Ecole Libre Saint-François Régis: Troisième

Figure 1.--Troisième 1 or one of the third form was the younger senior from. The boys would have been about 15 years old. Some of begun to wear long pants or knickers, but most seem to be still wearing short pants.

This photograph shows Troisième, the third or a senior form, at the Ecole libre Saint-François Régis about 1935. Unlike the fourth form where the boys all still wear short pants, some of the third form boys are wearng long pants or knickers. This appears to be a decission of the parents, there was no school rule. The boys look to be about 15 years old.

The Form

Saint-François Régis was called an Ecole Libre which would now be a primary school. The Ecole Libre Saint-François Régis, however, in 1935 had both junior and senior forms. This form looks to be the younger boys in the senior section. The boys look to be about 15 years of age. At the time, school attendance in France was mandatory only through age 14.

Figure 2.--Many of the boys in the third form appear to wear suits with matching jackets and pants. Many of the boys wear short pants suits with kneesocks.

Clothing

The boys in Troisième almost wear suits, but with various types of pants. The boys appear to be wearing mostly short pants suits. Bt some boys wear knickers, albeit extremely long knickers. I don't see any boys wearing long pants. Of course you can not tell about the boys in the back rows.

I'm not sure that the boys generally wore suits to school. All of the boys bave worn their suits, at least to have their photograph taken. Presumably the boys in the senior forms were much more likely to do so than the boys in the junior forms. The suits generally seem more conservative solid color suits in comparison to the suits worn by the older boys in the two senior forms. The boys continue to wear mostly open collar shirts with their suits, only three boys wear ties.

The boys wear both single and double breasted blazers with generally large lapels. The single breasted suits appear most common. One boy wears a blazer with patch pockets. Several boys have double breasted blazers. I'm not sure about the colors of the suits. None seemmto have destinct pattrns.

Figure 3.--Some boys in the third form wear their suits with short pants and knickers. I though the boy sitting on the ground was wearing long pants, but I see on closer examinatiin that he is wearing long knickers.

While almost all the boys in the form are wearing suits, there is one boy on the stair case that just wears a aweater. This was common in the junior forms.

Most of the boys wear lace up Oxford-style shoes. One boy sitting by the table wears English-style school sandals. He is the oldest boy at the school wearing sandals.

Like the younger boys wearing short pants, the boys wearing shorts in the third form wear kneesocks with their shorts. None of the boys at the school wear ankle socks. This suggests that kneesocks were very commonly worn by French boys in the 1930s. The kneesocks that these boys were wearing all seem to be solid colored socks, both the boys in shorts and the ines in knickers. American boys at this time generally wire knickers with patterned kneesocks. These boys wear solid-colored kneesocks, although some of the boys in the younger forms has patterned kneesocks.

Sweaters are very commonly worn. Many of the boys in suits wear sweaters of various types.

Figure 4.--One boy in the third form wears his short pants suit with British-stle school sandals.

Created: November 13, 1999
Last updated: November 15, 1999