Figure 1.--Some schools allowed the children to change into their own clothes after games in the afternoon. Other schools insisted the children wear the uniforms in the evening as well. |
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The various Beitish prep schools had a wide range of rules which varied greatly from school to school. There were a variety of rules about different aspects of wearing the uniforms. The rules varied from school to school, but there was a lot of similarity.
The unifirm rules concerned the different garments, how they were worn, and where they were worn. Here there was considerable variation from school to school. There were a variety of rules about specific garments. There were some rules about wearing the uniform or how the unifrm was worn. There were often rules about the uniform depending on where the children were.
There were a variety of rules concerning specific garments. This varied considerably depending on the specific school uniform. Formerly boys were expected to tip their caps, but by the 1980s, caps were much less common than they had been formerly. And this convention largely had disappeared. There were rules about when ties were worn. Generally there were no rules about sweaters as long as the regulation sweaters were worn. The boys could wear them or not wear them depending on their peronal preferences. The children could decide themselves when to wear them and take them off. Many schools had grey or other colored shirts. These wre standard every day school wear. Usually on formal occassions they put on white shirts. Some schools had polo shits wthout ties during the summer and re=gular grey collared shirts with ties for the summer months. Blazers were no longer commonly worn at many boarding schools. Commonly the days boys were required to wear them coming to school in the morning. But normally they took them offan hung them up until ready to go home at the end of the day. This was often a school rule to make sure the boys did not mess up their blazers. Then they put their blazers back on for the trip home. Day schools wreoften different hre. Often the boys were allowed to wear their blazers during the day. Many schools had rules about trousers, especially for the schools with short pants unifrm, when boys could begin to wear long pants. This was usually done bu age, but afew schools did it by forms. Atsome schools only the prefects were allowedto wear short pants. Many schools had seasonal rules about hosiery, especially wearing ankle socks during the Summer. Schools had a variety of rules about footwear. Some schools insisted on specific styles such as sandals, although often they were not real specic about the style otherthan closed toe or Roma style or color--usually brown. Other schools allowed more choice as to footwear. Many schools had seasonal rules about shoe and socks.
There were some rules about wearing the uniform or how the uniform was worn. Some items were affected more than others. Some items were optional. The major item here was the jumper or sweater. Most items were manditory.
Once there were rather strict rules about how caps were worn. The cap was once a very importat part of the school uniform. Schools also had rules such as tipping the cap to the masters and adults associated with the school. Caps were once very common, but came to be generally less popular and many schools began dropping them as a require uniform item. As as caps became less common these rules became less important.
Schools often had rules about ties which are still quite common at many prep schools. Most schools had strict rules about the boys loosening their ties or unbuttoning their collars. This was considered slovenly. Here the rules included both during class as well as after class when the children had free time. Interestingly we did not often see the children loosening their ties, even after classes when they were playing dyring their free time. Here I think that this was probably because they are so accustomed to wearing ties that they don't give a lot of thought to it.
Schools also expected that boys keep their kneesocks pulled up. Here unlike the ties, often we did see the childre, especially the boys, with their knee socks falling down. The enforcement enforcement of these rules varied widely from school to school.
Prep schools often had rules about the uniform depending on where the children were. Almost all schools tended to insist that the children wear the complete uniform when traveling to the school. This meant the day children each morning and the boarders at the beginning of each term. The idea was that the children were in effect walking advertisements for the school. The idea was that smartly uniformed students were an indicator of a well run prep school. I'm not sure how much this influenced people, but suspect that it did have some impact.This of course also meant the day children when going home at the ebd of the day. Here the schools were often less strict than in the morning as many children were going home after games. Many schools required the children to wear their uniformas all the time they were at school. Other schools allowed the children to change out of their uniforms after classes or for free time in the evening and on the weekends. All schools required the children to wear their uniforms when traveking to and from the school.
There were of course differences as to what was worn during the daily school schule. Here the primary differences were specialized classes (especially art and shop), morning break, and zfternoon games. Some schools had smocks or aprons for art and shop classess. More common was one of dad's old shirts. For morning break, especially on raindy days, boys commonly put on sneakers. The conventions for games was more varied. Often the children put on games clothes which might include PE uniforms and sneakers or games shoes. This varied a good deal. We notice boys wearing their classroom uniforms for games as well. We are not entirely sure just what the rules were. There appear to be variation as to the weather and day of the week. More time was devoted to games on some day than others.
