Figure 1.-- Here we see a school exercise event. It looks like an American junior or senior high school. It seems to be some kind of special event. The girls have their gym uniforms on: middy blouses, bloomer romper pants, and black long stockings. It is undated, but we would guess was taken about 1920.

There were initinally very substantial differences between boys and girls gym uniforms. One popular early gym uniform for girl was middy blouses, long bloomers, and long black stockings. We notice American girls wearing rompers for gym into the 1960s. Boys generally wore "T"-shirts and colored boxer shorts. In recent years differences between boys and girls gym uniforms have generally declined. Schools in Europe began introducing gym/physical education (PE) programs in the early-19th century. The developing American education system followed suit. And America became a leader in punlic education at a time when it was still a largely agrarian society. Formal PE was a matter for secondary schools. At first they were only for boys. This began to change toward the later part of the century. Boys at first wore their regular clothes. This was not possible for the girls. Less restrictive garments for gym were needed and the result was gym uniforms. We suspect this developed in part because the schools wanted to carefully control wgat the girls wore for gym. Many schools adopted middly blouses, voluminous bloomers, and black long stockings for the girls. These outfits were common until after World war I into the inter-War era. Greadually we see these outfits replaced with one-piece romper outfits and eventually short pants like the boys wore. This varied over time and fom country to country. There were also variations within countries from school to school as gym uniforms were commonly a decesion made locally. We do not yet have much information on girls' gym/PE programs and gym uniforms, but have begun to collect information. We do have an American page.

Gender Differences

There were initinally very substantial differences between boys and girls gym uniforms. The idea for the girls was to cover everything from neck to toe and not show any bodily form. This we ee girls wearing middly blouses and bloomers velow the jnee and long stockings.

Chronology

Boys at first wore their regular clothes. This was not possible for the girls. Less restrictive garments for gym were needed and the result was gym uniforms. We suspect this developed in part because the schools wanted to carefully control what the girls wore for gym, more so than for the boys. Many schools adopted middly blouses, voluminous bloomers, and black long stockings for the girls. These outfits were common until after World war I into the inter-War era. Gradually we see these outfits replaced with one-piece romper outfits. The bloomer-likr romper pants gradually were relaced with short pants. And evenentually the girls began wearing T-Shirts and -short pants like the boys wore.

Garments

One popular early gym uniform for girl was middy blouses, long bloomers, and long black stockings. The most common top was a middy blouse, oten a ehite niddy blouse. We have seen other tops such as Russian blouses. These outfits were very common in both Europe and Amrica. The American girls here about 1920 are a good example (figure 1). They were widely worn for several decades with a range of variations. The gradually deloped into ropper suits which were worn for gym, campa, and even caual wear. We notice American girls wearing rompers for gym into the 1960s. Boys generally wore "T"-shirts and colored boxer shorts. In recent years differences between boys and girls gym uniforms have generally declined. We see both boys and girls wearing T-sgorts and shorts. Actual uniforms becoming less common over time.

Country Trends

Schools in Europe began introducing gym/physical education (PE) programs in the early-19th century. Here we are for the most part taling about secondary schools. primary schools were more likely to have recess/morning break where the children did not change into uniforms and just wore their regular clothes. The developing American education system followed suit. And America became a leader in public education at a time when it was still a largely agrarian society. Formal PE was a matter for secondary schools. At first secondary education and physical educatin they were only for boys. This began to change toward the later part of the century. This varied over time and from country to country as we see more secondary schools being opened for girls, America was differnent in that most of the secondary schools that began to pen after the mid-19th century were coed schools. At first we see rather similar unifirms for girls--middy blouses and bloomers. From that beginning we gradually see variatiins such as rompers suits and gym slips. There were also variations within countries from school to school as gym uniforms were commonly a decesion made locally. We do not yet have much information on girls' gym/PE programs and gym uniforms, but have begun to collect information. We do have an American page. We have a substantial American archive. Following trend in Europe is somewhat more diffuclt, but we are working on it.

Created: 8:31 PM 4/1/2014
Last updated: 5:16 PM 5/20/2019