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We notice boys wearing quite a range of different headwear styles to school, both hats and caps. Hradually caps became more popular than hats, but both have been worn. Here we are primarily focusing on caps worn as part of uniforms, but many other headwear styles were worn to school by boys not wearing uniforms. This has varied from country to country and over time. England has had a particularly important impact on school headwear styles as well as other uniform styles. Here are some of the school uniform headwear styles for which we have developed information.
Some schools in the alte 20th century adoptedca related style--the American baseball cap. American boys wore baseball caps as part of casual dress. Some schools in Australia nd New Zealand adopted the vaseball cap as part of the school uniform, some wiyh sun protection alterations. This trend has been less common in England.
The boater is another school hat. It appeared in English schools in the 19th century, adapted from the Royal Navy. Boaters are still primarily associated with Eegland. It was a popular style at many English public schools. It was also worn at some grammar schools. Eventually girls began wearing it as well and today is more commonly worn by girls in England than boys. Schools in various English colonies (Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa) also adopted the boater. The boater is still worn at some schools, but mostly for special occassions. Many girls schools have adopted the boater in England so today it is more widely worn by girls than boys. We note boys at American orivate schools wearing boaters at the turn of the 20th century. We also notice the boater at some Japanese schools.
Berets were worn to school by both boys and girls, but this varied from country to country. Boys from quite a number of countries wore berets to school. They are of course most commonly associated with French boys. French boys commonly wore berets. The beret is traditionally associated with French schooboys and smocks. Actually it was not just schoolboys who wore berets. It was in the first half of the 20th Century the trademark of the working class and during World War II, the Resistance. The beret is now not commonly worn in France by boys or men. This was very common in the first half of the 20th century, but for some reason declined sharply after World war II (1939-45). We note that girls began wearing berets after the War. This may have been a factor. n We're not sure why. Belgian boys also wore berets, I think more in Walonia than Flanders. We do note Dutcg boys wearing them as well. Surprisingly, German boys wore them to school, mostly younger boys. Berets were also worn in Spain, but I think more in the Baque country and Catalonia than the rest of Spain. A few schools used them as part of uniforms. Here they were much more common at girls' than boy's schools. We note a number of English schools where the girls wore berets. English boys, unlike continental boys did not wear berets to school. The peaked school cap was almost universal. Many European boys wore berets to school, but not as part of a uniform. They were not very common in America. Some younger American boys wore berets, bit not to school. We rarely see American boys wearing berets to school. This was probably because so many girls wore them.
Belgian boys also wore a campaign styled cap was popular after World War II.
Many American boys wore flat caps to school in the early 20th century, but these were not a uniform cap. As the sailor suit was a popular style for schoolwear.
Many European boys in the late-19th and early-20 cenury wore peaked military caps. We have noted these caps especially in Germany, but they appaer to have been worn to a lesser extent in other European countries as well. There were several differnt styles. These were not part of uniforms, but rather worn with the boys ordinary clothes. Few German schools required actual uniforms. Sone boys even wore them with sailor suits. They were worn both as part of a standadized school uniform and as a style selected individually. We have also noted them worn with sailor suits. We have not noted them being worn in Europe after the 1920s. They are still widely worn in Japan, mostly by boys in secondary school. Before World War II primary school boys also wore these caps, but after the War they became mostly wore by boys in secondary schools.
The square academic cap has a variety of names. It is commonly called a mortarboard in the United States because it looks somewhat like the hawk used by bricklayers to hold their mortar. We don't know if this term is also used in Britain. We do note that the British sometimes use the term Oxford cap. Other terms include: square, trencher, or corner-cap. The motar board is an item of academic dress which consists of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel or liripipe, attached to the center. Traditionally the motarboard is black, but in the United States various colors are worn. The motar board is the tyoe of headwear referred to in the term "cap and gown". The origins of the motarboard are not fully understood. It may have had Roman origins. It almost certainly is related to the "biretta", a square-top cap worn by medieval Roman Catholic clergy. As early universities were founded by the Church and instructors were priests and other churchmen, these caps became seen as academic headwear long after the clergy no longer wore them.
We note both masters and students wearing motar boards in the 9th century at some English preparatory and public schools.
They were often worn with Eton collars, a popular school style for many decades. We no longer see them commonly worn at Englisg schools by the students, except at a few choir schools. Academics do wear them at formal occassions. They are also worn by university students for their graduation ceremony. This is very common in Britain and the United States and many other countries have adopted the convention. Caps and gowns are also used for American high school graduations. These caps and gowns are traditionally black, but some schools have adopted colored caps and downs. American universiies have developed an elaborate color scheme where the tassel reflects the subject in which the degree is earned.
The peaked school cap originated in England, but caps were worn in other countries as well. It was England, however, wear the cap reached almost universal status as a required part of any schoolboy's attire. Virtually all British schoolboys wore peaked caps through the 1950s. Both state and private schools required them. A great variety of colors, including circles and school crests decorated these caps which flooded British streets with boys going and coming to school. As the fashion of wearing caps and hats wained, school caps began to disappear in the 1960s. The cap came to be one of the unpopular items of school uniform. By the 1980s only a handful of private schools still required them. Some schools in the mid-1990s began adopting caps again out of concern for skin cancer. The caps being adopted are often styled like American baseball caps with larger brims than the traditional English peaked school cap.
Many boys in the late 19th and early 20th century wore sailor caps and hats, but again these were not part of a school uniform.
We notice younger boys in the late-19th and early 20th centuary wearing wide-brimmed hats to school. We do not norice this after World War II in the 1920s. One exception is Japan. We notice some Japanese schools includig these wide-brimmed hats as part of the school uniform.
Other
Quite a range of other styles have been worn to school. The styling of cold wear caps in particular has varied widely. Balaclavas have also been worm, but not as a uniform garment.
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