Figure 1.-- Here we see three unidenified English siblings in their back garden wearing their school uniforms. The snapshot is undated, but we think that it might have been taken in the late-1930s. They would have been attending vprivare schools, perhaps day schools.

Europe does not have a tradition of school uniform.. But that has varied from country to country and we see some uniforms. . England is the country best known for school uniform. although it is complicated. This meant uniforms at private schools beginning with the public (elite boarding) schools and grammar schools (16th century). Shie=rly after the Protestant Reformation we see the beginning of state primaries in Germany and America, but no uniforms. (17th century). The uniform garments adopted at the English schools eventually came to be sold to the general public and widely worn at state schools. Only England did not begin to found a state school system until (1870). Uniforms were not required at theenglish state primaries although in the 20th century, mothers began choosing garments adopted by the primary schools. Anglican and Catholic schools often did require uniforms. And some state primaries began adopting uniforms (1960s). The Government did not begin to found a state secondary system until the 20h century. Grammar schools were the first step. They adopted the ethos and uniforms of the private schools. The Government began opening secondary schools in the 20th century. There were various types, but eventually the English decided on comprehensive. The grammar schools and state secondaries adopted the same school uniforms schools developed at the private schools--in the case of secondary schools the garments worn at the public schools. France did no normally have school uniforms. Although Catholic schools had uniforms--in many cases military styles. More common were smocks worm by boys and girls in the state primary schools. Italy was similar to France, bu with an added white collar and bow. We also see smocks in Spain and Switzerland. Russia has school uniforms in private school After the Revolutionist (1917), uniforms were gradually adopted by the Soviet state schools. After World War II, (1939-45) the Communist salivate countries of Eastern Europe also adopted school uniforms, but did not imitate Soviet styles. The notable was the distinctive fancy white pinafores Soviet girls wore in both primary and secondary schools.

England

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.

Germany

Germany along with German communities in Switzerland were leaders in public education. One of Luther's central beliefs was the importance of Bible reading, something the Catholic Church did not incourage. Luther had a range of issues with the Paoacy as he stayed in his 95 Thesis, but Bible reading abd the teturn to the Biblical foundatiin was central to the Reformation. In a sebce, the Church was ruight and. The Refirnmation spawned nmany different Bibkical intepretatiions and Protestant denominations. Church leaders felt that Bible reading would confuse poorly educated people. And it would be beter guided by the priesthood. Otherwise the Church would have to deal with the fasithful reaching all kinds of conclusions contrary to Church doctrine. The Church had enough problems with heracy as it was. This would lead to the devlopment of public education in Protestant counries, led by America and Germany. Primary schools were open to boys and girls and were evenly divided. Village schools were often coed. City scgools tended to be single gender. Secondary schools were different. More boys continued school after the secondaty years than girls although this gradually changed. This was an issue when NAZIs eized power. They wanted women at home and in the kitchen not getting educated. They thought there were far too mamy girls in the secondary schools and universities.

Hungary

Hungary for four centurues was controlled by a German (Austrian) momarch yy and isstill infkudnced by he larger Germnic world and economy. This includes education. German education trends influenced educationa systems throughout Eastern nd Central Europe. In the case of Hungary, but was close to Germny abd part of the aHpsburg Austrian Empire. which became pty of the Austro-Hungrian Empire (1868). Austria was of course part of the Germanic world. As concerns the education of gurls there were common threads throughout Europe and to a lesser extent the United States. The eduction of girls was seen of much less imprtant than the education of boys. Thus we see girls in primary school, but far fewer in secondary and university level education. In addition, Hungary was not as developed as Germany with lrgely agricultural economy. Another factor is minorities. There was a substantial Slovakian populstion which was prmarily a turl pesant popultion, which was less well educasted than the majority Hungarian popultion. These limits on female education duid not chnge substantially until the Communists seized power. The reson for the differencds in the edivation of boys abd girls was of course long established cultural patterns which also mean that most women did not wok out side the hime. Some two thirds of Hungrian women ar tyhe time if World War II did not have jobs, but married and maintained the home. Apparently female literacy was high. An author suggests 10 percent, but that does sound high to us. Only four to six yeats of education were common. The author reports that secondary eduction for girls was 'very rare, and, in fact, obtaind only by girls in the ruling wealthy circkes'. [Ézéchy] This strikes us as Comminist propaganda. We suspect that many middle-cvlass gurls attended secondaruy schools. The autors then describes how much imprivement has been made in educatiuon or girls in Coimmunist Hungay. As well as the increrased emplyment opportunities. Here this sounds more reasonable. If course unmentioned is the even greater improvements in Western Europe during the same time period, especially in the wage levels and living standards.

(The) Netherlands

The Dutch school system was similar to other Protestant countries in Western Europe. The Dutch had a an excellent school system with very high standards, in part because it was one of the wealthiest countries in Europe. Because of the high academic standasrds, as in Germany, there were relatively few private schools in the Netherlands. Protestant countries, including the United States, tended to lead in public education. This was largely because of Luther's and other Protestant leaders' emphasis on Bible reading. And of course this was only possible if the population was litereate, This led directly to public education, most prominently in America and Germany. Education was almost entirely for boys. But this gradually changed in Protestsnt cointries because it was important for boys as wells as girls to read he Bible. This was not only for their own salvation, but because of the need for mothers to help teach their children to read. (At the time of the Reformation, there were no public schools (16th century). By the turn-of-the 20th century, the Dutch and other Europen countries had public schools. For the most part this meant primary schooling. There were secondary schools, but most children only attended primary schools. Secondary and univerrsity education was selective as well as involved costs. As a result, few working class children continued their education beyond primary school. Gender was also a factor. While most Dutch children completed their primary edication, many parents did not think secondary or university education was all that important for girls. Thus far more boys than girls continued their education beyond primary school. Here we are not sure how the Netherlands compared to Britain, France, and Germany. Secondary schools were mostly single gender. After World War II there were major reforms with the adoption of coeducation and the opening of opportunities for working-class children.

Russia

We note many photographs of Soviet schoolgirls wearing dark dresses and pinafores. We are not sure when this practice began. We note images from the 1930s, but they may hasve been just a few individuals or show schools. These dark dresses and fancy pinafores appear very common from the 1950s through the 1980s. We have noted both dark brown and blue dresses. Its a little difficult to describe the styling of the dresses as they are commonly covered by the pinafores. We see a few girls wearing blouses and shirts, but the dresses seem more common. I'm not sure if any other dresses or colors were involved. The pinafores we have seen were primasrily fancy white ones. We note girls of all ages wearing them, both in primary and secondary school. We notice many Soviet-era class photographs in which all or nearly all the girls wear these white pinafores. We notice differences in the styling, some were fancier than the others. They all, however, seem to be fancy white pinafores. We are not sure if there were any differences as to wearing these pinafore for the difference age groups. As best we can tell, these were not garments for special days, but the ordinary school uniform. I'm not sure but I think the girls may have had a best fancy pinafore that they wore for special occassions. Here I am not yet positive. The pinafores disappeared in the late-1980s, not because there was a change of regulations, but because large numbers of the older secondary school girls refused to wear them. We see girls wearing smocks, stockings and tights with their school uniforms.

Scotland

We see Scottish girls wearing he same garments and styles to school as their English counterparts to the south. Scotland was affected by the school uniform styles emerging in England such as jumpers which we believe are called gym slops in Britain. Most sottish girls, however did not wear uniforms in the 19th and early-20th century. Girls in the state schools system did not wear uniforms. Uniforms were worn at private schools and grammar (selective seconary) schools, but these were a relatively small part of the school-age population. The idea of educating girls was a not well established idea in much of the 19th century. In fact the whole ideapf ublic schools was fiercely devted in Britain until the late 19th century. Which is also the time that educting girls also began to take hold. Even so, the number of girls attending public/avademies (elite private bording) schools and grammar schools was much smaller than boys. Thus the school images we see from Scotland do not show school uniforms, but the regulargarments girls wore. Tey this provide a good look at popular fashion. We do not see girls commonly wearing school uniform garments until after Wotld War II in the 1960s.

Created: 6:46 PM 1/13/2025
Last updated: 6:46 PM 1/13/2025