The Heritage of Dress: Being Notes on the History and Evolution of ClothesWebb, Wilfred Mark
History
The Heritage of Dress: Being Notes on the History and Evolution of Clothes
Webb, Wilfred Mark
Clothing and dress; Clothing and dress -- History
Some costumes have probably been in existence since the foundation and
endowment of the schools, and we can find parallel cases in the dress
of some almshouses and hospitals for pensioners. Probably the idea
originally underlying the wearing of a special dress is the same as
is to be seen in modern charity schools, where all the boys or girls
are dressed alike. It must simplify the tailoring and dressmaking
arrangements, but at the same time it intentionally or unintentionally
brands the children. Nevertheless, we see that the boys at most
aristocratic and celebrated schools are in very much the same kind of
boat.
To return to Eton again, we might mention one or two fashions in the
ordinary dress which are curious. It is ordained that the lowest button
of the waistcoat should be left unbuttoned and the bottom of the
trousers should be turned up, while it is part of the performance to
thrust the hands deeply into the trouser pockets. If a boy elects to
wear an overcoat, and he does not occupy a certain definite position or
status in the school, public opinion forces him to keep the collar of
his top coat turned up. Of course, schools generally, and sometimes the
various houses in important schools, make a particular point of school
or house colours.
At Eton, on the Fourth of June, in connection with the boating there
are interesting ornamentations added to the straw hats in the shape
of flowers, and three boys who act as coxswains wear the uniform of
an admiral and carry bouquets. The Fourth of June celebrations were
instituted to take the place of the festival known as the Eton Montem.
The ceremony consisted of a procession to a little hill near Slough,
when many old and interesting costumes were worn.
The custom came to an end in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign,
and its immediate object was the collecting of money with which to send
the head boy of the year to the University. It seems, however, to have
originated in a piece of folk-lore, probably connected with the old
tree worship, but sanctioned by the early Christian authorities as a
semi-religious function. In this connection it is pleasant to think that
flowers seen in the hats on the Fourth of June are a survival of the
green branches and garlands that were once brought back each year from
the Montem expedition.
When dealing with children's dress we ought not to forget the special
costumes that have been adopted in some private girls' schools, nor how
much is being done in them towards disseminating ideas on the subject
of dress reform. For, after all, it is to the women of the future that
we must look if any alteration is to be generally made. The introduction
of exercises in the gymnasium has necessitated the adoption of a
drilling dress in very many cases, but there are schools where such a
costume is generally worn at all times, and others where it forms the
working dress, while long skirts are only put on when no active exertion
is expected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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