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Our chronological information on cord jackets is still quite limited. We do not yet have a time line on these jackets. We think that prep schools began using cord jackets after World War II in the 1940s. We do not know for a fact that they were not worn in the 30s, but we have not yet seen any examples from the 30s. Cord jackets were also worn by boys generall in the 50s and 60s and were not just a school uniform gaement. We think they may have been most common in the 1950s and 60s, but are not yet sure about this. We note them still being woirn at a few schools in the 1990s. Cord shorts seem to have been more common than the jackets. Quite a number of schools had cord shorts worn with blazers rather than the cord jackets. The jackets may have been more common in the 50s and 60s. As far as we can tell these jackets by the 80s were only being worn as a school uniform garment abnd not by boys generally.
A reader writes, "I can't remember any school I've worked in utilising cord jackets. Cord shorts were very popular and widely used but I can't recall any with matching jackets. That may help you date their popular demise to the early 70s although it is quite feasible that they continued in some places much later." Yes we noted cord jackets in the early 90s, but only in a few schools.
Our chronological information on cord jackets is still quite limited. We do not yet have a time line on these jackets. We think that prep schools began using cord jackets after World War II in the 1940s. We do not know for a fact that they were not worn in the 30s, but we have not yet seen any examples from the 30s.
Cord jackets were worn by boys generall in the 50s and 60s and were not just a school uniform gaement. We think they may have been most common at schools in the 1950s and 60s, but are not yet sure about this. Some boys may have worn them to school as part of their ordinary dress. Few state primary schools had unifrms in the 1950s. It was at prep schools that cord jackets and shorts were adopted as part of the school uniform. A reader writes, "I have fond memories of my own cord jackets, although my friends always referred to them as jerkins. Looking back, I tend to think these garments were popular
amongst our mothers. To them they were a very functional garment especially for school or when we were playing outside with our friends.
As far as I recall, these garments were beginning to appear in the 1940s.
A typical outfit of corduroy jacket and shorts is seen in the TV adaptation
of Michell Magorian's novel "Goodnight Mister Tom", which is set at the
start of World War II. They were certainly widespread during the 1950s
and 1960s. It was probably during the late 1960s that they became less
popular and I certainly didn't see any after 1970. Until I found the HBC
website I had assumed that they had disappeared altogether.
My Mum bought me my first set of corduroys when I was nine and I loved
them. I seem to recall that there were two other boys in my class who
wore similar outfits of the jacket and shorts. I wore a chocolate brown
outfit, while David and Peter both wore green outfits.
What I liked about the jacket was its shortness, the hem finishing just
above the waistband of the shorts.The bottom of the jacket had elastic
sewen into it, as did the end of the sleeves. This had the advantage of
keeping you warm in winter as no cold air could get through. I also liked
the two brest pockets, which were flapped and fluted.
That outfit started my love of corduroy and very soon my Mum had bought
me another in blue this time. I loved the jacket so much that I refused to
take it off and reluctantly did so at bedtime."
The jackets seem to have been more common with boys in general during the 1950s and 60s. They seem to have begun to decline in popularity during the late 1960s. I am not sure tht use at schools followed these same trends. School uniform styles tend to lag overall fashion trends.
A reader writes, "I can't remember any school I've worked in utilising cord jackets. Cord shorts were very popular and widely used but I can't recall any with matching jackets. That may help you date their popular demise to the early 70s although it is quite feasible that they continued in some places much later." Yes we noted cord jackets in the early 90s, but only in a few schools.
As far as we can tell these jackets by the 80s were only being worn as a school uniform garment and not by boys generally. We only saw them at schools. We noticed about five schools with cord jackets in the 1980s. This suggests that they were worn at avout 10-20 schools during the decade. Despitethe casual look, we noticed boys wearing them with ties. One school had turtle-neck shirts. While only a few schools had cord jackets, many more schools had cord shorts and a few schools had cord longs. At most of the schools, the cord jackets were just for ordinary school wear. For church and special occassions the boys had blazers.
We note cord jackets still being worn at a few schools in the 1990s. Cord shorts seem to have been more common than the jackets. Quite a number of schools had cord shorts worn with blazers rather than the cord jackets.
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