Figure 1.--Boys at this Melbourne school still wear a traditional British-style school uniform, with the exception that the peaked cap has been replaced by the wide-brimmed hat that several Australian schools are adopting.
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Figure 1.--Boys at this Melbourne school still wear a traditional British-style school uniform, with the exception that the peaked cap has been replaced by the wide-brimmed hat that several Australian schools are adopting. |
The primary school headgear in Australia was the traditional British school cap. Boaters were worn at some schools and are still retained by a few schools today. At least one school adopted the bush hat. Becoming increasingly popular, however, are new styles of wide-brimmed hat.
We see Australian children wearing the same headwear as British children through World War II. The basic headwear was the standarded peaked school cap. Some schools had hats like boaters, but these were a relatively small number of private schools. We note another hat style appearing, we think in the 1970s. It was a wide brimmed hat wih a flat top.
We note three different styles of hats being worn as school uniform in Australia.
Some Australian schools have traditionally worn British-style straw boaters. A few scchools still have boaters. Some mostly private schools required boaters for dress wear. The boater has almost disappeared in England where it originated, except at a few private girls schools where younger girls might wear them. A number of Australian schools, however, still use the boater. Interesting as it is difficult to conceive of a more impratical form of headgear for active school boys. Often they are only worn for formal occasions, but some schools require them for every day wrar. They are particularly popular at private schools. Australia is virtually the only place where they are still worn. Conventions vary among the different schools. At some schools both boys and girls wear them, at others only the boys.
One prep school used the destinctly Australian bush hat.
Many Australian schools have introduced new styled wide-brimmed hats. Some new styles of wide-brimmed hats have emerged in the 1990s. This is part because of concerns over the depletion of the ozone hole and rising levels of UV radiation, a particular concern in a country like Australia located so close to the Antarctic and where people, especially children, so enjoy the outdoor life. The styles are being adopted by both private and state schools. We note them at prep schools as well as private and state secondary schools. We are not sure how common they are. Several schools have adopted them, but we do not think they are very common.
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