I'm from Argentina and was born in 1978. As a child I lived in a little town about 100 kilometres from Buenos Aires and went to school there. I started primary school in 1983. I began school right after the disatrous Malvinas (Falklands) conflict with the British. At the time we were having a coup d'etat. As a result of military mismanagement and all the disorders the public schools were a complete disaster. They had neither teachers nor supplies to teach. As a result, my parents decided to send me to a Catholic school. At every private school, students had to wear uniforms. It consisted of: a white short sleeve shirt, blue tie, grey short pants, blue kneesocks, black high-fronted shoes and a navy blue smock. For Physical Education we wore a gym jacket, like those sweaters made of cotton and polyester but with a zip in the middle. We didn't have any caps. Children could wear anything they want short or long pants, dress or gym ones, etc. The also, however, wore obligatory white smocks. The styles were the same as ours. Boys wore frint buttoning smocks and the girls back buttoning one. The only difference was the color.
I'm from Argentina and was born in 1978. As a child I lived in a little town about 100 kilometres from Buenos Aires and went to school there. I started primary school in 1983.
I began school right after the disatrous Malvinas (Falklands) conflict with the British. At the time we were having a coup d'etat. As a result of military mismanagement and all the disorders the public schools were a complete disaster. They had neither teachers nor supplies to teach.
As a result, my parents decided to send me to a Catholic school. At every private school, students had to wear uniforms. It consisted of: a white short sleeve shirt, blue tie, grey short pants, blue kneesocks, black high-fronted shoes and a navy blue smock. For Physical Education we wore a gym jacket, like those sweaters made of cotton and polyester but with a zip in the middle. We didn't have any caps. Smocks were obligatory. Our smocks were all navy blue, front buttoning and a "V" neck. There were no pleats. I don't know whatvthe other boys thought of our smocks. We didn't really discuss them. I myself didn't mind them. I was resigned to wearing them. The girls also wore smocks, but their smocks were different. Their smocks were back buttoning, with pleats, round (closed) neck, but the same blue color as ours. The rest of the girls' uniform was black shoes (any kind), blue knee socks, gray skirt (with pleats), white blouse with a big (english style) collar. [HBC note: Peter Pan collar] The blouse collar was worn over theire smock. They also wore a little blue tie, also over the smock.
Children could wear anything they want short or long pants, dress or gym ones, etc. The also, however, wore obligatory white smocks. The styles were the same as ours. Boys wore front buttoning smocks and the girls back buttoning one. The only difference was the color.
Primary school in Agentina is from 5-6 years of age until 12-13 years. It lasted 7 years. I can still remember my first day of school. I can't say I really enjoyed wearing those clothes. I was at the time a little rebel. At home I was used to wearing my own short trousers, t-shirts and tennis shoes. So, as you can imagine, my mom had to work very hard to make me wear the school uniform. I think I must have had some kind of trauma during those times because I was enjoying the freedom of being home. I enjoyed playing, wearing what I wanted. Suddenly school appeared. School was to me an old building full of un-known people. I didn't like the idea that school was taking my mom away from me for about 6 hours and also I couldn't wear what I wanted.
As I grew older I started to get used to it. Anyway I had no choice in the matter. The main problem as I got older came when Physical Education (PE) appeared. This was not because I didn't wanted to do exercises. It was because on the days we had PE, we had to come to school wearing the gym uniform (blue shorts, white "T" shirt and blue jacket), but using the black high-fronted shoes and taking the sport shoes in a bag. I think it's not just me but that's horrible, I really hated when I had to use that combination of clothes, and today I still can't get used to it.
After school I wore various types of clothes, but mostly casual clothes--both short and long pants. I wore sport or tube socks a lot with shorts. I only wore proper kneesocks when dressing up. I wore jeans a lot, always with sport shoes and t-shirts. I had a short pant suit. It was dark brown, the blazer was straight with two buttons. The short pants were very short. They were way above my knees. I wore it with brown knee socks and black high-topped shoes, but not the same ones I wore for the school. I can't exactly remember how old I was, but I was about 6-7 years old when I got it and 9 when I last wore it. (I used another one just like mine but it was borrowed.) At first I didn't like it, but, I think that maybe because I wore it to parties and and other special events I didn't mind it so much after a while. Most other boys also had short pamts suits. (I'm speaking about mine friends.) One of them had a light blue one, another a dark grey one, another a light brown one, and another had one just like mine. All of them were the same model because as our mothers were friends between them, they bought them in the same place. I wore mine with kneesocks. I was used to school uniform so, wearing kneesocks with short pants and leather shoes was normal for me. I started to wear long pants when I entered the high (secondary) school section of our school. I was about 13 years old.
First Communion is a big deal in Argentina, at least it used to be. I remember that I was very excited At school, we also had catechisms.
We took a little course of 2 years and after it you can take the first communion. We were about 11-12 years old. I took First Communion after taking this 2 years course.
The communion suit we wore was the school uniform but with a blue blazer or suit coat instead of the smock and a big white flower attached on our left arm. I wore a white short sleeve shirt, blue tie, grey short pants, blue knee socks, black high-fronted shoes and a blue blazer.
When I was about to take my first holy communion. We took the first holly communion in the church of the school. It was a strange mix of feelings, mainly happiness, fear and uncertainty of what was going to happen after it. Our complete class group did First Communion together. We wnt to Church as a class, but then go one by one to take it.
After taking it, comes the best part: when you realize that you are worst than before be-cause you start to "sell" the stamps of your communion. Of course, I don't mean sell as really selling them but you give them to your relatives and friends and they give you money or presents.
Other Argentine boys wore many different clothes for First Communion. It depended a lot on social status. The poorer kids mainly wore jeans, various shoes, a shirt or a t-shirt and their white front buttoning school v neck smock. Other boys from more affluent families mainly wore short pants suits. Colors varied, most war dar subdued colored suits like grey, dark grey, brown, dark brown. I don't remember anyone wearing a white suit.
Figure 2.--The uniform at this Catholic school in the 1990s was British uniform styles. These children in 1991 have just moved to the secondary section of the school. They no longer wear smocks and the boys are allowed to wear long panrs. The sweaters look green in this image, but were blue. |
I finished the primary and continued my education in the same school, the uniform was basically the same but with grey long trousers and a blue sweater and coat. The boys wore black leather shoes. Many of the girls wore British-style school sandals.
When I graduated, I was really happy that I didn't have to wear school uniforms any more. After 4 or 5 months I realized that the uniform made me part of the school. It was my uniform and my school and I was proud of it. I don't know it, maybe because you don't appreciate some things until you lose them, or maybe because you do some things without thinking. The fact is that 7 months after my companion and I finished the high school, we went to the college, asked for permission and made a good bye party there and we all went wearing our school uniform.
If you found this account of his boyhood clothes of interest, you might want to have a look at some of the other personal accounts:
Austrlalia
The 1960s
The 1970s
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The 1940s
The 1950s
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Ireland:
The 1980s
New Zealand:
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The 1990s
Norway:
The 1950s
Scotland:
The 1960s
The 1980s (An American boy)
United States:
The 1940s
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The 1940s-50s
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The 1960s