Figure 1.--These boys in this 1969 Hungarian film all wore blue front buttoning school smocks. Notice the military-style epaulettes. |
|
A 1969 film shows Hungarian boys wearing blue front-buttoning school smocks. HBC is unsure how common this was. In the film. the smock was required as all the
boys were wearing them. Hungary at the time had a Communist Government with a very centralized school system. School regulations such as weraing smocks might
have been set by the central Government rather than each individual school, but few details are currently available. Given the fact that the boys tended to unbutton
them after school, they do not seem to have been very popular.
Hungarian sources inform HBC that smocks were introduced in Hungarian schools sometime in the 1960s. Apparently smocks were not worn by Hungarian schools boys earlier and there had been no tradition of wearing smocks for school as was the case in several other European vountries. This appears to have been a governmental decession and there oes not seem to have been any boys wearing them before they were compulsory. They were worn throught the Communist era after the introduction in the 1960s. This time line is confirmed by several available films from the 1960s-90s. Over this period, however, the role and design of the smocks changed. A Hungarian HBC reader reports, "School smocks were compulsory till the early 1990s, but they are now not very common."
HBC has little information before the 1960s. A Hungarian contributor does not believe that school smocks were worn in Hungarian schools before the 1950s, even schools for younger children. There were apparently, however, some real uniforms at certain "institutes". This means technical or industrial schools where they dressed like ordinary workers. Probably this was extended then for all schools and all classes. Our Hungarian source reports that it was common for boys to were some sort of a coat and maybe a hat (and pinafore or pinafore-dress for the girls).
The schoolm smock introduced by Hungary's Communist Government were similar to the smocks commonly worn by factory workers. They were similar in design and material to factory smocks. The colour of the smocks were dark blue. For both boys and girls it was front buttoned and had a collar and one or two side pockets. Unfortunately,
HBC does not have a picture from that time. A Hungarian reader reports, "It was clearly a part of the ideological brainwash." HBC does not have any Government documents or public releases explaining their decission. HBC does note that the smocks were introduced during the heighth of the Cold War. As in the rest of Eastern Europe, the Russians set up a Communist Goverment after World War II. The Hungarians in 1956 tried to overthrow that government, but was brutally supressed by Russian tanks. The Russians and the Hungarian Communists after the 1956 revolution attempted to enforce ideological orthoxdoxy on Hungary. The idea of uniform-like school smocks may have been part of that process.
The function of smocks had changed a bit by the 1970s. Now it is a
symbol to strenghten the role of students (to know their place in school and society). Of course no one really admits this, instead school educators were taught to say that it is to protect clothing of pupils. Smocks were not like a uniform anymore. Clothing companies produced lots of type of smock with different colours and styles. For girls from the end of the 1970s it was a question of fashion.
A HBC reader has provided a photograph of the smock he wore as a grammar (secondary) school student in the 1980s. He wore it from 1987-91. It was blue (of course) and made out of synthetic fibre (of course). Like most Hungarian school smocks, they were front buttoning. This one seemed somewhat longer than some smocks.
School smocks vanished from most Hungarian schools after the fall of the Communism in 19??. But they did not disappear everywhere. Many small country schools continue to require that smocks be worn. It is also typical that religious schools (restarted in the 1990s after the fall ofb communism) also have smocks. The end of the old political system in Hungary actually in 1989. The first democratic, multi-party election was in 1990. More diverse styling for smocks appeared in the 1990s. It is also interesting that in some the religious institutes have apron-like (or gardener-like) smocks for both girls and boys, perhaps because it can not be unbuttoned.
|
Most Hungarian schools in the 2000s no longer require smocks. A few schools still do, especially the religious schools and private schools whoch appeared after the collapse of Communism. The images HBC has seen suggests that they are using very plain styling and have mostly retained the blue color. It is interesting that a style initiated by the Communist Government is now mostly worn in private schools.
Hungarian sources report that schools beginning in the 1960s required boys and girls to wear smocks. Several European schools show boys wearing blue front-buttoning school smocks. HBC is unsure how common this was. In some films all the boys were wearing them. In other films there appear to be boys who wear them and others who do not. Hungary at the time had a Communist Government with a very centralized school system. School regulations such as weraing smocks might have been set by the central Government rather than each individual school, but few details are currently available. Some schools appear to have allowed the boys to unbutton their smocks even during school which rather seems to defeat the purpose. HBC is unsure at this time as to just how strictly the school rule about smocks were rnforced. Some available images show all the boys wearing them and other images show quite a number of boys who are not wearing them or are wearing them unbuttoned.
We have noted several different types of smocks. The most common is a front buttoning jacket-like smock, much shorter than the smocks worn in most other countries. These were mase with and without collars. Girls often wore longer ones than the boys. Another style was a smock with a square Russian collar. A style that has become popular in the 1990s is a apron or gardner style smock. In Switzerland they are reffered to as pinafore smocks. They are mostly worn by girls.
|
The school smocks being worn by Hungarian boys in the 1960s were front buttoning smocks with large blue buttons. Most smocks did not have any collars. Most boys wore their shirt collars outside the smocks. Other boys wore "T" shirts without collars under their smoks. The smocks had military-like epaulettes. Clearly the school pictured hdere has a uniform style. HBC unsure if this is a school or a national school rule. HBC does not know if girls wore the same style of smock with military epaulettes. Some smocks had side pockets. HBC has noted a large side pocket, although we do not know if these side pockers were worn on both sides. HBC seem to notice more diversitybin smock styling in the 1990s. While many schools stopped requiring smocks in the 1990s, the smocks that were worn seem to have been increasingly diverse.
The school smocks being worn by Hungarian boys in the 1960s were front buttoning smocks with large blue buttons. Almost always the buttons are blue rather than white or other contrasting color. The front buttoning style is one of the most consistent characteristic. HBC does not know of any back buttoning smocks worn at Hungarian schools. A few smocks for girls were back buttoning, but it was typical only for younger children. Some smocks (and especially again for girls) had zippers at the front.
Most smocks did not have any collars, but there are also many colared smocks. Some smocks had a kind of square Russian blouse opening instead of a collar. These were generally worn by girls. As many smocks did not have collars, many boys wore their shirt collars outside the smocks. Other boys wore "T" shirts without collars under their smoks. Some smocks were made with collars. Some even had white collars. These may have been worn by younger children, although HBC has few details. The smocks were worn both buttoned at the neck or like a "V" collared jacket.
Some smocks had military-like epaulettes. Apparently some schools insisted on a specific style of smock. A school picture in one movie ha standard smocks with epaulettes. HBC does not know if girls wore this miliary style.
The smocks worn by Hungarian boys varied greatly as to pocket arrangements. Some smocks had side pockets. HBC has noted a large side pocket in some smocks. HBC is not sure if these side pockers were worn on both sides. The original 1960s school smocks had one or two side pockets. Since the 1960s different styles of smocks have appeared with varying pocket arrangements. HBC is not sure what the pocket arrangements are on the apron-style smocks that appeared in the 1990s.
Most Hungarian school smocks appear to be long sleeved garments. HBC has noted in the late 1990s that short sleeved or sleevless styles appeared. These appear to be apron-like (or gardener-like) smocks for both girls and boys. They perhaps were introduced because they can not be unbuttoned. This appears to have been a style used more in primary than in secondary schools.
|
The smocks worn by Hungarian school children appear to be almost entirely blue smocks. The same blue color appears to have been worn througout the country. Both boys and girls wore them. While blue appears to have been the mandated country, various shades of blue were worn, from light blue to very dark blue. Some smocks were made in black. HBC has noted a few imapges of different colored smocks, but this appear to be more the exception rather than the rule. The different colored smocks appear to be mostly relatively recent images.
Smocks in the 1960s were made out of the same material as those made for factory workers. Smocks in the 1970s began to appear in synthetic fibres. There was even an advertisment of one company telling children to wear their smock which was made out of normal textile (of course advertisments at that time were abit weird, since there was no real competition, all the companies were in the hands of the communist state). However "nylon" smocks were cheaper, less than 3 dollars (today's smocks are about 20-30 dollars). The material nowadays is good quality textile, the synthetic fibre has disappeared forever.
Boys in both elementary and secondary schools appear to have worn smocks. A HBC reader reports that even the older boys in grammar schools (secondary schools) ha to wear them. The younger boys appear to have acceprd the smocks without much complasint. They were not, however, very popular with the older boys who would commonly wear their smocks unbuttoned. I do not know for sure, but there does not appear to have been any difference in the smocks worn by younger and older boys until the 1990s. HBC notices that some younger children in the late 1990s began to wear sleevess apron or gardner style smocks.
Both boys an girls wore smocks. They were not differentiated by color. Girl's smock were, however, always longer and some of them even had a waist-belt made from the same material as the smock itself. In the 1970s when different styles of smocks became available, the girls in particular wanted to wear estinctive styles. They all continued to wear the same colors, mostly blue, but the different styles became very popular with the girls.
Hungarian school schildren have worn a wide variery of clothes under their smocks. Boys have worn both collared shirts as well as casual "T" shirts. This appears to have been the case in both primary and secondary schools. Primary school boys wearing school smocks wore them with both long and shorts pants. Short pants, of course, were not really a part of their schoolwear, instead it was part of the normal sreet clothing at that time. Short pants were common in the 1960s an 70s, but long pants became increasingly common in the 1980s. Some boys in the 1960s wore kneesocks as well.
Given the fact that the boys tended to unbutton them after school, they do not seem to have been very popular. This is similar to Uruguay where the boys couldn't wait to untie their smock bows after school.
|
Most Hungariam school smocks appear to be very plain garments with little detailing. HBC has noticed a few smocks that appear to have colored badges. They are notelablorate school badges like on British school blazers, but rather flag-like color combinations. This appears to be a relatively recent development. HBC is unsure how common this way. Images show children at some schools wearing smocks with and without the badges, so they may be just a stlistic decoration rather than a badgde identifying specific schools. Again this appears to be primarly seen at primary schools..
HBC at this time is uncertain as to the inflience involved with school smocks. Hungary until 1918 was part of the Ausrt-Hungarian Empire. I don't think that smocks were widely worn at that time. They may have been introduced after independence, perhaps inflienced by French fashions. After the Communist take over, HBC is uncertain what steps the Government took concerning schoolwear. Of course Russia was very influential, but smocks were not wirn by boys in Soviet schools.
There were occasions like commemorations, celebrations when Hungarian school children had to appear in white pioneer shirt (special white buttons with a flag engraved into it), black pants (black skirt for girls) and wearing your red tie (a small whistle with a rope was also an accessory, but it was not required to wear). Sometimes (and especially in the 1960s and 70s) you had to wear the red tie with your smock, but that was not common.
HBC note: HBC is unsure how the blue smocks/jackets are decribed in the Hungarian film. A Do the boys in this school view their outfit as a smock or do they use another term. Unfortunately HBC does not know how the garments in the film are categoriozed. HBC reader from Hungury definitetly refers to them as smocks. The Hungarian word is: iskolaköpeny.
One HBC reader writes, "I was very interested and surprised to see those boys in smocks
as I always thought smocks were a specific feature of the mediterranean countries. Wondering also wheather one should qualify these as smocks as they have only a very limited protective
action. They seem to be more like a kind of jacket, maybe derived and simplified from some traditional hungarian farmers clothing. If you look at the picture with one single boy wearing that smock, would you guess it is a smock?" The reader asks a good question. In fact it is somewhat difficult to define the word smock. Front buttoning short smocks are rather like jackets. School smocks have a double role, bring uniformity in clothing among pupils and serve as protection for the clothes worn under the smock. In the case of the Hungarian smocks this is only partly achieved. We could call these semi-smocks, or apronised jackets, or Hungarised Russian blouse etc...
HBC can only offer a few guide lines to differentiate smocks and jackets. (Perhaps HBC readers can suggest other differences. We have included follow up comments from HBC's primary smock consultant.
Buttons: Smocks always have buttons, never zippers. Our smock consultant agrees, but points out, "It's merely a timing coincidence, if smocks were still as widely worn as in the past, surely some would appear with zipper closures.
Collars: Smocks do not generally have collars, although a separate collar can be attached as in Italy where socks are worn with wide white collars and floppy bows. Boys commonly wore their shirt collars over their smocks, but rarely over their jackets. Our smock consultant pointsd out, "There are school smocks with collars, although they are, as HBC points out, not very common.
Length: Smocks can be short, but they always extend below the belt line. Some jackets are as short as waist level.
Usage: Perhaps most importantly, a smock is worn by a school class indoors and outdoors, even when it is warm. Jackets are only worn outdoors and never in warm weather. Our smock consultant agrees, at least for younger children. He points out, however, that boys from around 14-15 years could keep jacket in classroom because jackets had pockets! "It occured with my class mates in a Swiss collège (secondary school)."
Waistbands: Smocks never have waisbands as some jackets do. Our smock consultant agrees. He points out, however, that many smocks had cloth belts, almost always in the same material as the smock itself. The lack of a belt is probably a major reason why our smock consultant hesitates to concur that they are really smocks.
Weight: Smocks are light weight garmenrs without insukation as some jackets have.
Navigate the HBC School Section:
[Return to the Main national school smock pages]
[Return to the Main Hungarian school uniform pages]
[Return to the Main Hungarian smock pages]
[American]
[Argentine]
[Bolivia]
[English]
[French]
[]
[Jamaican]
[Portuguese]
[Spanish]
[Swiss]
[Turkish]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Smock-related pages:
[Pinafores]
[Fauntleroy suits]
[Fauntleroy dresses]
[Sailor hats]
[Park outings]
[French page]
[Renoir page]
[School smocks]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[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]
