Figure 1.--This class portrait has no associated information. We beliee it is a Yugoslav, probably Serbian, school. We would guess the portrait was taken in the late-1930s just before World War II. Most of the boys wear short pants. This was not because the school required them, but because this is wht most of the parents chose. A few boys wore long pant and one boy wers knickers. We see a variety of hosiery and footwear which would have been affected tte season. The portrait looks to have been taken in warm spring or early summer weather. This looks like a junior form in a secondaty school. The boy look to be about 12-14 years old. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the class.

Short pants were first adopted for school wear in England during the early-20th century. The adoption of short pants, referred to as short trousers, by English Boy Scouts helped to popularize shorts for school wear, at least in Europe. Knee pants were already common so it was not a major shift at the time. There use by the British Army in far flung colonial exploits was another important factor. We do not see horts as commonly in America where boys nostly wore knee pants (1900s) and knickers (1910s-30s) Shorts by the 1920s they were widely worn in England and other British Empire countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Short pants became equally worn in continental European countries, but school uniforms were not common in Europe. Hosoery gradually shifted from long stockings to knee socks and then ankle socks. Many Japanese schools in the 1950s adopted short pants school uniforms with especially short cut shorts. Short pants continued to be worn by boys in England to school through the 1950s, but beginning in the 1960s older boys began to want long pants. At the same time the length of the shorts becan to become much shorter than was the case in the past. American boys never wore uniforms to any great extent. School uniforms have begining in the 1980s began to be adopted by many elementary schools. The boys and girls commonly wear shorts during the warmer summer months. School shorts are still common in New Zealand, although the style by the late 1990s began to be long and baggy.

Created: 6:26 PM 3/29/2017
Last updated: 6:26 PM 3/29/2017