Figure 1.--This photograph shows how children at St. Patrick's Primary School dressed in 1971. This looks like one class at the school, probably the 10 year olds.
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Figure 1.--This photograph shows how children at St. Patrick's Primary School dressed in 1971. This looks like one class at the school, probably the 10 year olds. |
The students at Patricks Primary School in 1971 wore school uniforms. Apparently it was a recently introduced uniform. The boys wear grey shirts, grey short trousers, and grey kneesocks. The girls wear blue shirts, gymslips, and white kneesocks. Both boys and girls wear stripped ties.
A Scottish primary school is for chilren about 6-11 years. Children from this school would move on to seconary school at about age 11 years. The children in this 1971 photograph look to be about 10 years old. I'm not sure what form this would have been or indeed even if the class is called a form.
Figure 2.--The boys wear the standard British school uniform of grey shirts, stripped ties, grey shirts, plain grey kneesocks, and black lace-up shoes. |
Boys at St. Patrick's wore a simple stanfard British school uniform of striped tie, grey jumpers, grey shirts, grey short troysers, and grey kneesocks. No exceptions appear to have been permitted.
None of the boys wear caps in the photograph of course because it was an inside photograph. HBC believes that by the 1970s it was unlikely that the school uniform included the traditional peaked cap.
None of the boys wear blazers. While private schools for primary-age children and secondary schools usually required blazers, they were not common at primary schools. A few schools did have them, but this was the exception rather than the rule. In particular, it would be unlikely that a catholic primary school would reqwuire them as many of the children came ftrom low-income families.
Most of the boys are wearing grey school shirts. Grey shirts were commonly worn for school as they did not show stauns and dirt like white shirts. Note that the girls appear to be wearing a bluish looking shirt and not the grey shirt that most of the boys are wearing. Also the girls shirts are styled like the boys shirts with pointed collars rather than the blouses with Peter Pan collars often worn by schoolgirls. A few of the boys also wear the bluish looking shirts. HBC is not quite sure what the rule was. All of the shirts are long sleeved shirts, they may have worn the same style both during the winter and summer term.
Figure 3.--Te boys wear plain grey kneesocks without colored tops. Note the boy at the right wearing a bluish rather than a grey shirt. |
All of the children, bith boys and girls wear the same stripped tie. It appears to be a blue, white, and black stripe. One might have thought there would have been a little green in the tie for a school named fter St. Patrick.
None of the children are wearing jumpers for the photograph. It is likely that the uniform did include jumpers which were undoubtedly commonly worn in Scotland. They were probably plain grey pullovers, although they could have had some colored trim.
All of the boys are wearing short trousers. This must hace been a school rule. The shorts the boys are wearing appear to be grey Terelyn school shorts. These boys may have just come from the playground as some appear to have really dirty knees. It they had been wearing long trousers, mum may have done a little fussing when they got home.
The girls wwear a gym-slip tight dress as their school uniform. It has a "V" front so the tie can be seen.
Although St. Patrick's is a Scottish school, there is no indication that any of the boys were wearing kilts. I'm not sure if kilts were permitted, but they were not common at any Scootish primary school known to the authors in the 1970s. Kilts were expensive and reserved for dress occasions. They were most commonly found at private schools. They were priobably even less commmon at Catholic schools because so many of the boys had Irish backgrounds and came from lower income families.
All of the boys wear plain grey kneesocks. None have colored top socks. The girls, however, wear white kneesocks. All but one of the boys has smartly pulled up his socks for the photograph.
Figure 4.--The girls appear to be wearing different colored shirts than most of the boys. The boys asppear to be wearing black lace up shoes. None of the children are wearing sandals. |
All of the boys are wearing black lace-up shoes. As they all have them, it was presumably a school rule. None of the children are wearing sandals.
This photograph was probably taken in May or June. Otherwise they would have been likely to have been wearing their jumpers. All of the boys appear to be wearing shortpants. HBC is unsure if there were any seasonal changes. Given that it was 1971, it is probable that the boys wore the same uniform in the winter as well as the summer term. Of course in the winter they would have had warm coats and jumpers.
This Catholic school clealy had a school uniform regulation and strictly enforced it. The boys uniform was grey shirt, stripped tie, grey short trousers, plain grey kneesocks, and black lace-up shoes. Presumably there was akso a grey jumper. None of the children are wearing unauthorized items. The only confusing item is the shirts as some of the boys appear to be wearing the bluish shirts worn by the girls rather than the grey shirts worn by most of the boys.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer]
[School sandals]