We do not have a lot ofinormation as to the headwear worn with school smocks. We believe a lot of boys did not wear headwear to school. French boys in the late-19th Century well into the 20th Century, as best we can tell if they wore headwear to school, often wore berets. Our information on the 19th century is limited, but we note quite another of examples in the World War I era. We do not see any other type of headwear commonly worn with the school smocks. Other headwear might be worn during the winter, but still we see berets. Stocking caps were also worn in the north. A schoolboy with a a smock and beret became a virtual symbol of French boyhood, like flat caps and kniclkers in America. While girls also wore smocks, they did not wear berets. Berets were a boys' garment. Berets were still commonly worn in the 1940s, but began to declime after World War II. We do not see many in the 1950s, especilly after mid-decade. We do not see boys earing them in a cocky way like the military and Scouts. Rather they were often pulled down a bit, rather like American girls wore tams in the early-20th century. We mostly see boys wearing dark blue or black smocks. Theywere made from felt material.
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