Figure 1.--Several public schools in Scotland adopted blue short pants as -part of the school uniform instead of the standard grey shorts as in England.

Scottish boys, like English school boys, after the First World War began to commonly wear short pants, or short trousers as the British call them. I think that before the First World War that boys more commonly worn knickers or knickerbockers as the British call them. Short pants were commonly worn by European school boys, but not commonly as part of uniforms as in England and Scotland. In fact Scotland has the distinction of being the most northerly situated country in which short pants were commonly worn--even during the winter months.

School uniform in Scotland was quite similar to England. In fact, Scotland is a very traditional part of the UnitedvKingdom. Traditiinal schoolwear continued there for several years after it had mostly disappeared in England to the south. There were few exceptions. Scottish boys often wore kilts, especially for dresswear. One major difference with school shorts was that several public (exclusive private school) adopted blue or black shorts instead of the standard grey English shorts. Also some private schools adopted colored kneesocks instead of the standard grey color so common in England.

State Schools

Most Scottish school boys wore the grey flannel shorts and beginning in the 1950s the grey Terylene shorts common in England. This was especially true in the state schools.

Short pants were commonly worn in the elementary and primary schools. Many of these schools did not have uniforms, but boys through the 1960s generally wore short pants. Beginning in the 1960s many of these schools implemented uniform policies requiring short pants. The shorts were usually Terylene grey shorts. Flannel was going out of style and corduroy was never commonly worn in Scottish schools.

I am not sure what the situatin was at Scottish state secondary schools.

Private Schools

Almost all Scottish preparatory schools required boys to wear short pants. Until the 1950s this mean flannel shorts, but by the 1960s Terylene had become more common. A few Scottish prep schools had cord shorts. While the boys wore grey shorts. Many schools had brightly colored (red, green, blue, and purple) kneesocks. Most schools had a separate dress uniform of tweed jacket and kilts for dress occasions.

Several punlic schools required boys of all ages tonwear short pants. Many schools had the same grey flannel and Terylene shorts as worn in England. Several schools, however, introduced blue or black short pants. Like some of the prepschools, colored kneesocks were sometimes worn. I am not sure when this was introduced, but I think the 1920s. I am also why the schools decided against the much more common grey shorts. Many of these schools continued to require short pants when most English schools had shifted to long pants. Some Scottish schools still requited boys as old as 14 to wear short pants into the 1980s.