“It’s not for the sake of a ribboned coat”: A History of British School Uniform

Despite a good deal of work on the history of education, uniforms and children’s clothes as separate fields of research, the development of school uniform is an area that has received little meaningful academic attention to date. School uniform is a visibly prominent reflection of, not only, institutional values, but also of wider views and an indicator of cultural change. This thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach to recreate the five hundred year history of British school uniform using archival, commercial and autobiographical sources to discuss trends in design, adoption and change across a wide range of educational institutions. In doing so the importance of social factors and constructs on the education system and school appearances have become apparent, most notable amongst these are class and gender, but also nationalism and religion. This broad approach enables a wider spectrum of influences and processes to be analysed and their impact seen over a longer time period, allowing connections to be made that might, otherwise, have been missed through close focus. The resulting wide temporal framework can also act as a basis in which future research may be situated.