Figure 1.--School uniforms following British styles had very destinctive uniforms for boys and girls like the students at this Australian school in the 1980s. The boys wore pants and the girls dresses, often gym frocks, or skirts. This is the convention in most schools that we know of with uniforms. |
Girls school uniforms vary arond the world. The most influential styles have been those developed in Britain. The school uniforms in many countries followed British styles had very destinctive uniforms for boys and girls. Many countries did not have uniforms. The children thus wear their own clothes to school. Other countries have destinctive uinforms, such as Russia during the Soviet era.
We have some information on America, England and Russian gender trends. We have only limited information on gender trends for most countries.
American children except at a few private schools did not wear school uniforms. Children wore their own clothes to school. many schools had dress codes, but not uniforms. I think the dress codes were a fairly recent innovation, but am not sure about that. Girls wore dresses throughout the 19th century. They also wore dresses in the 20th century. This did not begin to change until the 1960s. Parochial schools generally adopted uniforms after World War II. This was not common in public schools, but in the 1970s some urban schools began to adopt them. They have gradually become more common, although are not generally compulsory. They are normally worn in primary and middle schools, but not commonly in high schools. Styles tend to follow British school uniforms.
School uniforms following British styles had very destinctive uniforms for boys and girls. This was true both in Britain and in the Dominions like Australia. An example is the photo here at this Australian school in the 1980s (figure 1). The boys wore pants and the girls dresses, often gym frocks, or skirts. This is the convention in most schools that we know of with uniforms.
There are substantial similarities between boys and girls school uniforms in England. Girls have adopted many items worn by boys such as ties and blazers. We are not sure precisely why this was, but suspect it may be because there was a long tradition of boys' boarding schools in England before the first girls' school was opened. The girls' schools apparently followed the examples of the already prestigious boys' schools. Besides the blazers and ties, girls wore the same sweaters that boys wore. Girls wore different styles of headwear, including berets and brimmed hats. There were of course differences. Girls always wore different headwear than the boys. Also they wore skirts rather than trousers. Here many schools for some reason had blouses and skirts for cool weather wear and light-wight dresses for warm weather. With very few exceptions, English girls do not wear trousers to school. There are a few exceptions. We have noted a few coed prep schools where girls during the Winter were allowed to wear cord long trouswrs like the boys. During the Summer, however, they were not allowed to wear short trousers. A HBC reader writes us that "In The Daily Telegraph newspaper (June 22, 2005) today there is an article about Broadstone Middle School which has now banned girls from wearing skirts to "protect their modesty" during activity lessons such as drama and music; all girls must now wear full length trousers to all lessons, even during very hot weather!" There were also differences in hosiery. Some girls wore grey kneesocks, but white ankle and kneesocks were very common. Also footwear varied. Although both boys and girls wore school sandals, girls commonly wore strap shoes. There were also sturdy school oxfords, but they were styled somewhat differently than the boys' shoes. Hopefully some of our English readers will provide us some more information about girls' school uniform trends.
Both boys and girls in france wore school smocks. Styles and popularity varied over time. Some styles were worn by both boys and girls. Other styles were destinvily for boys or girls.
Children wore school uniforms, both in the Tsarist and Soviet era. Boys wore military-style uniforms, basically a cadey uniform. We note some differenmces from school to school. I'm not sure what girls wore in the Tsarist era, but girls' education was generally neglected in Tsarist Russia. After the Revolution, girl's education was significantly expanded. Boys uniforms contginued to be military uniforms, but more standardized than furing the Tsarist era. The girls wore blue dresses, often with white pinafores. White hair bows were also ciommon. These white pinafores and hair bows were especially common on special occassions, but we also see them on regular school days.
Some school uniform gsarments are worn by both boys and girls, such as weaters, ties, and blazers. Other garments are gender specific. There are destinctive headwear styles for boys and girls. The boys wore pants and the girls dresses, often gym frocks, or skirts. This is the convention in all schools that we know of with uniforms. The colors vary. Blue and gray are the most common. The girls dresses are both solid colors and patterns--almost always plaid. Many schools have the girls wear white socks, both ankle and knee length. Few schools use white socks for boys uniforms, although we note one school in Australia (Brisbane) where the boys wear white kneesocks. Some have shoe requirements such as strap shoes or sandals, but this varies. At non-uniform schools in recent years girls have begun wearing pants, both jeans and shorts. Some schools with unforms allow the girls to wear shorts and long pants, but this is not very common.
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