Figure 1.--The maternelle children here are all dressed up in white outfits for the end of year exercizes in 1952. Most of the boys wear plain white shirts ad shiort blouses. Often at these events they wore blouses. One boy is wearing a romper outfit in the back row with a triangle. We arenot sure if it is a romper suit or a white shirt and romper pants. There are two girls next to him and one maybe two boys with longish hair as I doubt girls would wear shorts in 1952. The girls wear white dresses, but no hairbows. This was materbnelle at the École Saint Roche in Paris.

The boys at maternelles wore short pants or romper outfits, often sometimes with smocks as well. The gender difference grually became less pronouncd. The outfits seem quite varied, seviceable play clothes for everyday wear. The garments were sometimes similar as they were the popular styles for younger children. We see different designs, patterns, and colors. We see some of the boys dressed like very young boys in juvenile toddler styles while other boys were dressed more like older primary-level boys. We see boys wearing rompers, smocks, and pants. The prevalence of these different styles have variedd over time. We rarely see rompers worn in primary school, but until the 1970s, quite a few boys wore them. They were common in maternelle, but only the boys wore them. Smocks were also common, but unlike the rompers, they were also widely worn in primary school. Gingham was a popular material. Most of the boys not wearing rompers wore short pants, some times under smocks. The girls commonly wore dresses, sometimes with smocks. We begin to see a few boys wearing long pants by the 1960s and even some girls wearing them a little later. We also note dressy outfits for special events such as graduation. A popular choice for these outfits during the 1950s and 60s was dressy barboteuses for the boys and white dresses for the girls. White seems a popular color. For regular school days the children often wear brightly colored clothes, but for specialnoccassions we sometimes see white outfits.

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Created: 3:12 PM 2/6/2013
Last updated: 3:12 PM 2/6/2013