Figure 1.--Most prep schools with short trouser uniforms used grey Terelyn shorts with various stylistic variations. Only a few schools by the 1980s, like the one here, still had flannel shorts. The boys at this school wore blue cotton shorts during the spring term.. |
The material used for school shorts has varied over time as has the popularity os shorts as school wear. The popularity of school shorts began to change in the 1970s as fewer British boys wore shorts, especially during the winter. British school horts were at first mostly flannel, but by the 1960s Terrelyn became more common as less ironing was required. We noticed very few schools in the 1980s that still had flannel shorts. Terelyn worsted was by far the most common material we noted at the schools we visited. Almost all Terelyn shorts were grey, but a few schools had navy blue Terelyn. The Terelyn shorts became very popular as they were much easier to maintain than flmannel. They retained a smsart appearance even after several days wear. In particular they retained sharp creases without constant ironing. Several schools had uniforms with cord shorts, especially as the every-day working uniform. These cord shorts were done in various colors, but grey was by far the most common.
British school shorts were at first mostly flannel. Flaqnnel was widely used for other schools clothes as well, including caps and blazers. Flannel was very common during the 19th and early 20th century. This changed with the appearance of Terrylm worsted. Flannel had the disadvantage of not holding a crease well and thus needed to be ironed, unlike Terryln. This flannel shorts for school uniforms have significantly declined. We noticed only a few schools in the 1980s that still had flannel shorts. In contrast we did not notice any schools will grey flannel long trousers. Cricket whites, however were still commonly done in flannel. Here I think this was mostly long trousers. I'm less sire about white shorts.
Terrelyn worsted by the 1960s became very common for school shorts. One of the reasons was that less ironing was required. Terelyn worsted was by far the most common material we noted at the schools we visited. Almost all Terelyn shorts were grey, but a few schools had navy blue Terelyn. The Terelyn shorts became very popular as they were much easier to maintain than flmannel. They retained a smsart appearance even after several days wear. In particular they retained sharp creases without constant ironing.
Several schools had uniforms with cord shorts, especially as the every-day working uniform. We are not sure about the chronlogy of cord shorts, but we notice them after World war II. They seemed to have been very popular in the 1950s and 60s. They were chosen because of their hard wearing characteristics and easy care. Cord shorts were also popular for casual wear in the 1950s. There were still several schools that had cord short uniforms in the 1980s, but few bous by then were wearing them as casual wear.. A few of these schools also had cord lumner jackets to go with them. At some schools they were called jerkins. These cord shorts were done in various colors, but grey was by far the most common. A few schools in the 1980s also had cord long pants. This varied from school to school, at some schools long or short cord pants were optional. There was one school which allowed the girls to wear cord long triysers during the Winter. Theu could not, howevr wear cord shorts.
Some schools had cotton shorts for seasonal wear. They had more formal shorts in heavier material for the most of the year, but then switched to cotton shorts for the warm weaher.
