Figure 1.-.

The truth is also that I was quite possesive and even "faddy" (as my Mum would have it) about what clothes I wore at that age. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had had to share my clothes with my brother who was less than a year older than me up until then.I think that I told you that when my Mum took me shopping for clothes for the German trip it was the first time that I had had clothes bought just for me (by Mum that is - Gran was a different matter and I still have to tell you about that). I suppose I carried that attitude over into Germany - even though I would have fitted in more with the German boys if I had have borrowed some of their clothes. Other times,like wearing my long school socks in Germany, I wanted to be different - or maybe just comfortable and in something familiar! Complicated isn't it? Anyway - that's how it is. You get used to the feel of your own clothes

Faddy Tastes

The truth is also that I was quite possesive and even "faddy" (as my Mum would have it) about what clothes I wore at that age. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had had to share my clothes with my brother who was less than a year older than me up until then. I think that I told you that when my Mum took me shopping for clothes for the German trip it was the first time that I had had clothes bought just for me (by Mum that is).

Gran's Selections

Gran was a different matter and I still have to tell you about that.

Germany

I suppose I carried that attitude over into Germany - even though I would have fitted in more with the German boys if I had have borrowed some of their clothes - and I'm sure that the German boy's Mother and his Dad (with that camera of his!) would have been delighted. Anyway - that's how it is. You get used to the feel of your own clothes. And any different ones always feel odd at first - and being in a foreign country (with very different clothes which lederhosen were to me - even they way you put them on (or that my friend's cousins Mum put them on me in this case ) made that feeling all the stronger. Other times,like wearing my long school socks in Germany,I wanted to be different - or maybe just comfortable and in something familiar! Complicated isn't it?

Other Shorts

Don't forget I could never remember even wearing strap shorts even if I probably had when very little and I hated too many bits and pieces like straps or belts when it came to getting dressed or undressed - why I didn't like the school shorts with the metal teeth like adjusters I mentioned or the belt that went with the hated check shorts.

Yorkshire Cousin

When I stayed with my cousin in Yorkshire I often wore his clothes, but I never really felt "at home" in them even after a few days. It wasn't so much the look (I forgot that once they were on) but the "feel".

School

The same was the case at school - when I had to wear a white shirt for a school trip I just didn't feel "me" and I have told you that even at secondary school I was often the only boy wearing a grey shirt but I didn't care what I looked like - as long as I felt comfortable. At primary school I wore my sandals for as long as Mum would let me - and again I didn't care what other boys said!

Check Shorts

It's a funnny thing and I have been thinking about it because it was not always about how things felt and regardless of how they looked. My check shorts could have been the most comfortable garments I had ever worn - and I'd still have hated them.The fact that they were uncomfortable as well as being horrible to look at made them doubly hateful.

Jeans

On the other hand I found wearing jeans (our cheap rough versions anyway) uncomfortable. They were my first long trousers. I wasn't all that interested in wearing them though as they were not very comfortable. I did want to wear them that time I told you about to the football match just to "fit in". So that was about the look.

Matching Outfits

Anyway I keep meaning to tell you of the one and only time that all three of us - my two brothers and me - were all dressed alike outside of the school uniform situation but I never know how to get into it because it involves the market, colours, visiting Mum's friends, trips out around London (Ruislip Lido) and loads of other things and you know how I can go on! - it will end up as a book.

Factors

It was just in thinking about what other readers say too. The personal experiences pages in the various country sections are quite interesting. I note that some of the boys in the English personal expeiences pages whom wore similar clothes to what I did. And that there are so many other factors involved in what you wore as a boy. Nationality is obvious - not all countries have school uniform. But even within a country (and I am best just sticking to England here) there is the make-up of the Family (whether you have brothers/sisters - a Mum and a Dad and grandparent's attitudes etc.). There are also regional differences within the country (I have told you that Yorkshire was "behind" London). There were even differences within a city - the new area of London that we moved to was different in what boys wore compared to where I lived until I was 11 years old. Then the type of school you go on to (my secondary school had more well-off boys) and so on and so on. I suppose that is why all accounts are so different (and religion/church-going or non going!) plays a part too. I went to Sunday School - my brother was in the cubs and scouts. What I was thinking of was that if someone had seen us when we were playing on the bombsite they would have thought that we were all paerfectly happy with what we were wearing - and we were. Some of us,like Michael, would be in jeans, I would be in my favourite green cords and others in old school shorts that they were wearing out. We normally had what shirts we wanted (no t-shirts for me!) and I would be in long socks despite my Mum wanting me in short socks for the Summer. But we all had things to put up with outside of that. We all accepted getting dressed up in school uniforms - and then we all had our individual crosses to bear. Some had to wear suits to visit relatives (or like Michael for Mass). I had my check shorts three times a year - but then Michael had his kilt every Saturday morning - and then again some boys were never even allowed proper playclothes at all and we never even saw them on the bombsite. They were always "smart" in school or out.

Bill