New Zealand schools from the onset of the country's educational system in the mid-19th century adopted English clothing styles. When uniforms were adopted, they followed English styles. As a result, New Zealand uniform trends are quite similar to English styles. This continued until after World War II (1939-45). Since the War, New Zealand schools have retained some classic English styles even after they had disappeard in England. Most New Zealand secondary schools continued to require short pants long after older English boys no longer wore them. Many schools still required them even in the 1990s.
New Zealand was colonized by Britain in the 19th century. The school system was basically the English system transported to New Zealand. Most early teachers were English. The schools from the onset of the country's educational system in the mid-19th century adopted English clothing styles. When uniforms were adopted, they followed English styles. As a result, New Zealand uniform trends are quite similar to English styles. We have not yet been able to find much informaion about the 19th century.
New Zealand school portraits were done in black and white right up to the late 1970s and sometimes even the 80s. The ones for high schools and Intermediates are all quite boring in that they are all almost identical and don't change over the course of decades, especially after World War I (1914-18). The photographs from primary ones, since they didn't wear uniforms, show much more clear changes decade to decade which tell a lot about New Zealand society and norms.
We note school photographs from the 1930s. Children do not wear uniforms at primary schools, although we note the boys often wear a mixture of school uniform garments. At primary schools virtually all of the boys wear short pants and many are barefoot. All of the girls wear dresses, but only a few are barefoot. Most New Zealand children in the 1930s did not get beyond primary school.
New Zealands connections until the 1940s were mostly with Britain. This was not only political, but also economic and political. The 1940s were a sea change for both Australian and New Zealand. Both countries looked upon Britain and the Royal Nasvy to protect them. Britain was, however, unable to do so. It was the U.S, Navy that saved them. Large numbers of American service men began arriving. The First Marine Division that launcherd the Allied Pacific offensive was deployed from New Zealand. The impact was to expand the countries horizons and changes in many sconomic and social areas. Before the War the educational system was basically a British clone. After the War we begin to see somne very Americamn looking shifts in New Zealand education. The one aspect that remained very British was the uniform.
New Zealand school uniforms and clothes before World War II in general were almost identical with English clothes. By the 1950s American styles clothes had begun to appear in New Zealand, but school uniforms continued to be almost entirely English styles. There were some differences. Many boys went barefoot in New Zealand which was not common in Britain. Also even older teenagers wore short trousers which was not common in Britain. There were some concessions to climate. Blazers were not as common in New Zealand as in Britain. Also closed-toe school sandals were not as popular in New Zealand as Britain. This was in part because so many children went barefoot as also because the style for some reason was not as popular. The modern rubber flip-flop was invented in Auckland in the 1950s. Known in locally as jandals, they are an iconic part of New Zealand culture.
All New Zealand school photographers began for some reason to place the girls in front rather than boys beginning in the 1960s.
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We begin to see some color photographs from New Zealand schools in the 1970s. The children at state primary schools continued to wear their regular clothes rather than school uniforms (figure 8). Thus we see a good sampling of popular childten's clothing styles in the primary school portraits. Boys wore colorful t-shirts and short-sleeved checkered shirts. They almost always wore short pants. Girls still commonly wore dresses. Brightly colored clothes were popular for both boys and girls. Girls often wore sandals or flop flops. Boys commonly went barefoot. Long hair was popular with the boys, especially in the secondary schools, but we also see long hair at primary schools. The Catholic schools and some private schools were integrated into the state system during the 1970s. Thiswas part bof the Labour Party's efforys to eliminaste or at least reduce the private system which they consdidered elitist and disrimnatory. The integrated schools were allowed to retain their Catholic character. Unlike the state primsries, children sat the Catholic schools wore uniforms. British style uniforms continued to be standard at private schools and state econdary schools.
The integration of Catholic schools and a number of private schools continued in the 1980s. As part of that process, the schools were allowed to retain their unique religious character. New Zealand as only a small private (independent) sector. An improving economy and concerns about preceived declining standards in the state sector created increased interest in private education. The schools uniforms changed little in the 1980s. Few state primary schools adopted uniforms. The children commonly came to school barefoot. The Catholic and private primaries (preparatory) schools as well as intermediate and secondary schools did have uniforms. The English influence continued, although there was a trend toward casual styles. The preparatory schools commonly had blazers and wore ties, at least during the winter term. A few still had caps. Children at the intermediate schools wore basic uniforms like the secondary schools. The private secondary and state secondary schools had similar uniforms, often includinng short psants and knee socks for the boys. The private schools tended to have more elaborate uniformsd including blazers. Many schools had seasonal changes in uniforms. This ocurred at both the state and private schools. The specific seasonal changes varied from schools to schoos. The major change was often from light-weight grey summer shorts to heavier-weight shorts. There was also a change from Romasn sandals to shoes. Ties were also commonly dropped during the summer. The girls might change from wool skirts to cotton summer dresses.
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New Zealand's two political parties continued having differences over education. The National Party attempted to improve education by dropping school zones in an effort to increase competition. There were few major changes in school uniform trends in the 1990s. Few primary schools at the beginning of the decade had unifoms, except for the Catholic schools and the private schools. This began to change at mid-decade and many primary schools began adopting uniforms. This trend was particulasrly proounced in the cities. School uniforms continued to be commonly worn in the secondary schools. Some schools relaxed the requirement that boys wear short pants and a few schools fropped uniforms. Most schools, however, continued to require uniforms. The most observeable change was that the short cut shorts worn in the early 1990s had become quite long cut shorts, often bsaggy, by the late-1990s (figure 10).
The New Zealand school uniforms regulations vary greatly among different schools. A New Zealand reader in 2001 reports that some New Zealand school boys continuw to wear short trousers to the end of High School (about 18 years old). This is especially prevalent in the summer months. In the winter term many boys, especially the oler boys wear longs. It is relatively common to see young lads in this type of outfit riding motor scooters to school. The
younger boys mostly cycle to school and thus wear "helmets" by law. New Zealand boys have different attitudes about thr uniforms. Some thought it was OK to wear shorts. Most wore shorts came to the top of their knees and the socks were puled right up. Others boys, especially chubby boys seem to hate wearing them. Perhaps they were less comfortable or it was the way they looked. Oten tall boys also isliked wearing shorts. Basically, as soon as boys get home, they take the uniform off and change into clothing that looks like that in the Unite States--Addidas, etc. Shorts were not overly in evidence on weekends either, they tended to wear cargo pants and blue jeans. At some schools now, especially in the country, the uniforms are gone...and in other schools, students are complaining about wearing shorts. The punishment for coming to school improperly dresse is they were refused entrance to class and had to sit in a room by themselves (detention). Parents are becoming involved, and it looked as thought the kids might win this one. However to go to a prestigious boys school, they have to agree to wear the uniform--which is still mostly short pants.
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