. I'm not sure what boys wore to school in the 1920s, but by the 1930s military-styled uniforms were common. There does not seem to have been a standard uniform worn country-wide. Schools in Moscow and Lenningrad seem to have had quite strict uniform standards. During the Stalinist era there was a formal school uniform. It was a milotary-looking uniform consisting of a peaked cap, tunic, wide belts, ans red scarf. Yonger boys might wear short pants, sometimes with over-the-knee stockings. This uniform persisted even after Stalin's death in 1953. Basic education in the Soviet Union had 10 grades. Children began at 7 years and graduated at 16. Girls in grades 1-8 wore a brown dress with a black pinafore style-apron in front. Another source says a dark-blue or black dress with an Edwardian style pintafore white apron. Apparently the dress colors varied somewhat. After the breakup of the Soviet Union children no longer wanted to wear the Soviet-era uniforms. A HBC reader reports, "Russian children no longer wear school uniforms. My children go in school in whatever they want. This seems to vary among schools. A 2000 internet report indicated, "There are different styles of clothes in our school. Younger children have to wear the uniform. They don't like it very much, but, honestly, we like their suits. We find them very pretty. Their uniform is not equal. In the 1st grade children wear the red uniform, in the 2nd grade they wear the blue one, in the 3rd grade the uniform is green. Thus, we can always understend, what grade is the pupil from.
We have only limited information on Russian school activities at this time, in part because we have relatively few images from Russian schools. We hope to gradually expand this section as we learn more about Russian schools. For the most part Russian schools activities are similar to those in other countries. We do note some destinctive activities. One is the First Day ceremony. Another is the military training during Soviet times. At some of these activities, Russian children appear to dress more formally than is common in Western countries, especially modern schools.
Boys and girls in Russia before the breakup of the Soviet Union used to wear distinctive uniforms. There were differences over time. We are unsure how boys and girls dressed in the early Soviet period. The girls in the 1960s commonly always wore dresses, often blue dresses. The younger girls wore pinafores. Soviet school girls never wore pants. Both boys and girls wore military-styled uniform. The style varied from school to school and over time. The boys and girls uniforms looked quite similar, at least the tops. The most obvious difference was that the girls wore Peter Pan collars and the boys pointed collars. Uniforms appear to have declined or disappeared in modern Russian schools and now geans are common for both boys and girls. We have, however, few details at this time.
We have very limited information on levels in Russian education. We notice kindegardens as part the Soviet system. We are not sure when they were introduced. The state system was divided into both primary and secondary sections. During the Tzarist era many working-class children and former serfs did nt complete primary studies. secondary education was very limited. Until the Revolution, working-class children had very limited access to education. The Sovit state significantly expanded the average Soviet citizen's access to education. Children from families of the former privlidged class were restricted in their access to higher education. Political reliability was an important factor in gaining acceptance to the university. We have little information at this time on post-Soviet Russia.
The school uniforms worn by Russian boys have changed over time, but until the disolution of the Soviet Union in 1992, nostly consisted of military-styled garments. This included both the Tzarist and Soviet periods. Boys wore both peaked military caps and campaign caps. I'm not sure if they had a dress cap or wore the same cap year round. I'm less sure about the caps or hats worn by the girls. A jacket or military blouse buttoned to the collar. Some boys wore white shirts. One style was towear the collar outside the jacket. Russian boys normally wear long pants to school.
There are some interesting aspects to the hair styles worn by Russian school children over time. The most notable aspect is that many if not most Russian school children during the late 19th and early 20th century had close cropped hair. I'm less sure of the primary schools, but certainly it was the case of the secondary schools. This appears to have been the case in the early Soviet schools as well. During the later Soviet period you no longer see close-cropped hair, but long hair was not permitted. In modern Russia one normally see boys with short, but not short-cropped hair. We know less about girls' hair styles, but do note the very destinctive large white hair bows they wore during the Soviet era. These bows are still seen for ceremomial occassions.
Tere are several special days at Russian schools. The first day of school was a major event in the old Soviet Union and comtinues to be so today. One traveler reported in on September 1, 2000, "Children!" they were children. Literally hundreds, and carrying bundles of flowers. Little girls dressed in black dresses and white tights, white frilly decorations rising 30cm from their heads, plaits shiny and neat. Boys no higher than my hips in ties and bow ties, hair wet, slicked back so that their fresh young scalps were visible. Hair even cut." In Soviet days the boys would have been wearing brand new miklitary-styled uniforms. Another special day is "Prazdnik Bukvarya" (a celebracion of ABC-book). This day is celebrates the pupils in 1st grade/form (6 or 7 years old) successfully completing their ABCs. This is done in the first oyear of the 4year primary (elementary) school program. The celebration usually occurs at the end of winter. In 3-year primary schools at the end of autumn. For the celebration each child is assigned a letter.
The Army, trade unions, manufacturers, mines, and others sponsored sports clubs. I'm not sure what the practice is since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There were hundreds of these clubs located throughout the Soviet Union. The largest and most prestigious of these clubs was the Central Red Army Club (CSKA). Many were professionally run with excellent instructors and exyensive facilities. They turned out superb atheletes and wre one of thge principal reasons why the Soviets did so well at the Olympics. One reasons that the clubs were so effective is that they identified young children at an early age, as young as 5 years, and taught them sound fundamentals and helped them reach fully achieve their potentials. The tryouts were open to anyone. A child's parents did not have to have to have an affiliation with the sponsoring organization. If excepted, a child had access to the facilities and training at no cost as well as admission to a sports school with better facilities than most other schools. It was a great honor to be accepted in tghese sports clubs and opened up many privliges and opportunities for foreign travel if the child achieveded success as an athelete. There was a similar system for ballet dancers and perhaps for other artistic endeavors, but I do not yet have information on this.
The Soviet Union had a military program for school children. Unlike the cadet programs in England and America, it was not optional. The Soviet program did not
have mandatory uniforms. It was discontinued upon the disolution of the Soviet Union, but Acting-President Putin's Governent in 2000 is reinstituting it.
It is the students, of course, that normally wore school uniforms. In a few countries the teachers also wore uniforms. We have few details, but one 1914 Russian portrait suggests that the teachers in Tsarist Russia also wore school uniforms. We are not sure when this practice began. Presumably it continued until the Russian Revolution in 1917. After the Revolution, I'm not sure how teachers dressed.
We hope to add information about individual Russian schools here. At this time we have very little information. Hopefully our Russian readers will provide us some information about their schools. This is a valuable section in our effort to better understand Russian education.
An important topic which neededs to be addressed is eduactional philiosphy. We have not yet begun to look at the topic in detail, but have some thoughts on Soviet efforts to identify and train talented children, often at a very young age.
Related Links: Careful this will exit you from the Boys' Historical Clothing web site, but these sites are highly recommended
Apertures Press New Zealand book: New book on New Zealand available
School Uniform Web Site: Informative review of British school uniforms with some excellent photographs
Boys' Preparatory SchoolsLovely photographic essay of British preparatory schools during the 1980s
containing over 200 color and black and white photographs.
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