The School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen: First Communion Outfits


Figure 1.-- Here we see the children at the School of the Cathedral Mary our Queen are seen here in 1945 for First Communiom. The boys wear dark Eton suits with Eton collars. The girls all wear fancy white dresses. Notice that here the girls wear veils.

The suits and dresses of the children varied over time. We are not sure what the children wore in the early 20th century, but we do have images available from the mid-20th century. Portraits are only available from the 1940s. Boys were wearing dark short pants suits with Eton collars in the early 40s. I'm not sure if the boys are wearing Eton suits, but they look like the suits without lapels that were popular for younger boys. They clearly are wearing Eton collars. Some of these suits by the 1940s were also worn with Peter Pan collasrs. They began wearing white short pants suits in 1947. They were wearing white long pants suits in 1962. The girls mostly wear white dresses, but not as fancy as the minatire wedding dresses we have seen some children wear.Available images show how First Communion outfits at the school varied overtime.

The 1940s

Portraits are only available from the 1940s. Boys were wearing dark short pants suits with Eton collars in the early 40s. I'm not sure if the boys are wearing Eton suits, but they look like the suits without lapels that were popular for younger boys. They clearly are wearing Eton collars. Some of these suits by the 1940s were also worn with Peter Pan collasrs. They began wearing white short pants suits in 1947. With the white suits, footwear varied. The girls mostly wear white dresses, but not as fancy as the minatire wedding dresses we have seen some children wear. In some years the girls are dressed more uniformily than in others. The 1940 portrait shows some girls wearing regular instrad of shite dresses. Later portraits show the girls wearing junior wedding dressdes with veils.

The 1950s

The boys wore the short pants white suits for First Communion throughout the 1950s. We can't make out much of the styling, but the suits do not seem to be Eton suits and we do not note Eton collars. The boys wear white ankle socks. We note only a few boys wearing white kneesocks. The only difference seems to be the shoes. Many bots wear saddle shoes, but this vasried from year to year. The firls wear fancy white dresses. We note very little difference from year to year. As far as I know, First Communion was virtually the only time girls wore the dresses. Boys may have worn their white suits for some other occassions.

The 1960s

The boys in 1960s wore the same white short pants suits that they wore in the 1950s. They also wear them with saddle shoes as they did in the 1950s. The school changed the boys' outfits so that in 1962 they are wearing white long pants suits. The girls wear the same fancy white dresses.

The 1970s

No information available.

The 1980s

The boys in the 1980s wear a variety of mostly dark suits. The boys wear vsariously colored neck ties sith white shirts. Some boys wear white slacks or other colored slacks. Both grey and khaki slacks were popular. The girls wear fancy white dresses.





HBC





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Created: 9:16 PM 7/24/2005
Last updated: 9:16 PM 7/24/2005