Figure 1.--Here we see a postcard back portrait of two adult friends or sisters and their sisters. The ladies wear modest (for the period) hats with turned up brims. They wear vests and blouses. The vest were not very common. One has emblems of some sort. The boys all have headwear flatcap, boater, and sun hat). The girls wears an elaborate bonnet with an all-white dress, long stockings, and shoes. They are dressed in shirts, sailor tunic, and sweater. The portrait is not dated, but we would say was taken in the 1910s. The late-1900s is certainly possible. We think that the ladies modest hts, the shoirt-length tunic, the sun hat, and sweater all speak to the 1910s.

Headwear continued to be widly worn. Boys in the 1910s wore different types of headwear, but the caps were the most commo. The peaked cap emerged in the 1910s as the standard cap for British school-age boys. It was a cap with a small peak and rounded crown. It was not universal. We still see flat caps, but it had become by far the the most common style for boys. It became an iconic symbol of English school boys. Boys wore then in and out of school. This was a reflection of the fact that boys unless they came from wealthy did not have large wardrobes. So many boys, especially working-class boys, only had one cap or for that matter one type of headwear for all occassions. Middle class boys would have larger wardrobes, but not like the wardrobes of modern boys. Photographs from the period show large numbers of boys wearing these school caps. Most boys except for the particularly affluent had fairly simple wardrobes and if they had headwear it was commonly a peaked cap. Thus while they came to be called school caps, they were not just worn to school. They were so common that the Scouts adopted the style when they went to create a juvenile or Cub program. The Boy Scout movement approved a junior or Cub program (1916). The Scouts chose a Green cap with gold trim in the style of a school cap. This same style was adopted by many Cub programs all over the world. Boys still wore hats in the 1910s. They were not as common as caps, but they were worn. Younger boys might wear briad-brimmed hats, but this was declining. Somewhat older boys might wear boaters, but this would be when dressing up or in some cases school. The boater is not a practical style for boys. We also notice a soft hat that would evolve into a sun hat or golf hat as it is commonly called today. Except for the sun hats, these hats were generlly seen as a formal style. Headwear was very common at the time even for children, but what boys usuall wirn were caps. Girls on the other hand mostly wore hats and some could be very large and fancy. Here World War I (1914-18). Elaborat fashions that were popular before the War rapidly disappeared as the War progressed as more informal styles became popular, especially after the War in the 1920s.

Prevalence

Headwear continued to be widly worn by both adults and children. We see large groups of children with everyone or nearly everyone wearing headwear. It continued to be nearly universal and this included children. The most common group photos were school portraits, but here the children were often posed withhout their headwear. Other groups posed outside almost always show the children sporting headwear. This was especially the case in the early part of the decade, but was common even during the war years (1914-18). The basic change by the the 1910s was the shift to the school cap. The boys mostly wore what would become an iconic item--the peaked school caps. The diversity of caps seen in the 1900s changed in the 1910s. School caps were becoming almost uniersal for the boys. This was not a uniform matter. Boys at private schools did wear uniforms, but not at the state primaries which most boys attended. Here boys mostly wore school caps even though it was not required by the school as was the case in the private schools. The caps most boys wore were plain. And the boys not only wore these caps to school, but everywhere else, even while playing after school. The girls also continued to commonly wear headwear, but the styles could not be more different than that of the boys. Rather than the simple school cap the boys wore, the girls like their mothers wore enormous flouncy creations when dressing up. We also see a few bonnets. When going to school, tams were more common for the girls. But whatever the style, girls almost always wore headwear.

Styles

Boys in the 1910s wore different types of headwear. We see noth hats and caps. Boys still wore hats in the 1910s. They were not as common as caps, but they were worn. Younger boys might wear briad-brimmed hats, but this was declining. Somewhat older boys might wear boaters, but this would be when dressing up or in some cases school. The boater is not a practical style for boys. We also notice a soft hat that would evolve into a sun hat or golf hat as it is commonly called today. Except for the sun hats, these hats were generlly seen as a formal style. Caps were now the the most commo. The peaked cap emerged in the 1910s as the standard cap for British school-age boys. It was a cap with a small peak and rounded crown. It was not universal. We still see flat caps, but it had become by far the the most common style for boys. It became an iconic symbol of English school boys. Boys wore then in and out of school. This was a reflection of the fact that boys unless they came from wealthy did not have large wardrobes. So many boys, especially working-class boys, only had one cap or for that matter one type of headwear for all occassions. Middle class boys would have larger wardrobes, but not like the wardrobes of modern boys. Photographs from the period show large numbers of boys wearing these school caps. Most boys except for the particularly affluent had fairly simple wardrobes and if they had headwear it was commonly a peaked cap. Thus while they came to be called school caps, they were not just worn to school.

Scouts

Naden Powell adoped a lins of Wrstern weide-brimmed hat fir his Scioting moibement which came y=to ve v=called a lemnon-qqueezer. The school cap was so common that the Scouts adopted the style when they went to create a juvenile or Cub program. The Boy Scout movement approved a junior or Cub program (1916). The Scouts chose a Green cap with gold trim in the style of a school cap. This same style was adopted by many Cub programs all over the world.

Girls

Girls on the other hand mostly wore hats and some could be very large and fancy. Here World War I (1914-18). Elaborat fashions that were popular before the War rapidly disappeared as the War progressed as more informal styles became popular, especially after the War in the 1920s. nglish girls in the 1910s continued wearing broad-brimmed hats when dressing up, almost always with rounded crowns. We see both decorated and undecorated wide-brimmed hats. These hats in the 1910s tended to have down-turned brims, something we did not see to any extent earlier. Younger boys also wore these down-tuned wide-brimmed hats, although the boys' hats were not decorated. . These down-turned brims aee one of the primary way to differetiate between the 1900s and 1910s when assessing undated images. Some less fashionable mostly youngrr girls still wore bonnets which also might be decorated. Tams continued to be the most common headwear for girls. They were everyday wear and still very common for school.

Created: 1:37 AM 10/17/2018
Last updated: 1:23 PM 9/2/2020