Figure 1.--This boy wears a corduroy uniform consisting of a lumber jacket and matching short pants, worn with a blue shirt and tie, kneesocks, and black shoes. |
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Some of the basic garments commonly worn at prep schools have included peaked caps, blazers, white and grey shirts, sweaters, short pants, kneesocks and school sandals. Many other garnents have been worn. Several schools adopted corduroy uniforms. The popularity of these and other uniform garments has varied substantially over time. Eton collars were once de regure, but largely disappeared in the 1920s. Caps were once worn by nearly all boys, but are now worn at only a few schools. Grey shirts were very common for everyday schoolswear. White shirts might be worn for dress up occassions. After World War II siome schools introduced Artex shirts for the Summer term. Sweaters were a staple at most schools where the blazers were not worn in the cassroom. Some schools had corduroy lumber jackets worn with cord shorts. Most boys since World War I wore short trousers, but this began to change in the 1970s as fewer British boys wore shorts, especially during the Winter. Long trousers became increasingly common, especially for the older boys. Boys wearing shorts commonly wore kneesocks called turn-over-top socks. Some schools had the boys wear ankle socks during the Summer term. Sandals were worn at many schools. The most popular style was the closed toe sandal wuth a center strap. They were worn by both boys and girls.
Caps were once worn by nearly all British boys. Both boys to state and private schools wore them. Gradually after World War II they gradually became less common. Some secondary schools insisted that the junior boys wears them, but this generally disappered in the 1970s. Many prep schools contunued to require them, but even at prep scools the 1980s they became less common. They are now worn at only a few schools. The caps that are still wirn are generally solid colored caps, often with the school badge. Usually the cap is done in the same color as the school blazer. Earlier there was a much greater variety of caps. Many had the crown of the cap done in colored wedges. To aminor degree caps survived in games, especially cricket. School colors might be awarded as a cap. The one style worn by boys was the paeked cap. Girls wore a greater variety of styles, including berets, boaters, and tams.
Eton collars were once de regure, but largely disappeared in the 1920s. We note a variety of shirts being worn at prep schools. Grey shirts were very common for everyday schoolswear. They were a popular choice because they do not show dirt as much as white shirts. This varied from school to school. During the 1950s, Rugby-style grey shirts were common, but we did not notice these being worn in the 1980s. White shirts might be worn for dress up occassions. White shirts were also worn at some schools for every day, but grey shirts were a very common convention. Long sleeve shirts were the most common, but a few schools had short-sleeve shirts for summer wear. We note blue shirts being worn ar a few schools as well as a variety of other colors. After World War II some schools introduced Artex shirts for the Summer term.
The school tie has become a very important aspect of school lore. The "old school tie" has become widely discussed my many writers, stressng the importance of attending prestigious schools. We noted was considerable differences from school to school concerning ties. Many schools required the children to wear ties, not only to dress up but during the school day for classes. Quite a number of schools, but a decided minority did not require ties during the school day, but only when dressing up and with blazers or suit jackets. Many schools had more detailed rules about wearing ties. We noted a variety of ties. R=The nost commonon was diagonally striped ties in the school colors. We also noted many schools with solid color ties. A few schools had horizontally striped ties, a style that was more common in earlier year. There were also normlly special ties for prefects and or students who had won their school colors.
Prep schools had both suits and blazer uniforms. This varied from school to school. The suits were almost always grey suits. The blazers were a wide range of splid colors and stripes. The blazers colors included grey. The blazers commonly had a patch pocket where the school creast was placed. Suit jackets were worn without the crest although the crest was often on the cap as well. They were usually worn with grey shorts or grey and black long trousers. There were, however, some exceptions. Some schools had both suits and blazers. The suits would be worn for special occassions and the blazers for everday school. Other schools had one or the other, suits or blazers.
Sweaters were a staple at most schools where the blazers were not worn in the classroom. V-neck long sleeve sweaters were the most common, but a few scgools had sleeveless sweaters. Some others had crew-necks, but the v-neck was by far the most common. We also noted a kind of military style sweater with paffing on one sholdier. The standard was grey sweaters. Many boys wore plain grey sweaters, but sweaters with trim in the school colors were commonly used at many schools. Usually it was the grey sweaters that had the colored trim. Grey was not the only color for sweaters. Seceral schools had blue sweaters. We also noted brown, green, maroon, and red sweaters.
Some schools had corduroy lumber jackets worn with cord shorts. Most of the schools with cord shorts do not hae these lumber jackets. The boy here wears one of these cord uniforms (figure 1). I'm not sure when they were adopted, but appear to hasve been very popular after World War II in the 1950s. Not all schools with cord trousers had these jackets, but a number did. Some used them instead of a blazer. Other schools used this as the every day school uniform, but the boys wore blazers for formal occassions. Some of these uniforms were worn at coed schools, bit only boys wore these jackets. They came in different colors, but the blue-grey color seems to hasve been the most common. Theoretically the jackets should match the shorts and if both are brought at the same time they do. But the wade corduroy fades, there is commonly quite a rang of different colors at the schools where they jackets are worn.
Most British prep school boys boys since World War I wore short trousers. Usually this was grey shorts, but a few schools had a uniform of blue shorts or some other color. his was, however not very common. The shorts were at first flannel, but by the 1960s Terrelyn became more common as less ironing was required. The popularity of chool shorts began to change in the 1970s as fewer British boys wore shorts, especially during the Winter. Most sdchools required shorts all year round, even in the cold Winter weather. Several schools in the 1980s began introducing more seasonally based uniforms. Long trousers became increasingly common, especially for the older boys. Boys normallt wore either grey or black long trousers. Many schools required the boys to wear shorts. Some schools had an age or form limit. Some boys wore shorts even when not required, but most preferred to wear long trousers is permitted to do so.
Many coed schools had shirts which coordinated with the boys pants. They would thus wear many of the same garments that thee boys do, blazers, ties, kneesocks, and sandals. Other than the skirts, one item that was always different was the cap. Other schools had dresses that were entirely different than the boys' uniforms. Some schools had both skirts and dresses which were worn seasonally. Many schools had the girls wear wook skirts in the Winter and light-weight cotton dresses in the Summer.
Kilts were worn at many Scottish schools. This has varied over time. A few schools had the children wear kilts as a normal school garment, but by the 1980s the kilt was normally used as a formal dress-up uniform for special occassions and church. In fact the schools often discouraged the boys from wearing kilts during the day because of the chance of soiling the kilt which is an expensive garment. Headwear was no longer worn with kilts, in part because most schools had discontinued the school cap. The kilts were normally worn with a tweed jacket in a neutral tine. Blazers were worn at some schools, but a short jacket was more common. A white shirt and tie, although often not the school tie. Knee socks were worn with the kilts. This might be the regular school knee socks, but often plain grey or a neutral tan or green knee socks were worn.
Boys wearing shorts commonly wore kneesocks. There were both turn-over-top socks and kneesocks that just came to the knee. The most common color was grey. Many boys wore plain grey kneesocks. Many schools also had kneesocks done with top bands in the school colors. Often girls wore white kneesocks. While English boys almost always wore grey kneesocks, boys in Scotland often wore a variety of colored kneesocks. hile grey kneesocks were by far the most common for schoolwear, there were a range of striped and colored socks for rigby. Some schools had the boys wear ankle socks during the Summer term. At a few schools the children wore sandals without socks during the summer. A few schools had ankle sicks with tops in the school colors, bit these were not very common.
Children at prep schools wore a wide variety of footwear. Here schools varied widely. Some schools set a unifirm type of footwear. Other schools might set guidelines, but permitted a wide degree of variation as to the footwear the children wore. . Normally the children wore different types of leather shoes and sandals. Sneakers (trainers) were not common except for sports, although they were allowed for free time at a few schools. We note many kinds of shoes, both brown and black lace-ups and slips-ons. We also noticed a variety of sandals. Sandals were worn at many schools. The children mostly wore closed-toe sandals, although open-toe sandals were worn at a few schools. There were several different styles of closed-toe sandals. They were worn by both boys and girls. Both boys and girls wore sandals with a center strap like a "T"-strap shoes. The girls also wore strap shoes without the center strap.
Some schools had coveralls for the boys. The ones we noted were blue. This was usually the schools that had the children wear their uniforms all the time they were at school, even after classes and on the weekends. Once the boys pulled on their coveralls they could romp about the grounds without having to worry about getting their uniforms dirty. The younger boys in particular love to build forts/dens in the wooded area of the grounds. This is often a muddy undertaking as it rains so much in Britain. But even if just for used around the main play areas, the coveralls proved very useful. We did not notice a lot of schools which had coveralls for the boys, but several schools did. They would often be combined with wellies.
Prepschool children wear a variety of inclemant weather garments. This usually meant a coat for coldweather and not a rain coat. Many schools had a uniform coat. Many other schools did not have uniform coats. There were a variety of rules about coats at differennt schools. Traditionally children wore the standard gaberdine overcoats. These were the primary choice before World War II and even after the War in the 2950s. These coats make do as both raincoats and cold weather coats. Some schools still have these coats, but they are much less common than was formerly the case. Boys normally wear these coats without hoods, but some for girls have hoods. We note several schools that had the less formal duffle coats which were worn with hoods. These were normally grey or navy blue. We also notice many children wearing ski-jackets, but this was a non-uniform choice.
Sport is a very important part of the prep school program. This varies from school to school, but generally sport is given considerable attention. This of course reflects the program at the public schools that many of the boys will be attending. The varied sports the children do mean that quite a range of sporls kit are needed. The principal sports are rugby, football (soccer), and cricket, but the children do a wide range of other sports activities such as athletics (track and field), golf, gymnastics, rounders, swimming, tennis, tumbling, and much more. This depends on the school as the larger schools have a wider range of sports activities than small schools because of the facilities required. The clothes worn for these activities varied. There were gym suits for physical education. There were varied approaches for afternoon games. The children might wear their gym suits. Some boys took off the shirt. For some sports, specialized equipment was needed and the children wore sports uniforms and equipment. Gym suits were worn for gymnastics and track and field, but more specific outfits are worn for sports like rugby and cricket. While the children put on their proper gym or sports clothes at other times they kept on theor school uniforms and just replaced shoes and sandals with sneakers.
The day children at prep schools often bring satchels or book bags to school--mostly the traditional over the shoulder style. Virtuall all boys had proper leaher satches in the 1960s, but a reader tells us that this was less common for the girls. These satchels had disappeared by the late 1970s when we began our project. Of course in the 1960s there were far fewer coed schools. This wasn't a rule, just a convention. Styles changed in the 1970s and brief cases became much more common. Another change occurred in the late 70s and early 80s and vinyl sports bags becamr all the rage. Here schools generally did not set rules, but just allowed the children to follow the prevailing fashion.
