Russian School Uniform Garments: Smocks


Figure 1.--Were we see Soviet kindergarden children wearing smocks in the 1930s. This school was located in the Russian town of Kimry, near Moscow. We are not sure how common these smocks were. Notice Stalin's photograph in the middle of the star on he wall.

Smocks are not a garment we generally associate with Russia. We do not notice many Russian school children wearing smocks, either during the Tsarist or Soviet period. We have, however, noted a few images of some Russian school children wearing smocks. We notice both smocks done as uniforms where all the children wear them and other classes where smocks were worn but on an optional basis. We are unsure how common this was in Russia. Smocks appear to have been a garment chosen on an individual school basis. Some images suggest it was a Kindergarten garment, but we see some older boys wearing them as well. The images we have are from pre-World War II Soviet schools. We are unsure about chrnological trends at this time.

Prevalence

Smocks are not a garment we generally associate with Russia. We do not notice many Russian school children wearing smocks, either during the Tsarist or Soviet period. We have, however, noted a few images of some Russian school children wearing smocks. We are unsure how common this was in Russia. We habe only a few images and can not yet draw any conclusions.

Class Level

We do not yet have enough images to know muxh ablout class level and age trends. Some images suggest it was a Kindergarten garment, but we see some older boys wearing them as well.

Chronology

The images we have are from pre-World War II Soviet schools. We are unsure about chrnological trends at this time.

Gender

We note both boys and girls wearing smocks to school. We are unsure if it was more common for girls to wear them.

Requirement

We notice Russian boys wearing smocks at school, both as aniform garment and what looks like a garment optionally chosen by their mothers. We notice both smocks done as uniforms where all the children wear them and other classes where smocks were worn but on an optional basis. Smocks appear to have been a garment chosen on an individual school basis.

Uniform Garments

We note one image of what looks like Soviet kindergarden children wearing smocks. The smocks here were used as a uniform garment (figure1). We are not sure how common this was. Nor do we know if it was a local or regional convention. We also do not know if smocks were used only for kindergrden children. A reader who went to school in Moscow during the 1970s reports that smocks were not worn at any school he recalls.

Non-uniform Garment

We note a few photographs where some boys are wearing smocks, but not as uniforms. Apparently it was the mother's choice as only some of the children in the class are wearing smocks. Other children wear short or long pants. We notice a Moscow school. It looks to be asingle gender (except for the two teachers in the background) school. Or at least the classes were segregated by gender. The boys look about 7 or 8 years old. Three of the boys in the front row seem to be wearing smocks. Unfortunately the image is not real clear. The others wear short pants with long stockings. One boy (front row) seems to be wearing a sailor suit, which I thought had long since been abolished in the Soviet Union as hopelessly bourgeois. Could this class be made of the sons of elite Soviet officials? The boys do not seem to be very expensively dressed or very much spruced up for their photograph. It's hard to be certain, but it looks as though one boy (second row on the extreme right) might be wearing long trousers.








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Created: 6:14 AM 5/23/2005
Last updated: 5:54 AM 5/5/2007