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A variety of different materials are used for British school uniforms. The materials have varied over time. Flannel was once a very important material. It was used for both blazers and trousers. Gaberdine was once widely ised for overcoats. Artex was a popular material for casual summer shirts. Many schools by tge 1970s had short pants made from Terylene. It was a popular material, because inlike flannel, it permanently kept the crease. Some schools had corduroy uniforms or at least corduroy shorts.
Artex was a popular material for casual summer shirts. Some were done similar to polo shirts.
Some schools had corduroy uniforms or at least corduroy shorts. This appears to have been a popular choice at some of the schools with more informal uniform standards. Corduroy is a hard wearing cotton fabric that required less care than many other fabrics. A few had uniform made up of matching corduroy lumber jackets and short pants. Sometimes this was just the ordinary school uniform and the boys had blazers for special occassions. At other schools it was the uniform for all occassions. More common were schools that just used corduroy for the oants, both short and long trousers. The corduroy was done in different colors. Blue and grey were the most common, but we also noticed tan colored corduroy. We think corduroy was more common in the 1950s, but quite a few schools still used corduroy in the 1980s.
Flannel was once a very important material. It was used for both blazers and trousers during both the 19th and 20th centuries. Flannel was still common after World War II into the 1950s. This began to change in the 1960s as
Terylene Worsted began to be introduced. The Terylene looked much smater than the flannel and was easier to obtain. And scholls tend to be conservative institutions, slow to change. And our readers tell us, there were some positive features of flannel. "The photographs in the eBooks seem to date from the 1980s, i.e. before shorts got longer again. By that time prep schools had almost all abandoned flannel shorts and Terylene had become the most important material for school shorts and trousers. Terylene was a more resilient material, ie less susceptible to damage, but at the same time being less protective of the person. My experiences of prep school and then public (independent) school
run from 1952 to 1961 (the 2-year period 1961 to 1963 saw me in a different school for 6th form and back to being a dayboy). The school did indeed specify the material to be worn, but towards the end of the end of the 1950s an alternative material was grudgingly conceded. By the mid-1960s flannel had disappeared for long-trousered suits (by then worn from not much older than 11, whatever the boy's height) and it did not last too much longer for those still in shorts. In those days central heating was rare indeed in domestic properties and even in offices and factories, let alone schools, heating systems were far from efficient. Thicker clothing was therefore a necessity, even
though in summer it was something of a burden. We did have a summer outfit, when the headmaster declared summer to have come officially." We noticed very few schools by the 1980s that still had flannel uniforms, especially flannel trousers. Many schools did have flannel blazers. Only a few schools had flannel shorts. Cricket whites, however, were often still done in flannel.
Gaberdine was once widely ised for overcoats. We noted only a few schools by the 1980s that still had gaberdine overcoats.
Many schools by the 1970s had short pants made in Terylene. This was a brandname similar to Dacrin. It was done in a Terylene-wool blend. It proved a popular material for both suiting and trousers. Gradually after World War II (1939-45), synthetic fibers were developed. The research done after World War II and in the 1950s on polyester resulted in the development of Terylene. Terylene polyester staple fibre began to be used in staple-fibre form in blends with both natural and other synthetic fibres to produce a wide number and variety of woven and knitted fabrics for apparel wear. The most popular schoolwear fabric in England proved to be Terylene/wool, a blended weave uing polyester and wool. It was used for a variety of school garments, including suits, blazers, trousers. and skirts--especially pleated skirts. Through the 1950s boys most wore flannel blazers along with shorts and long trousers to school.
Terylene is made in a variety of weights. It is more closely woven and harder than wool flannel. It may have a slight nap on one side. Experts report that it tailors very well. It presses well and holds a hard crease.
Terylene began replacing flannel in the 60s. Terylene It proved to be a popular material, because unlike flannel, it permanently kept the crease which made them look smarter than the flannel which had to be ironed.
