Dutch School Uniform:  Garments


Figure 1.--This younger Dutch boy in 1949 wears a kind of button-on shorts set. Note the Peter Pan collar. For some reason he hasn't buckled one of the shoulder straps of his satchel. 

As Dutch boys did not generally wear school uniforms, the garments they wore to school were the normal contemporary styles. Dutch boys commonly wore kneepants in the late 19th century. They did not commonly wear smocks although HBC has note some Dutch boys wearing smocks and pinafores at the turn of the 20th century. Some boys also wore baggy trousers, although HBC is not sure how common they were. Boys in rural areas might wear wooden shoes. Sailor suits were popular school wear in the early 20th century. We have noted some boys wearing rather English looking school uniforms. Dutch boys commonly wore short pants to school through the 1950s, often with knit sweatrers. Many mothers knitted sweaters for their sons. Dutch boys increasingly began wearing long pants by the 1980s and now dress in pan-European styles of jeans "T"-shirts and sweaters.

Caps

Dutch boys have not generally worn school uniforms. Thus the caps they have worn to school have been simply contemprary styles rather than uniform caps. Sailor suits and caps were coimmonly worn to school in the early 20th century. Some Dutch boys wore military like caps in the early 20th century. Yonger boys might wear sailor hats. We have also noted boys wearing English-style peaked caps. Here we are not sure if these are school uniform caps are simply a popular style of cap. HBC has few other details on caps boys wore to school. Modern Dutch bboys do not wears caps to school as commonly as in the past.

Skirted Garments

We have noted a few boys wearing skirted garments to school. Dutch boys did not commonly wear smocks although HBC has note some Dutch boys wearing smocks and pinafores at the turn of the 20th century. Smocks, however, do not appear to have been a common school garment. Pinafores seem even less common. We do note one 1921 photograph which we think is a school photograph. We are entirely sure it is a school photograph, but it seems to have been some kind of instiytutional rather than family photograph. Perhaps our Dutch readers will be able to tell us more.

Jackets


Sailor Suits

Sailor suits were a very popular style for boys to wear to school in the early 20th century.

Sweaters

Sweaters were popular garments in cold weather. We note Duch boys wearing a wide range of sweaters.

Shirts

Dutch boys in the early 20th century, as in many other countries, dressed formally. Many boys wore suits with dress shirts and ties. Some boys wore middy blouses. Gradually as the century progressed we note boys wearing more casual shirts. After World war II we begin seeing stripped "T"-shirts anf brightly colored print shirts. We notice some plaid shirts, but also flowery print shirts, almost like Hawaian shirts. We do not note these shirts being worn in other European countries.Often a few boys might wear a dress shirt and tie, but most boys dressed quite casually.

Pants

Dutch boys commonly wore kneepants in the late 19th century. Some boys also wore baggy trousers, although HBC is not sure how common they were. Boys in rural areas might wear wooden shoes. Sailor suits were popular school wear in the early 20th century. Dutch boys commonly wore short pants to school through the 1950s, often with knit sweatrers. Dutch boys increasingly began wearing long pants by the 1980s and now dress in pan-European styles of jeans "T"-shirts ans sweaters.

Hosiery


Footwear

Dutch boys hace worn a wide variety of shoe styles. Boys in rural during the late 19th and even waely 20th century might wear wooden shoes. Younger boys by the 1920s might wear sandals.

School Satchels

Every Dutch boy had a leather satchels for his books and other school materials. The satchel was so common that today it is almost a symbol for a Dutch school boy. They seem very similar to the satchels worn by German and Frencvh boys in the early 20th century.







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Created: February 23, 2001
Last updated: 2:06 AM 2/21/20065