the

age for them, so in consequence poor boy was condemned to skirtlike garments still later into life and might be wearing such tunics when he was in his teens. This is especially so of boys reared and educated at home, or boys being petticoat punished the in those days. as was vogue

age

But the smock on tunic was not confined to little boys in Britain in this intermediate stage. For the smocklike garment was in almost universal use on the continent of Europe for its schoolboys. Schoolboys in France, Italy and Greece and other Mediterranean countries used to wear them. At one time quite big boys used to go to school in them, that is until they were about fourteen years old, but as the years passed the at which they were to be worn to school gradually got pushed back to boys in kindergarten and primary schools, and today very few boys at all wear them. These tunics used to be worn over very short trousers, so short that in many cases the smock covered the trousers and it looked as if the boy ere wearing a dress. In many countries the smocks for boys and girls were black, the girls wearing a pinafore over them, although in primary school in Germany even the boys used to wear a pinafore as well. But in France there were greater varieties of shapes, 38

styles and colors.

Smocks on tunics for boys and girls were made in three patterns on styles. First, buttoning down the front in the modern laboratory style. This style seemed more 'grown-up' but had the disadvantage of revealing what was worn under the smock more, especially if it was still girlish underwear and not boys' shorts! Second, buttoning on the side, from hem to shoulder, left for boys and right for girls on the Continent (in Britain boys' clothing buttons on the right and girls' on the left). This style of buttoning at the side was considered more childish to wear

than the front buttoning one.

The third style was the most childish of all, since it buttoned right down the back, and if lower buttons were not fastened could reveal almost as much as the front fastening. It was, of course, more childish and made the wearer feel more childish, in that, it made him or her mone dependant, since it was difficult to reach all the buttons and so the wearer had to have help in fastening his tunic and so would feel still a child having to be helped to be dressed. If the tunic on smock was used for dress discipline purposes, a refinement could be to have tapes at the neck and waist which could be tied in

39