Figure 1.--Here we see two English boys wearing overcoats with their school uniform, probably in the 1960s. They do not look like gabersine raincoats, but soime kind of wool overcoat, perhaps camel-hair coats. It was pat of their uniform.

England is located fairly far nort, but te Culf Stream moderates the temperature. Even so, the winter is cold ebough that children need a coat or heavy jacket. We note English children wearing a wide range of coats and jackets. British boys have worn both long overcoats as well as more informal heavy jacket style coats. This depended somewhat on the type of school and social class. Many boys going to private schools until the 1970s had rather formal overcoats. The gaberdine overcoat was a standard, but not the only style. In fact, the overcoat that many English boys will remember is the gaberdine overcoat. Boys sattending state schools were more likely to wear heavy jackets. Another standard was the less formal duffle coat which was more widely worn and a common choice at both state and private schools. We also notice pea jackets. Many other types of coats have been worn by British boys. In recent years more brightly colored, heavily insulated ski jackets have become popular.

Camel-hair Coats

These coats the boys here are wearing look like camel-hair coats (figure 1). Originally they were called Emir's coats and made from camel hair. The camels winter coat is quite long (15 inches) and easily made into warm fabric. The fabric originated in those countries that slaughtered camels for their meat. Nowadays they would be wool or even a wool /man made fibre mixture. Some are made from cotton.

Cloaks

We had thought that the cloak or cape was a garment associated more with French than English schools. A HBC reader informs us that at some English schools the gabardine cloak was worn rather than a gaberdine raincoat. The cloak was also worn in the equivalent melton or woolen cloth. These were also usually hooded, some hoods being permanently attached and no collar, others being permanently attached below a collar, and some being detachable. HBC has not noted cloaks at very many English schools. We do note them being worn by a few cathedral choirs. Some detachable hoods were associated with mandarin collars. Colours included navy, grey, green, and like gabersine raincoats with various hood and cloak linings. For example, navy with gold, royal blue, or crimson; grey with red, gold, green or blue; Green with gold. Generally I think these were restricted to girls although again I do recall some younger siblings wearing them, and even a few adults. The nicest cloaks were really quite elegant. [Clifford]

Duffle Coats

The duffle coat or jsacket was widely worn by British seamen in World War II. It became a popular style for boys after the War and was widely worn through the 1970s. They declined in popularity during the 1980s when ski-style jackets became increasingly popular. It was one of the popular styles to wear to school. several schools adopted the duffle coat as the winter school coat rather than the more formal overcoat. Nrmally it was only the private schools that adipted a winter uniform coat. The ones adopted were normally navy blue or black. State schools even those with uniforms did not normally specify a standard coat style. Many boys did wear duffle coats. Navy blue and black were popular colors as well as ten/cammel. We also notice plaid patterns like the boy here in the 1980s (figure 1). Some schools had duffle coats as part of the uniform. More common was to just set a color and let the children wear the style of coat they desired. One reader, Bill, who attended an Anglican school in London tells us that he much preferred his duffle coat to the official gaberdine overcoat.

Overcoats/Raincoats

Our information on school overcoats is still limited. The best known overcoat was the gaberdine belted overcoat whivh served for both cpd weather and rainy weather. The gabersine overcoat declined in popularity, especially after the 1950s. Some schools still had ivercoats anly in different materials than gaberdine and without the belted style that had once been so popular.

Gaberdine Raincoat/overcoats

For a period in the middle decades of the 20th century, the gaberdine school raincoat formed a distinctive part of British schoolboy clothing. It was of woollen or cotton gaberdine, a close twill-weave fabric with a smooth finish. The raincoat was frequently worn not only for school, but also as general boy-swear. Interestingly, the gaberdine raincoat is the one major element of British school uniform (other than black leather lace-up shoes) which is not derived from some form of sportswear - not surprisingly since topcoats are not typically worn for games! At some schools the gaberdine raincoat was compulsory, some schools even specified the brand. Boys had different opinions about the coats. Some have complained that they were "utterly useless for repelling more than a minute or so of the gentlest rain". Others thought them quite serviceable. While opinions vary, quite a number of HBC readers from England still remember the gaberdine raincoats that they wore as boys.

Ski Jackets/parkas

Brightly colored ski jackets or parkas appeared in the 1970s and are a favorite, especially with the younger children.

Plastic Macs/anoraks

We don't believe that any schools had plastic macs or anoraks as pat of the school uniform. We note that many boys wore wore anoraks to school on rainy days or on days in which it looked like it might rain. A reader tells us that the plastic macs that were worn in the 1960s were all grey, including the ones wirn by little old ladies. They were worn in warm weather as they were very light-weight garments.By the 1970s we see brightly plastic macs call anoraks. They were also popular with Cubs and Scouts.

Other Coats

We have noted some readers mentioned rubber macs, but we do not yet have any conformed reports about such garments.

Sources

Jane Clifford, e-mail message, July 17, 2002.