Figure 1.--Here we see a French girl wearing a smock at home during the Workd War I era. At least it looks like a smock rather than a dress. With girls it is a bit difficulkt to tell.

The smock in France appears to have been primarily a school garment. The popularity has varied over time, but this appears to be the primary usage. The smock was also worn at home. Here there appear to have been gender trends involved. Girls appear yo have worn the smock at home more thn boys, but this varied over time. French boys, perhaps as the school smock was so common, also wore smocks at home more than boys in most other European countries. French boys commonly wore smocks at home. This was particularly common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Little boys still in dresses wore smocks, but also boys in bloomer like knickers and kneepants as well. During this period, once a boy was allowed to wear long pants, he no longer wore smocks. Smocks were probably most common for pre-school boys, but not excluseively. Unfortunately HBC still has very limited information about the extent of wearing smocks at home. As far as we can determine, most boys would take their school smocks off when they came home from schools, but not all boys bothered to do this. Some mothers may have insisted that they take off their smocks to keep them good for school-but again we do not have first hand accounts of this yet. French movies in contemporary scences diring the 1930s-50s sometimes depict boys playing after school. While a range of boys appear in school smocks, usually only the younger boys are shown playing in smocks after school or on family outings.

School Smocks

The smock in France appears to have been primarily a school garment. The popularity has varied over time, but this appears to be the primary usage. School smocks are robably more concerned with France than any other country, although they are now not commonly woren there for school.

Homewear

The smock in France was widely worn for school, but also worn at home to some extent. They appear much nmore commion for school wear, but we do see children wearing them at home both to protect their clothing and for play. Here there appear to have been a range of factors involved, including age, gender, and chronology. We think mwearing smocks at home was more common for girls than boys. Unfortunately HBC still has very limited information about the extent of wearing smocks at home. Wearing soocks at home was particularly common in the late-19th and early 20th-centuries. Most images we have noted show boys wearing school smocks rather than home smocks. Here we have both smocks designed for home wear and school smoks which boys may have worn at home and for play after school. We see quite a number of boys wearing school smocks after school during the early 20th century.

Usage

The smock in France was widely worn for school, but also worn at home to some extent. They appear much nmore commion for school wear, but we do see children wearing them at home both to protect their clothing and for play. We think mwearing smocks at home was more common for girls than boys.

Age

Little boys still in dresses wore smocks, but also boys in bloomer like knickers and short pants as well. During this period, once a boy was allowed to wear long pants, he generally no longer wore smocks at home. This varied somewhat from family to family. Smocks were probably most common for pre-school boys, but not excluseively. We think older boys often took off their snocks after school, other wise we would note more smocks in the photographic record. Here our infornation is still limited.

Gender

Girls appear to have worn the smock at home more than boys. Here we are unsure as to if girls had smocks for homewear or simply wore their smocks after school. This appears to have varied over time. French boys, perhaps as the school smock was so common, also wore smocks at home more than boys in most other European countries. French boys commonly wore smocks at home.

Chronology

Wearing soocks at home was particularly common in the late-19th and early 20th-centuries. Most images we have noted show boys wearing school smocks rather than home smocks. Here we have both smocks designed for home wear and school smoks which boys may have worn at home and for play after school. We see quite a number of boys wearing school smocks after school during the early 20th century. A good example is boys playing after school during World War I. Here we are unsure if mother insisted or the boys just did not bother to change. Clearly not all boys bothered to change. Some mothers may have insisted that they take off their smocks to keep them good for school-but again we do not have first hand accounts of this yet. French movies in contemporary scenes during the 1930s-50s sometimes depict boys playing after school. While a range of boys appear in school smocks, usually only the younger boys are shown playing in smocks after school or on family outings. This began to change by the World War II era. As far as we can determine, most boys would take their school smocks off when they came home from schools.

Outings

While we see some children wearing smocks around the hime, this does nor see to be the case with outings. At least we have not noted it to a great extent in thephotographic record. We see children wearing theur school smocks on the way to school and for a time playing after school. But we don't see the children extensively wearing smpcks away from home and school, althoigh our archive is still limited. And we are still trying to assess such comventions. We note French children wearing smocks in beach settings. As best we can tell, however, these were school groups. What we see seems to be some kind of fied trip or other school activity. We note boys wearing smocks at a fecrrational event apprently clode to hiome, but this was less likely for family vacations and ither events away from home

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Created: 6:07 AM 8/18/2005
Last updated: 2:54 PM 2/24/2021