Figure 1.-Here we see boys at an American school around the turn-of-the 20th century. The boys here all wear double-breasted suit coats. Other boys in the school ore single-breasted jackets. |
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Children used to dress rather formally for school, especially school children. We see many childre in both oprimary and secondary schools wearing suits of various style to school. This varied by country and the age of the children. After World war I, children began dressing less formally for school, especually primary school children. Gradually secondary school pupls also began dressing less formally. As a result we see fewer children weaing suits to school. An exception here was private schools. Many private schools continued to require the pupils to dress more formally, in some cases wearing suit. Here a popular alternative was the blazer. Legend has it that blazers first appeared on a British naval vessel, the HMS Blazer in preparation for a visit by Queen Victoria. Some authors insist that they have been unable to find evidence of the HMS Blazer. They maintain that this is fiction and that the blazer originated in the bright jackets worn by a rowing club. The term blazer originaing in comments such as, "I say, Percival. Did you see that chap's jacket? A bit of a blazer, eh what?" What ever their origins, blazers were adopted by British school boys and came to become the primary uniform element of generations of school boys. A great variety of colors and striped blazers were worn by British boys from the 1920s through the 1970s. The cost of the blazers and a trend of simplifying the uniform caused many schools using blazers, primarily preparatory schools, to retire the more expensive striped blazers. Most secondary schools continue to require blazers, but it is usually a basic black one.
Children used to dress rather formally for school, especially school children. Children in the 19th and early 20th centuries commonly wore suits to school. After World War I, children began dressing less formally for school, especually primary school children. Gradually secondary school pupls also began dressing less formally. As a result we see fewer children weaing suits to school.
We see many childre in both oprimary and secondary schools wearing suits of various style to school. The trend varied by the age of the children.
This varied by country.
Children in the city were much more likely to dress formally for school. This was certainly the case in the 19th and early 20th century. We see many children wearing suits to school. Younger children wore a variety of specialized suits. Children in rural schools some times wore suits as well, but many dressed quite casually. We see many American children in the early 20th century, for example, wering overlls. We see fewer boys wearing suits after World War I, even in city schools. After World War II, differences between urban and rurl children generally disappeared, but the style adopted were casual styles.
Children in the 19th and early 20th centurieds commonly wore suits to school. Yhis included both state and private schools. This began to change after World War I. Childre began dressing more casualy for school. At irst it was mostly younger cildren, but the same trend eventully spread to older students as well. This was a trend at state schools, but privateschools commonly contined to require more formal clothing. Some private schools had dress codes, others adopted actual uniforms. Often this meant wearing a suit or sports jackets. Many British schools adopted blazers.
We note boys wearing a wide variety of formal outfits to school. Younger boys wore a range of different suit styles. Here the sailor suit was especially popular, but we see a lot of other styles. Some boys even wore Fauntleroy sits to school. Older boys wore standard sack suits. Here there were a variety of suit syles. Boys wore reflecting the popular styling of the time. We see single- and double-breasted jackets with rageod styling. They were worn with knee pants, short pants, knickers, and long pants. Many private schools adopted suits as part of a uniform. This was epecially true in Britain where grey suits were a popular choice. Another popular choice at British scholls was the blazer. alternative was the blazer. Legend has it that blazers first appeared on a British naval vessel, the HMS Blazer in preparation for a visit by Queen Victoria. Some authors insist that they have been unable to find evidence of the HMS Blazer. They maintain that this is fiction and that the blazer originated in the bright jackets worn by a rowing club. The term blazer originaing in comments such as, "I say, Percival. Did you see that chap's jacket? A bit of a blazer, eh what?" What ever their origins, blazers were adopted by British school boys and came to become the primary uniform element of generations of school boys. A great variety of colors and striped blazers were worn by British boys from the 1920s through the 1970s. The cost of the blazers and a trend of simplifying the uniform caused many schools using blazers, primarily preparatory schools, to retire the more expensive striped blazers. Most secondary schools continue to require blazers, but it is usually a basic black one.
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