Figure 1.--.
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Figure 1.--. |
I thought I would give you some information about the uniform we wore and the regulations and traditions at my boarding school in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a preparaory school for boys 8-13 years old.
The basic uniform was long grey socks, garters with green and white ribbons, black shorts just above the knee, white shirt and collar, green and white tie, grey v necked jumper. On Sundays, holidays and when playing games against other schools we wore a black waistcoat and black jacket. When outside we wore a green and white cap, also a green and white scarf. The coat was a black belted rain coat which came down to the knees. Our shoes were black "slip ons" indoors and we changed to lace ups each time we went outside.
The dress code was pretty strict. For instance, although we were not responsible for laundry, we had to press the crease into our shorts
each evening. They then had to be hung upside down over night so that the crease still looked good in the morning. If your socks slipped down you were in trouble so we always had spare elastic garters to keep them up - eventually the elastic would give way. Uniform inspections were frequent - typically before breakfast when we came out of the washroom, after breakfast as part of dormitory inspection,
before each meal and again in the evening before bed.
I read some of the HBC school accounts. It is interesting that a major point of embarassment seems to be having to wear shorts at an older age and having to wear school uniform when out of school. I experienced both of these aspects. One of your contributors talks about the excrutiating embarassment of being seen in school uniform on a Saturday by one of his mother's friends. His comments in those days were absolutely true in my experience. Parents, especially mothers, liked to have their children looking super smart and also very young for their age, hence the emphasis on shorts, suits, school uniform etc. Maybe I was unusual in that, by really loving everything about my school, I was happy to wear school uniform in the holidays when my mother told me to. I would not have normally chosen to wear it, but if told to it was not a problem. Sometimes it just seemed natural to do so because of whatever we were going to that day. Church is an obvious example, but if, for instance, my parents took me out to a restaurant in the evening, I would have worn normal clothes during the day and changed into school uniform before going out without my mother having to tell me. However, I
certainly do now recall the attention it often received, especially, I suppose, when I was older. We did not have the option of wearing long trousers, so even as a sixth former I was in shorts and cap! I do remember my mother's friends talking about me. I also remember sometimes people staring and giggling. Often older people would come up and talk to me in a "shouldn't you have your mother with you -are you lost?" type way. I suppose when I was 16 in normal clothes I looked sixteen, but in uniform I probably looked several years.
I noted the HBC page on linings of shorts and recalled my school shorts. Our shorts had a heavy lining (the shorts themselves were pretty heavy) of good quality material. The masters never knew it but the space between the shorts and the lining was ideal for hiding things. When in our later
teens, for instance, it was perfect for hiding a packet of 10 cigarettes.
Our school also kept our hair very short. That to me was a bit more of a problem. Every two weeks we had en block haircuts. They were drastic! The rule was with your cap on no hair should show except at the back of the head where there could be one inch provided it was neat and did not stick out. It always looked smart, but the problem was when not in uniform it made us look like army cadets on leave. We had an 8 week summer holiday and did not have to get hair cut then, so when we went back to school in September the first weekend was called the Shearing. My parents would tell me to get it cut over the summer, but I tried not to for as long as possible and in that way was rebellious. However, even I could see by late August it was looking pretty messy when in uniform and as the day to return to school got close I felt obliged to at least get it trimmed so that I did not look a complete mess on the train back to school.
As a child, even as a teeneager and young adult (I was almost 19 when I left school) I never really questioned the uniform we wore. We wore it the whole time at school, 7 days a week from 6am until bedtime. In the holidays, most of the time I wore what I wanted to wear, but frequently my mother would have us in uniform as our "Sunday Best". Not just for Church, but when we went to lunch with their
friends, or to the theatre, or to London for the day. I don't remember ever complaining about it, certainly on Sundays at home it was just routine - getting up and putting on school uniform.
I read the debate on school uniforms on your website with interest. Ours was a very very strict but happy school and the uniform played a major role in this atmosphere. As we all looked the same, we felt like a family. At the same time, the high standards gave us enormous pride and made it so that a common spirit was more important than the individual. When one boy let the side down in terms of
appearance, we all felt like we had somehow collectively failed.
Another interesting aspect is the ancilliary uniforms. We had a huge variety of games uniforms, which again had to be kept pristine. We had nightwear (which I think was a little unusual) - grey pajamas with matching dressing gown and slippers. We had a defaulters' uniform - this was the main form of punishment. This was really uncomfortable and very conspicuous - bright red shorts, tunic top and side hat with white socks and plimsolls. The material was itchy (worn straight on the skin other than underpants) and very heavy. It was a double deterrent - shame and discomfort! We also had the strangest overalls for art and craft classes. These were sky blue and were put on like hospital gowns. They covered up from the collar to the bottom of the shorts and were buttoned up at the back, then tied with a tight blue belt around the middle. Finally there was elastic cord fed around the bottom hem and the collar - the buttons and tying of the cords had to
be done by someone else standing behind you. The standard joke was to tie the bottom elastic so tightly that the poor boy could barely
walk!
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