Knickers
- Place of origin:
UK (made)
- Date:
1942 - 1952 (made)
- Materials and Techniques:
Machine knitted stockinette, elastic
- Credit Line:
Given by Susan Pittman
- Museum number:
MISC.1114-1991
- Gallery location:
In Storage
The earliest school uniforms were those of the charity schools, where they reminded the pupils of their dependence on the generosity of others. At non-charity schools, many of them founded in the nineteenth century, pupils usually had no uniforms, but wore their own clothes. From the late 19th century onward, such schools began to adopt complete uniforms in their own colours, often with a motto and school song, to give pupils a sense of school identity. Competition between schools at sport had popularised the wearing of identifying colours and garments by the teams, and many of the uniform garments were derived from sportswear, including gymslips, ties, scarves, caps and blazers.
