Figure 1.--Boys at this New Zealand preparatory still wear grey shirts, except for special dress occasions. Some schools require the boys to wear ties even with their grey shirts during the school day. Other schools take a more casual approach.

Several countries, primarily England and former English colonies like New Zealand, commonly wore grey shirts which do not show dirt as well. I'm not sure when the grey shirts were first introduced in England, but it was probably in the 1920s as Eton collars began going out if fashion. They were clearly in wide use by the 1930s. Once they were commonly worn by most English school boys. Two of the most widely worn brands were Viyella and Clydella. They are still worn at some private schools in England, especially the prep schools, but by the 1990s not commonly seen at state schools. New Zealand boys have a seasonal summer uniform of grey shirt and matching grey shorts and commonly wear heavier grey shirts during the winter. They are also still worn in some areas of Australia, especially at private schools.

Materials

An English HBC contributor reports that he attended a state grammar school during the 1960s where the dress regulations stated that boys could wear either white or grey shirts with their regulation navy blue blazers. He wore a nice white cotton/polyester mixture shirt, but many boys in my class wore grey shirts. Nowadays, grey shirts for schoolwear are available in the same smooth cotton/polyester material as is used in white shirts, but in those days grey shirts were invariably made from a rough-surfaced woolly material which to his young eyes looked most unattractive. Indeed, he felt very pleased to be wearing his smart white shirts and not the drab and utilitarian grey variety although he believes his mother's washload was increased, since the white shirts needed changing more often.

Types of Shirts

Wool blend shirts were particularly popular in England through the 1950s and only began to decline in popularity in the 1960s as homes and schools became better heated and easier to care for synthetic fibers appeared. Two of the most widely worn brands were Viyella and Clydella. They are still worn at some private schools in England. Grey shirts are now available in cotton and various easy to care for synthetic blended fibers.

Types of Schools

Grammar schools

A former grammar sdchool boy reports that in the 1960s at his grammar school, oddly enough it was usually the boys from "posher" homes who were sent to school in those "nasty" grey shirts. This was probably because they had attended a preparatory school (as a day boy) before the grammar school, where the traditionally-styled uniform nearly always included such shirts. He believes that their parents thougt that if the shirts were good enough for the prep, they would do for grammar school. The British HBC contributor remembers a particularly posh boy named Clive who wore the roughest and drabbest grey shirts one could imagine.

Comprehensive high schools

Boys at the comprehensive schools which began to appear in number in the 1960s generally did not wear grey shirts. A few boys wore them as there was generally no rule against them, but most boys wore white shirts. Today in England many comprehensives are dropping ther requirement that boys wear blazers and ties and thus more casualmshirts with sweetshirts are being worn. Grey shirts are still quite commion at New Zealand high schools. They are also worn at some Australian secondary schools, but are more common at private schools. Grey shirts have never been worn at American highschools.

Preparatory schools

An English HBC contributor reports that in the 1960s that there were several dayboy preparatory schools in his town, all boasting colourful traditional style uniforms. Almost all the boys at these schools wore grey shirts for ordinary school wear. The reason for this was that the grammar school was a highly regarded institution and all the preps aimed to get their pupils through the eleven-plus examination and into the grammar school. The prep school fees were a good investment, helping to ensure that a boy gained grammar school entrance, thereby receiving a high class secondary education free of charge.

Preparatory schools are very conservative institutions and uniform standards tend to change more slowly than in the general population. As late as the 1970s, grey shirts were still commonly worn at most prep schools. This began to change in the 1980s with schools adopting a much wider range of shirt styles. Even so throughout the 1980s, grey shirts were still the most common single shirt style at the English prep schools. They were even more common in New Zealand prepschools and continued to be commonly worn there.

Public schools (English)

A HBC contributor reports that at his public school (Norwich) during the 1950s that almost all boys wore grey shirts, usually the wool blend Rugby style long sleeved shirts. They were worn in both the winter and summer terms. Ties were always required. This was common at most English public schools. Only in the 1970s did this begin to change, although often the preparatory schools associated with these schools retained grey shirts.

Personal Experiences

The following personal experiences are available:
Grammar school remerberances: England during the 1960s

Created: November 20, 1999
Last updated: November 20, 1999