** Russian Soviet school uniform : garments headwer headwear






Russian School Uniform Garments: Headwear


Figure 1.--Here we see a boy wearing a standard Russian tunic uniform with a cadet cap. a peaked military cap. (Often called a service cap in America.) There looks to a colored band, provably red, but no insignia. The portrait is undated, but was probably taken around 1910. Notice what looks like a diploma he is holding. The other child wearing a smock looks like a boy, bu is presumbly his sister. This is suggested by the wide-brimmed hat and the fact that her hair has not been cropped close like her brother's hair. It is not clear if she is going to school. The children seem to have brought their sleepy pooch with them.

We have some informatiom on Russian schoolwear including heaswear. Our first inmages are from the 19th century. But mostly we have 20th century images. This includes both Tsarist ( -1917) and Soviet (1917-91) images. We note both uniform and non-uniform caps. The uniform caps were paked-caps and garison caps. The riles seem structier during the Tsarist era. We see boys during the Soviet era wear more varied caps. There was uniform style, but not all the boys wore the proper uniform style. We see some boys wearing berets, but they were not a uniform item. We have mot yet found any images on modern Russian headwear. Interestingly there was some contunity between the Tsarist and Soviet styles, especially the peaked military cap. We only see Russian boys wearing caps to school. We do not see hats, although our 19th century archive is limited. We do have a number of images from the Tsarist early-20th century era. The cap we see had a leather peak, done like the uniform caps of those worn by officers in the Tsarist Army. They appear to be replicas, but we see them being worn at many schools. It is the only country we know that used this style of military peaked cap in World War I. It looks more like a World War II cap. The boy here is a good example (figure 1). The Germans also had a peaked cap, but their's were styled differently. Russian boys wore both peaked military caps and garrison campaign caps. The peaked military caps were very common during Tsarist period. It was the primarily military style item, but this varied from school to school. It was often worn with tunic-like blouses. We are not sure if they had a dress cap or wore the same cap year round. The garrison caps appeared after the Revolution. We are not sure yet just when. It was also use by the Young Pioneer youth group. They were less expensive. We still see the peaked caps in the 1950s and 60s. The boy on the previous page is a good exmple. We no longer commonly see them by the 1970s. We are less sure about the caps or hats worn by the girls. After the Revolution girls education became more important. But the girls did not wear military syled uniforms like the boys.

Chronolgy

We have some informatiom on Russian schoolwear including headwear. Our first inmages are from the 19th century. But mostly we have 20th century images. This includes both Tsarist ( -1917) and Soviet (1917-91) images. We only see military styles in the 19th century. This is probanly because the 19th century photographic record in the 19th century is primarily composed of the wealthy and urban middle class--a relatively narrow strata of Tsarist society. So we have picures of boys in their school uniforms. They wear various styles of military uniforms, always with peaked caps. We don't know much about the schools, but the only caps we see are peaked military caps we see are these peaked military caps. (Often called a service cap in America.) There are differences in the detailing, but the basic choice was always the same -- the peaked military cap. This continued until the Revolution (1917). Suddenly we no longer notice this style in schools, although this nay reflct our limited archive. After the Revolution and the Civil War (1918-21), the Bolsheviks began building Soviet society. A major effort was to expand the the school system. We see many more children going to school. We can think of few achievements of Soviet society, but expanding public education certainly was one of them. There was some effort at requiring uniforms, but the poor economic conditiions because of socialist econmics made that difficult. Interestingly there was some contunity between the Tsarist and Soviet styles, especially the peaked military cap which e bgin to see at schools after World War II. War II undid much of the economic gains that have been made. Conditions improved after the War and the cap that boys wore was the peaked military cap (1950s). They were not as universal as was the case before the Revolution. We see brothers at the same school wearing different caps. We are not sure why this was. The only reason we can think of is that the schools tolerated differences because the caps were expensive. These military style caps seem to have gradually disappeared in the 1970s, but we do not yet have details.

Types

We only see Russian boys wearing caps to school. We do not see hats, although our 19th century archive is limited. We note both uniform and non-uniform caps. The uniform caps were peaked-caps and garison caps. The peaked caps, often called service caos in America, were a carry oevr from Tsarist times. The cap we see had a leather peak, done like the uniform caps of those worn by officers in the Tsarist Army. They appear to be replicas, but we see them being worn at many schools. It is the only country we know that used this style of military peaked cap in World War I. It looks more like a World War II cap. The boy here is a good example (figure 1). We do have a number of images from the Tsarist early-20th century era. The Germans also had a peaked cap, but their's were styled differently. The peaked military caps were very common during Tsarist period. It was the primarily military style item, but this varied from school to school. It was often worn with tunic-like blouses worn by Tsarist soldiers. We are not sure if they had a dress cap or wore the same cap year round.After the Revolution we see fewer uniforms and childreen wearing their own clthes ro schgool. This involved a range of caos, including berets. The garrison cap was unique to Soviet times. The garrison cap is a form of Glengary cap. The garrison caps appeared after the Revolution. We are not sure yet just when. We see it first with the Young Pioneers. We see other youth groups wearing them. The first we think was the Hitler Youth in Germany. The American Boy Scouts adopted them after Wotld War II. We see some Soviet school boys wearing them , but we see some Soviet boys after World War II wearing them to school. They were less expensive. We see peaked mikitary casos afain after Workd War II. The prestige of the Red Army presumably was factor. We see therse peaked caps in the 1950s and 60s. The garison caps do not seem as common as the peaked caps, but this ios just pur preliminary assessmnt. The boy on the previous page is a good exmple. The school rules seem strictier during the Tsarist era. We see boys during the Soviet era wear more varied caps. There was uniform style, but not all th boys wore the proper uniform style. Until after World War II many boys especially in rural areas did not wear uniforms to school. And we see different kinds of headwear. Berets seem a popular choice. We see some boys wearing berets, but they were not a uniform. We do not see the girls wearing caps or hats. The hairbows seem more important. We are not yet sure what tyhe children wore on butter cold days.

Seasonality

Russia of course is a northerly country. And famous for snow and cold weather. Children durely would have worn cold-weather caps to school during the winter, but we do not yet have much information on this. We know tht children did have cold weather headwear. We are unsure just how schools with uniforms addressed this issue. We have not yet found suitable photographs.

Gender

We are less sure about the caps or hats worn by the girls. We notice girls attending primary school in various group portaits and paintings during Tsarist times. We do not, however, notice many studuos of girls in school unifiorms. There are quite a number of boys in their school unifiorms as we see here (figure 1), but not the girls. We see the primary focus on boy's eduction during the 19th century throiughout Europe and America, bu in the West this was changing. It seems to have been less the case in Russia during Tsarist times. After the Revolution girls education became much more important. Women rarely reached leadership poitions in Soviet society, but by the time of World War II, these were achieving the same educatiinal levels as the boys. The girls did not wear military syled uniforms like the boys. They wore dark dresses with starched white pinafores. We do not notice headwear. One issue with girls are the large hairbows girls often wore which do not go well with caps and hats. We see lots of hazirbows, but rarely headwear.







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Created: 6:53 PM 3/11/2016
Last updated: 11:17 AM 1/3/2022