Figure 1.--Here we see some Scottish boys wearing many of the standard school uniform items. At this school, boys who wore short pants did not have to wear ties. . |
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We have garment sections in both our boys and girls school uniform sections. This includes both school uniform items and regular school wear. We have both a boys and girls school uniform/schoowear garment page for those readers primarily interested in specifically boys or girls schoolwear trends. Curiously in the early-19th century, it was virtually unheard of for girls to wear boys' clothes. Girls did not wear boy items. Joan of Arc of course was burned at the stake for doing just that and the idea was seen as abhorent as late as the 18th century. This convention was still firmly in place durung the early-19th century. This only began to change in England when girls' public schools were founded and adopted some boy items in the mid-19th century. It was at this tije that Amelia Bloomer introduced, of course bloomers. And while at first seen as shocking, her bloomders were gradually adopted as girls gym suits. The trend changed decidedly in the 20th century, especially after World War II when girls began wearing many boy items and styles, most prominantly pants and jeans.
Some of the common school uniform garments worn by children around the world are discussed on this page. Some of these garments are destinctive to a specific country or group of countries. Most of the garments, however, are fairly standard around the world. This is in part due to the influence of British schools. Britain had a much larger system of boarding schools than other countries and many of these schools had uniforms. Thus the English uniform garments became widely adopted around the world. Several items worn at the English schools, like blazers, became stand boys' garments. School uniform garments have reflected changes in overall fashions overtime, usually a little behind overall fashion changes. Interesting is the degree to which school uniform styles have remained fairly standard over long periods.
Garments like blazers, ties, jumpers, gym frocks, school sandals, all seem to be English in origin. Some garments were worn by both boys and girls. Others are destincly for girls only. Headwear and skirted garments were destinctly for girls, even here, however there were exceptions. There are destinctie headwear styles for boys and girls. The boys wore pants and the girls dresses, often gym frocks, or skirts. This is the convention in all schools that we know of with uniforms. The colors vary. Blue and gray are the most common. The girls dresses are both solid colors and patterns--almost always plaid. At non-uniform schools in recent years girls have begun wearing pants, both jeans and shorts. Some schools with unforms allow the girls to wear shorts and long pants, but this is not very common. Hosiery and footwear often differed. Many schools have the girls wear white socks, both ankle and knee length. Few schools use white socks for boys uniforms, although we note one school in Brisbane where the boys wear white kneesocks. Some have shoe requirements such as strap shoes or sandals, but this varies.We notice substantial differences in these garments over time and among countries. Not only did the actual garments change, but the gender conventions for wearing them.
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