Figure 1.--The boys at this primary class during 1952-53 mostly wear their regular clothes. A few boys wera the dark school smocks and one boy a light-colored smock. |
|
The school garment most associated with Italy of course is the school smock. Italian school smocks have varied over time. The classic style was a dark blue or black smock worn with a wide white collar and big floppy red bow. Originally smocks buttoned at the back. Many schools no longer require smocks, but a number of Itlalin schools still do. Boys generally prefer front buttoning smocks and this style has become more common. Colors have changed too. Some schools have different colors for boys and girls. Common colors include different shades of blue, white, and pink. While some schools have required students to wear smocks, there seems to have been a wide toleration as to just what the children wore under their smocks. The smock was most common in primary schools. We notice a variety of different styles in secondary schools.
We see many Italian boys wearing sailor suits to school in the late 19th and early 20th century. The sailor suit seems especially popular in the 1910s. Younger children wore smocks, but we see many children in secondary schools, neginng abpit age 11 wearing sailor suit. We note many different styles. We do not notice a dominanant traditional style based on the Italian naval uniform. The poplarity in secondary schools shows that the sailor suit as in other countries was especially popular with middle-class families. Working-class children generally did not go to secondary schools. These wee not school uniforms, but outfits parents chose for schoolwear. Silor suits of course were not the only outfirs selected, but tthy clearly were a popular choice. YThey seemed to have slowly declined in popularity after the early 1920s. We do not yet, however, have detailed chronological information. We still see sailor suits during World War II (1939-45). As far as we can tell, the sailor suit disappeared as a school style after the War. We also notice girls wearing sailor outfits, but not as commonly as for the boys.
The school garment most associated with Italy of course is the school smock. Italian school smocks have varied over time. The classic style was a dark blue or black smock worn with a wide white collar and big floppy red bow. Originally smocks buttoned at the back. Many schools no longer require smocks, but a number of Itlalin schools still do. Boys generally prefer front buttoning smocks and this style has become more common. Colors have changed too. Some schools have different colors for boys and girls. Common colors include different shades of blue, white, and pink. While scome schools have required students to wear smocks, there seems to have been a wide toleration as to just what the children wore under their smocks.
There was never a national Italian dress code for state schools. Many school adopted smocks, but color and other elements were stated by local school authorities. Rules about footwear were nonexistent or flexible. Boys wore both shoes and sandals. About footwear there were many differences. An Italian reader tells us, "My father told me that in his primary school in Naples during the 1930s pupils couldn't attend barefoot. This was not the case throughout Italy. Many children did come to school barefoot. Many schools in Sardinia and Calabria (southern Italy) commonly came to school barefoot until the 1950s and in some cases into the 1960s.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Return to the Main Chronology Page]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
Navigate the Relate Boys Historical Clothing Style Pages
[Rturn to the Main country page]
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Lederhosen]
[Kneesocks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Return to the Main Italian School Uniform Page]
[Return to the Main School Uniform national page]
[Australia]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[Scotland]
[United States]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Cloth and textiles]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
