Figure 1.--This state school had iniform fr the boys of grey shirts and gray shorts. We are not sure when this photograph was taken, but believce it was the late 1970s or early 80s.

We have only limitedinformation on the scholl uniform pants worn in Australian schools at this time. They appear to be very similar to thise worn in Britain. We notice some different styles and conventions beginining to appear especially after World War II.

Chronology

Most Australian school booys wore short pants until well after World War II. This was not always because of school uniform requirements. Most Australian boys normally wore school uniforms. Afte World War II short pants increasingly became part of uniform requiremets. Shorts were commoin at both primary and secondary schools. Changing educationsal policies after the ar meant more Australian children were attending secondary schools. School unifirm regulations were often strictly enfirceced. By the 1970s school uniforms were becoming more casual and he regulations relacked. more boys began wearing long pants, especially at secondary schools.

Pants Types

Short pants

Most elementary school boys wore short pants, even when not required by the schools. Most private prep schools adopted traditional English style uniforms and required grey shorts. Flannel was common until the 1960s when Terrelyn worsted became wiely accepted. Some schools had grey cotton shorts which might be worn seasonally. The boys at the state school here look to be wearing grey cotton shorts. A few prep schools used khaki shorts. Boys at public elementary schools wore a wide range of shorts. Secondary school boys until the 1980s also mostly wore short pants and some still do, especially during the spring term.

Long pants

Shortpants were commonly worn at both primary and secondary schools until after Word War II. After the War, especially in the 1960s, long pants began to become more common, especially at secondary schools Here there were some differences between private and sate schools.

School Types

Material

Color

Grey has been the most common color for school pants. This was especially the case for long pants. School shorts were also commonly grey, but we have also noted black, blue, and khaki shorts.

Seasonality

We note tht many Australian schools had different types of shorts done in different materials and weights for seasonal wear. Longs were not done in seasonal vrsion. We believe the same convention was used at some Australian schools, especially those in the south. We do not know, however, how common this was. Schools in the more tropical north did not need seasonal uniforms.

Created: March 9, 2004
Last updated: March 9, 2004