Figure 1.--This rural French school class was photographed in 1920. Notice that most of the boy wear smocks. One boy wears a suit and another a sailor suit. The boys wear solid color smocks, many black or dark blue, but there are anumber of lighter colors. Many girls wear patterened smocks.

French boys in the 1920s continued wearing many of the pre-World War I styles of school smocks. Black continued to be the dominate color for boys smocks, but we note that other commons are also common. As the photographs are black and white, we are not yet positive what the colors were. Boys still wear mostly solid colored smocks. Many smocks were back buttoning, but we note side buttoning smocks with buttons at the shoulders or side of the smock. with a waistband that tied with a bow in the back. Both boys and girls might wear the same style. HBC also notices some front and side buttoning smocks for boys. In the 1920s and early 1930s the back buttoning smocks were styled the same for both boys and girls. They had a waist band which was tied in a bow in the back. Thus many smocks were made to be worn by both boys and girls. We note newspaper ads that clearly specify smocks for girls. Some of these styles look reasonably new, but we are unsure to what extent there were such destinctive styles for girls in the 1910s. Most smocks appaer to be collarless. A few boys wore white collars with their smocks, but this doe not appear to have been common as it was in Italy. Perhaps some individual schools adopted this style. The style of boys wearing belts over their smocks do not appear to have been nearly as common as before the War. We do not yet have information on regional or demographic differences. The boys wearing smocks were the boys at primary schools. We note that they were more common for the younger boys, but older boys also wore them.

Styles

French boys in the 1920s continued wearing many of the pre-World War I styles of school smocks. Many smocks were back buttoning, but we note side buttoning smocks with buttons at the shoulders or side of the smock. HBC also notices some front and side buttoning smocks for boys. In the 1920s and early 1930s the back buttoning smocks were styled the same for both boys and girls. They had a waist band which was tied in a bow in the back.

Colors

Black continued to be the dominate color for boys smocks, but we note that other commons are also common. As the photographs are black and white, we are not yet positive what the colors were.

Patterns

Boys still wear mostly solid colored smocks.

Gender

Both boys and girls might wear the same style. Thus many smocks were made to be worn by both boys and girls. We note newspaper ads that clearly specify smocks for girls. Some of these styles look reasonably new, but we are unsure to what extent there were such destinctive styles for girls in the 1910s.

Collars

Most smocks appaer to be collarless. A few boys wore white collars with their smocks, but this doe not appear to have been common as it was in Italy. Perhaps some individual schools adopted this style.

Belts

The style of boys wearing belts over their smocks do not appear to have been nearly as common as before the War.

Regional and Demographic Differences

We have not yet developed information on regional or demographic differences. We do not yey know if they were more common in city or rural schools or if there were regions in France that they were very common. We see school photographs of children in both city and rural villages both wearing and not wearing smocks. Individual schools also bary. At some all or most of the children wear smocks and at others few or none of the children wear smocks. Thus we do not yet understand the regional or demographic patterns. There are quite a few images of schools in the 1920s archived on HBC. We need to link them here to show 1920s trends, one of the many projects on our list of projects. An example of Paris boys wearing school smocks is a photograph of two boys warching what looks like a group of American Boy Scouts in a Paris park, we believe in 1920. The boys are presumably on their way to or from school.

Ages

The boys wearing smocks were the boys at primary schools. We note that they were more common for the younger boys, but older boys also wore them. We do not think that boys entering secondary schools wore smocks, but our information on the 1920s is still sketchy so we are not yet sure of this.

Drawstrings

Most of our images of French schoolsmocks are front views. We know that for boys of school age by the 1950s, school smocks did not have back tieing bows, but rather a waist band that buttoned in the back. We do not know when this diferentiation began. We have seen 19th century images with boys smocks that tied in the back. We are not yet sure what the convention was for boys' smocks during the 1920s and the rest of the inter-war period. We believe that the 1920s and early 1930s the back buttoning smocks were styled the same for both boys and girls, but are still working on this subject. Here we are not talking about nursery schools. We have noted smocks for boys in nursery school even in the 1960s with back tieing bows. Rather what we are not yet sure about is how the back of school-age boys were secured on the 1920s.