Figure 1.-- Here we have a photo taken during 2007 in Sarre, in Aosta Valley. This was in northern Italy, close to France. It is a bilingual region. This school required blue smocks, but apparently did not specify any specific style for the children. A lot of these children have zipper smocks. We see a lot of smocks without the large white collars that were once so common, but as we see here the white collars had not disappeared. We do not see the bows any more. Notice that most of the smocks here are faily short cut, although they vary. Some seem more like jackets. We have seen some longer somocks.

Italian children no longer wear school smocks as commonly as before, but they are still worn at a number of schools. At some schools smocks are optional, but they are usually common at those schools. At other schools they are required. This appears to be especially common at Catholic schools. We notice an American tourist visiting Herculaneum near Naples in 2001 complained of large numbers of schoolgroups with "shrieking children, all in color-coordinated caps, scarves or smocks, touring at the same time". So clearly smocks still are common, although HBC in 1989 did not notice school groups in Rome wearing smocks, perhaps because most of my sightseeing was on the weekends. We note companies offering quite a range of smocks in a variety of styles, colors, and sizes.

Popularity

Italian children no longer wear school smocks as commonly as before, but they are still worn at a number of schools. We notice an American tourist visiting Herculaneum near Naples in 2001 complained of large numbers of schoolgroups with "shrieking children, all in color-coordinated caps, scarves or smocks, touring at the same time". So clearly smocks still are common, although HBC in 1989 did not notice school groups in Rome wearing smocks, perhaps because most of my sightseeing was on the weekends.

Regulations

Each school set its own rules about smocks. At some schools smocks are optional, but they are usually common at those schools. At other schools they are required.

School Types

Smocks appear to be especially common at Catholic schools. We also see smocks more commonly at private scgiols than state schools.

Styles

We note companies offering quite a range of smocks in many different styles. The front buttoning style wasnow the primary style. We see a lot of smocks without the large white collars that were once so common. Notice that most of the smocks here are faily short cut, although they vary (figure 1). Some seem more like jackets. We have seen some longer somocks.

Colors

We note that smocks continue to be worn by Italian school children, mostly younger children. The colors appear to be primarily blue (various shades), pink, and white. The color was set by the schools. Blue was by far the most common color. We see various shades. Navy blue was once the primary shade. In the 2000s, however, we see many brighter shades. The boys mostly wear the blue smocks, but many girls do as well. The girls primarily also wore the pink and white smocks. Stores offered others colors like red and green, but they do not seem as popular as the blue, pink, and white socks.

Age

Smocks were available in a wide age range. Styles for younger childen are mostly in sized from 3-7 years. Common sizes for the younger children were 55-75 cm while styles for older children ranged from 55-95 cm, the girls' smocks in larger sizes than the boy's smocks.

Companies

Several Italian companies offer a range of different smocks in a variety od sizes and colors. An assessment of these offerings provide insights into smock trends at Italian schools.

School Reforms

A pres report in July 2008 discussed proposed educatinal reforms, "Italy, home to brands like Gucci and Prada, is debating bringing back utilitarian school smocks to prevent students from flaunting designer labels. The smock -- a light garment worn over clothing to protect pupils from getting their clothes dirty -- was popular in Italy until the 1960s. Schoolchildren often wore sky blue or pink ones. A lawmaker from Italy's ruling centre-right coalition is proposing bringing them back and making them mandatory to end 'consumerism and brand slavery among children' -- an idea that has met a warm reception from the education minister. 'The underlying motives are convincing,' said Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini. 'It's not just a matter of order but also social equality among children, especially now that it's fashionable to wear designer labels at a very young age.' Italian newspapers, splashing nostalgic photos of students neatly lined up behind benches in smart smocks with oversized collars, debated the pros and cons of a return to a bygone era, and what it said about Italy and children today. The school must return to being the place where education ... is the dominant value,' Marco Lodoli wrote in La Repubblica newspaper, saying an 'arrogant national narcissism' was on display in schools today. 'And so the return to smocks seems to me a sensible choice that allows vanity and economic differences to be cancelled.' Others were more skeptical, with some teachers and parents arguing that socio-economic differences among students were easily apparent with or without a uniform dress code. 'The return of the smock? It won't be enough to solve the problems of schools today,' Cesare Scurati, a teacher, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. 'It's a utopian ideal -- we'll somehow end up with the need for designer smocks.' [Babington] A press reprt in October 2008 described, "Seething masses of students, teachers and other school workers went on strike Thursday and marched through the streets of Rome to protest government-backed changes to Italy's school system.The demonstration was held a day after the reforms were approved by parliament. They include flunking pupils for bad conduct, giving elementary students the same teacher for all five grades and requiring students to wear uniform smocks." ["Outrage"] We don't have furthur information on this. We think the protest was more about cuts in the school budget than thecattempt to require smocks which presumably would have been at the primary level.

Sources

Babington, Deepa. Reuters, "Itly may restore school smocks to end brand envy, " Time Colonist (July 14, 2008).

"Outrage: School reforms unleash angry protests across Italy," Welt Online: English News (October 30. 2008).

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Created: September 20, 2002
Last updated: 4:43 AM 4/5/2009