Figure 1.--English prep school boys by the 1970s all wore various styles of pajamas, including both ski-style and regular pajamas. I suspect night shirts went out of style at least after Wotld War II if not earlier. The boys also had bath robes which they wore over their pajamas before bed time. You can tell when this photograph was taken because before the 1970-80s it was not common for the children to have stuffed animals at school. A British reader writes, "Gosh I wouldn't have dared take a stuffed toy to school. That must be a very modern picture." HBC is not sure when attitudes toward teddies changes, but it was quite accepted by the 1980s.

We do not have much country information yet. We have information on only a few countries. And as bedtime was less photographed than other aspects of the school day, the photographic record does not add a lot of information to the little that we know. A Belgian reader tells us that he wore nightshirts at his boarding school in the 1960s. Most of our information comes from Britain which had more boarding schools than other European countries. As far as we know, conventions were similar throughout Britain.

Belgium

A Belgian reader tells us that he wore nightshirts at his boarding school in the 1960s. At school the requirement was nightshirts. Many but not all of us wore pajamas at home, but nightshorts were still worn in Belgium. I recall all of this quite destinctly because I had a growth spurt one year. It was rather embarassing because my nightshirt which was already rather on the short side became rediculosly short as I grew taller."

Canada

England

Most of our information comes from Britain which had more boarding schools than other European countries. As far as we know, conventions were similar throughout Britain. Prep school boys in the late 20th century wore pajamas. They also had dressing gowns which ewre worn with slippers. They were worn before the boys went to bed in the evening, especially during the winter. A British reader writes, "I expect judging from my experience at boarding schools (but boys there may just be falling in with peer pressure or convention) that there does seem to be a particular age divide as to what boys wear to bed. Babies are usually just in nappies or may also have babygrows; toddlers tend to be dressed in pyjamas (often thicker fabrics than older children); 5-about 9/10 cotton pyjamas sometimes but not often with underwear as well. After this age boys tend to start to discard the tops and by 11 or 12 have moved to just wearing their underpants/boxers. Some preferring to wear nothing once past about 14 or so. There is a definite cycle as to what boys wear even if the ages vary. Being brought up in a sub-tropical country I wore nothing as a child but wore underpants or boxers once I started to board at 12 as that was what others did. By 16 some discarded their underwear others didn't." Another reader writes, "Most boarding schools stipulate that boys should have/wear pyjamas but from my experience this is often not something which is enforced except in a few schools or with young children so long as modesty is observed when female staff may be present such as Matrons or Nursing staff. With legal principles giving children more right to input into the rules governing them as well as more accommodating regulations it is usually just left to each boy to make their own choice with no direction given by the school or staff whereas in years gone by boys would have been told exactly what they had to wear right down to the colour."

Scotland

We believe that trends were basically the same as in England.

Switzerland

United States

Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits] [Short pants suits] [Socks] [Eton suits] [Jacket and trousers] [Blazer] [School sandals]

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Created: 11:18 PM 4/6/2007
Last updated: 8:18 PM 4/14/2007