Figure 1.--Many schools in England and other countries have adopted long pants uniforms since the 1970s.

Boys in the 19th century commonly went to school in long pants until the 1870s when kneepants became the standard dress for boys. In England knickers were widely worn until after the turn of the century when boys began wearing short pants. About this time American boys began wearing knickers. Long pants were not worn by American schoolboys until the 1920s when highschool boys began wearing them. Primary boys mostly wore knickers until World War II (1939-45) when more and more boys began wearing long pants. There were no school rules on the pants, it was simply up to the parents. Many schools in the 1950s began adopting school rules, mostly requiring bouys to wear long pamts. In Europe, long pants did not become widesopread until the 1969s, although many Britsh schools still insisted on shorts into the 1980s. School rules were often enforced in England, but less commonly on the Continent.

Created: April 16, 2000
Last updated: December 4, 2000