*** Argentine school uniform : individual schools








Argentine School Uniforms: Individual Schools

Argentine school unitorm

Figure 1.--This is St. Andrews, a Buenos Aires private school, in the early 1970s had a uniform just like a British preparatory school. The boys wear a blue blazer uniform. The only diference we note from a British prep school is that none of the boys wear school sandals. I'm not sure why the one boy wears long trousers.

We have very limited information on individual Argentine schools at this time. One reader tells us about his school, At. Andrews, which was a private school in Buenos Aires. The school had a uniform just like a British preparatory school. It consists of blue blazers, black leather shoes, a blue tie with yellow stripes, grey short trousers and knee socks along with a light blue shirt. In the Winter they had a v neck jumper also. From 5th th to 7th grade of primary school short trousers become optional however from 6th grade students prefered to wear long trousers. For gym classes they required an all white uniform of t-shirt with the badge of the school stamped at the right side and cotton shorts. Hopefully Argentine readers will tell us about their schools.

AIA (1950s)

All we know for sure is the name of this school is AIA which we can see on the badges of the boy's shirts. It looks to be a coed private school. We at first thought that this was a gym class, but most of the shirts are collared and many of the short pants, including the belted-shorts, are clearly not gym shorts. One boy seems to be wearing button-on shorts, probably light blue. Most of the shoes, however, are sneakers and the soocks white, so we are not entirly sure what to make of it. Perhps the boys just changed shoes for gym. The one boy wearing two-tone leather shoes helps date the image to the late-1940s or more probably the 1950s. The country is not identified, but the girl's white smock suggests Argentina. Argentine boys also wore white smocks, at least in yhe public schools. But this aknost cetainly is a private school abd we do noy thunk that thy woul hv hd badges for thei shirts id they wore smocks over them. Not a lot to go on here, but perhaps readers will have some insights.

Instituto Libre de Segundo Enseñanza (1929)

We have a portrait of a 2nd year class (2� año nacional). We are not sure why the word national is added to the year designation. They attended a secondary school, the Instituto Libre de Segundo Eneñanza--The Free Institure of Secondary Education. This seems more like a description of the school than the name. Perhps it was the only secondary school in a small town. They look to be about 13-14 years old. We do not know where in Argentina the school was located. The boys have all signed the back of the portrait. This might suggst that it was a publc school. Here we are not sure, but the word libre does suggest a public school. The portrait was taken in 1929. It might seem to be a private school because all the boys are so smartly dressed in suits and ties. But even public schools might have strict dress codes in the 1920s. The school did not have a uniform, but clearly a dress code. The boys had to wear suits to school. There are all kinds of different styles and colors. We see both single- and double-breasted jackets. Note the wide lapels, especially on the double-breasrted suits. Most of the boys are wearing neck ties . We see a few boys wear bowties and one boy seems to be weaing an ascot. The the boys are wearing short pants suits, suggesting that this was a school requirement.

(Escuela) Presidente Roca (1950s)

The Escuela Presidente Roca is locted in Buenos Aires. It is an impressive neoclassical building opened in (1903). It is estentially a Greek temple g with gray, granite columns. It is public primary school, designed by Carlo Morra Mahnes, Marqués de Monterochetta. Julio A. Roca was an army general who served as 8th President of Argentina (1880-86 and 1898-1904). He is best knowm directing the 'Conquest of the Desert', a series of military campaigns against the indigenous population of Patagonia. We have found lots of information about the impressive building, but very little about the school inside. It has to be one of the most grandiose primary school building in the world. We wonder how many ordinary primry schools could have been built for the cost of this school. It was the model school of the National Council of Education and is located in front of Plaza Lavalle and the Teatro Colón. The courtyard has Doric colonnades. The upstairs areas include a theater and activity center for the pupils and have beautiful fresco ceilings with Greek decoration. We have archived a photograph we think from the 1950s. At the time it was a boys' school, we think it is now coed. The boys wear white school smocks variously styled. All the boys wear short pants, we are not sure if that was required or just the common fashion of the time. Usually when all children are dressed alike it is a requirement.

(Escuela) Industrial (1961)

We are not entirely sure what is meant by an insustrial school in Argenina. We do know that they were secondary schools. Some seem to have connections to universities. All seem to have connections to local businesses. We thought at first they may be vovational schools meaning schools that offered courses in carpentry , metal working, auto mechanics, etc. This does not seem to be the case. Rather it seems to be a kind of business school attempting toprepare the children for job openings in local businesses. We are not sure to what extent the graduates immeditly found jobs or went on to university. Hopefully our Argentine readers will better explain industrial schools to us. We notice these industrial schools in many Agentine cities. We have a school portrair for what looks like the first year studets in 1961. We are nor sure which industral chool it is. The boys look to be bout 12-13 years old. They are all wearing suits. There was no uniform, but suits were apparently required. We do not know if this was the evertday dress, or just for the portrait, but they may have well worn suits to school.

(Primero Super) Hno. Rogelio (1962)

We have very little information about individual Argentine schools. We note one school Primero Super Hno. Rogelio which we think is an Argentine school, probably in Buenos Aires. We are, however, not sure. It is a Catholic private school. Perhaps readers will know about the school. It could a school in one of a number of countries, Spain or Spanish speaking countries in Latin America. We thought at first in might be a Mexican school, but none of the boys have Native American features, So Argentina seems the most likely location. The Argentine population is mostly European in origin and we see several schools with British-style uniforms. The boys wear short pants suits with badges and knee socks. They look to be about 6-7 years old. At first we thought Primero Super was part of the name of the school, like a super primary (elementary ) school, but now I think it means an a advanced first (primero) grade or form.

(Escuela Primaria Común Nro 9) Benito Quinquela Martin (late-1960s)

White lab-coat style smocks were required in Argentinea for public primary schools. The photograph looks to have been tasken in the late-1960s. The school,was located in the neighborhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires. The boys look to be about 10-11 years old, meaning 5th or 6th graders. Most schools were still single gender. La Boca was where the old port of Buenos Aires was located. It was inhanited by stevedores, porters and lots of sailors of different nationalities. It is also the seat of a football (soccer) club, Boca Juniors founded in 1905. It was what might be called a 'rough' neighborhood. Gradually it evolved into a Bohemian neighborhood and todays has become a tourist attraction. Among the Bohemian residets was a painter, Benito Quinquela Martín (1890-1977). Quinquela is pronouced pronounced: 'KIng - Kaella'. He was born, raised and became famous at La Boca. His coloful focus on the ships at La Boca and made him famous worldwide and wealthy as well. Quinquela Martin is the elderly gentleman who we see at the background at the left of the picture together with two other famous La Bocans. The man is the tango composer and interpreter Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) with his wife, a tango singer, Amelita Baltar (1940- ). The school was funded by Quinquela Martin and named after him: the Escuela Primaria Común Nro 9, Benito Quinquela Martin.

German School (about 1970)

There are many German schools in Argentina servicing the German ehnic community in Argentina. We believe this is a school in Buenos Aires servicing the ex-patriot community in the city. This means families associated with the German Embassy and Germans working in Argenina, probably primarily German multi-national corportions. Others may include academics or international or non-govermental organzations. We are not sure to what extent the Argentine German community sent their children to the school. The children wear uniforms looking rather like a British preparatory school. There may have been a secondary section as well. The photograph we have is a class group. The children look to be about 10-years old. The portrait is undated, but looks as if it was taken about 1970.

St. Andrews (1970s)

One reader tells us about his school, At. Andrews, which was a private school in Buenos Aires. The school had a uniform just like a British preparatory school. It consists of blue blazers, black leather shoes, a blue tie with yellow stripes, grey short trousers and knee socks along with a light blue shirt. In the Winter they had a v neck jumper also. From 5th th to 7th grade of primary school short trousers become optional however from 6th grade students prefered to wear long trousers. For gym classes they required an all white uniform of t-shirt with the badge of the school stamped at the right side and cotton shorts.

Other Schools

We have no information on other Argentine schools at this time. Hopefully our Argentine readers will provide us information on their schools.








HBC-SU







Navigate the HBC School Country Pages
[Return to the Main Argentine School page]
[Australia] [Main England page] [France] [Germany]
[Italy] [Japan] [New Zealand] [Scotland]
[Singapore] [South Africa] [United States]


Navigate the HBC School Section:
[About Us]
[Activities] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Debate] [Economics] [Garment] [Gender] [Hair] [History] [Home trends] [Literary characters]
[School types] [Significance] [Transport and travel [Uniform regulations] [Year level] [Other topics]
[Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Return to the Historic Boys' School Home]





Created: May 11, 2004
Last updated: 4:40 PM 12/10/2018