School Uniform:  French School Smocks--Age


Figure 1.--Here we see a French boy in 1955 wearing a school smock. Notice the collar treatment. He looks to be about 7 yeatrs old.  

The ages at which French boys wore smocks has varied over time. It has primarily been primary-age children that have worn smocks. HBC has noted, however, younger teenage boys wearing smocks in the late 19th and early 20th century. This may have been because the smocks were required in many schools. We are not sure just when school regulations changed, but by the 1920s, probably earlier, smocks were no longer required at most schools. Even so, most primary school boys wore them. Within the primary schools they were more common with the younger children. This was primarily the choice of the parents. Thus it up to the parents as to what age for which smocks were appropriate. Most mothers chose them for boys through 8 years of age and they were still quite common to age 10 years. After that the proprtion of boys wearing smocks began to decline as did the age of the boys wearing them. Age also affected the type and styling, although this varied over time. The -- the back buttonning smocks were for boy 4-8 years, sometime even for boys up to age 10 years. This sort of smock was called " tablier " Older boys wore smocks that were front buttonning. This sort of smock was called " blouse ".






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Created: 3:42 AM 4/4/2006
Last updated: 3:43 AM 4/4/2006