Figure 1.--This large format caninet card portrait (14 1/2" x 10 1/2") was taken in a Turkish primary school. We see a group of very young Turkish school children, both boys and girls. They wear white uniform. It could be a private school. A few of the children hold onto toys and one is on a bicycle. A pair of men in Fezes stand at the rear. Photo is taken inside a large rug tile decorated building perhaps. We know it is not a mosque because of the way the children are dressed and the fact boys and girls are mixed together. It would have been taken in the 1920s both because of the toy car and the adults are wearing fezes. Atatürk was ending the wearing of fezes. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest og the group.

HBC is not yet sure what types of clothes or uniforms that boys wore to school during the long Ottoman period. Girls education was more limited. And our infomation even on modern Turkey is limited. We have found a few useful school portraits. The Atatürk Reforms were launched with the new secular school system (mid-1920s). Smocks were intoduced as the school uniform, but we are not sure just when. We see children wearing smocks with wide Peter Pan collars. We are not sure precisely when this occurred. There appear to be some changes in styles with boys now often wearing front buttoning smocks. A HBC reader reports in 1995, "I went to Turkey recently and during a long journey on a bus I noticed what Turkish boys wear to school. As our bus stopped for a short period near a school at 'leaving time'. Elementary boys tend to wear only a short school smock, usually blue with white Peter Pan collars with a small version of the Turkish flag on each collar. Some differ with double buttoned fronts and some have a single line of buttons along the back. They wear no noticeable other uniform garments apart from this. Senior boys tend to wear black shoes, long grey trousers, a white shirt and a solid colored tie, i.e., usually blue red or black. On one occasion I noticed a boy wearing a tartan tie in a different town."

The 19th Century

HBC is not yet sure what types of clothes or uniforms that boys wore to school during the long Ottoman period. Girls education was more limited. As part of the Tanzimat Reforms (1839-76), the Ittomans began to give some attention to public education. Our information, however, is limited.

The 20th Century

Our infomation even on modern Turkey is limited. We have found a few useful school portraits. The Atatürk Reforms were launched with the new secular school system (mid-1920s). Smocks were intoduced as the school uniform, but we are not sure just when. We see children wearing smocks with wide Peter Pan collars. We are not sure precisely when this occurred. We see Turkish dark school smocks in the 1950s. We think, however, thatthis began earlier. There appear to be some changes in styles with boys now often wearing front buttoning smocks. A HBC reader reports in 1995, "I went to Turkey recently and during a long journey on a bus I noticed what Turkish boys wear to school. As our bus stopped for a short period near a school at 'leaving time'. Elementary boys tend to wear only a short school smock, usually blue with white Peter Pan collars with a small version of the Turkish flag on each collar. Some differ with double buttoned fronts and some have a single line of buttons along the back. They wear no noticeable other uniform garments apart from this. Senior boys tend to wear black shoes, long grey trousers, a white shirt and a solid colored tie, i.e., usually blue red or black. On one occasion I noticed a boy wearing a tartan tie in a different town."

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits] [Knicker suits] [Smocks] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers] [Blazer] [School sandals]

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Created: 4:05 AM 2/9/2019
Last updated: 2:51 AM 5/15/2020