Harrow School: Trditional Uniform


Figure 1.--Here we see a portrait of a Harrow boy in games kit. The portrait is undted, but was probably taken in the 1880s. It was a black and white photograph that has been colorized. Notice the huge necktie knot and the button-down collar.

The Harrow uniform took its tradition form in the 19th century. The formal Harrow school uniform can be seen on the social class page. Some Harrovians wore light-coloured waistcoat, which were permitted to wear with their Eton suits on special occasions. Eton boys were restricted to buttonholes. [Note: I wrote this sometime ago and am now unsure what was meant by this.] We note boys wearing both top hats and boaters. The Eton suit continued as the dress for juniors at Harrow into the 1960s. In addition to the formal uniform we note caps and blazers worn for games. Here we see a portrait of a Harrow boy in games kit. The portrait is undted, but was probably taken in the 1880s. It was a black and white photograph tht has been colorized. Notice the huge necktie knot and the button-down collar. This is the earliest image of a button-down collar that we have succeeded in collecting to date.

Formal Uniform

We have some information about the school uniform at Harrow. We are not sure when a formal uniform was first instituted. We are unsutre about headwear un the 19th century. We note boys wearing both top hats and boaters at the turn of the 20th century. We note Harrow boys wearing what we might call an Eton suit, although we are sure the Harrow boys would have not described them as such. By Eton suit we mean a short, dark jacket worn with lighter-colored long trousers. The detachable Eton collars worn with the suit seem less severe than those worn by Eton boys, although our archive is very limited at this point. We are not sure just when this uniform was adopted, but we note them in the 1870s and they were being worn into the 1930s. The Eton suit continued as the dress for juniors at Harrow into the 1960s.

Games Kit

Games meaning sports was very important at public (exclusive private) schools like Harrow. We are unsure just when games kits became formalized. We suspect this was in the late 19th centuiry as the basic sports (rugby and cricket) did not become formalized uinil the mid-19th century. Major styles came out of the sports kits of the public school, especiallu peaked caps and blazers. Here it was not just Harrow, but Harrow was one of the important scgools where these styles developed. we see a portrait of a Harrow boy in games kit (figure 1). The portrait is undted, but was probably taken in the 1880s. It was a black and white photograph tht has been colorized. Notice the huge necktie knot and the button-down collar. This is the earliest image of a button-down collar that we have succeeded in collecting to date.






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Created: 11:33 PM 6/2/20062
Last updated: 10:51 PM 4/15/2008