Beautiful girl in USSR school uniform. School uniform of the USSR: description, photo. How did school uniforms appear in the USSR?

Recently, two Russian ministries - the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Education and Science - proposed new versions of school uniforms to the government, but for various reasons they were once again rejected by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets. Meanwhile, 2.5 years have already passed since the decision of the president introduced compulsory school uniforms in all secondary educational institutions in the country. As before, in the Soviet Union.

However, school uniforms did not always exist in the USSR. Until 1948, students wore regular clothes to classes, and the traditional uniform, considered a bourgeois relic, was abolished.

From the history of school uniforms

Mandatory uniforms for gymnasium students were approved back in 1834 and included in the general system of civilian uniforms of the Russian Empire. Two years later, the Regulations on gymnasium uniforms for girls were developed and approved.

A tunic, belted with a wide leather belt, a cap, shiny metal buttons, emblems and piping - in style and color, the uniform of high school students in Tsarist Russia resembled a military uniform. The obligatory outer uniform, the overcoat, also added to the similarity. The schoolgirls’ uniform was not much different from their outfits pupils of boarding houses for noble maidens, at the same time resembling the work clothes of maids. In this form, school uniforms for boys and girls existed in Russia until the revolution of 1917 and were preserved in the first year of Soviet power. The only change affected outerwear: a uniform overcoat for boys became optional.

The uniform dresses of schoolgirls were of the simplest cut; they included white (on holidays) and black (on weekdays) aprons, as well as a white lace cape, which in the USSR was transformed into a removable collar. Senior schoolgirls also wore white gloves. An interesting point: the age of the girl could be determined by the color of the uniform. Thus, the youngest students of the “preparatory” classes, who were from 5 to 7 years old, wore brown dresses (this color of school dresses later became the main color in the USSR). High school girls from 8 to 10 years old were required to wear blue or light blue dresses. Secondary school girls aged 11 to 13 wore gray uniforms; senior high school students - white.

How did school uniforms appear in the USSR?

In the post-war years, a certain boom in “universal uniforms” arose in the Soviet Union, when entire departments were dressed in uniforms. It was then that they remembered about schoolchildren - so in 1948, the Soviet school uniform arose, which in cut, color and accessories was actually copied from the uniform of the Tsarist high school students and high school girls.

School uniform for boys

Created in the image and likeness of the uniform of pre-revolutionary high school students and approved in 1948, the school uniform for boys existed unchanged until the end of May 1962 - that is, until the end of the school year. On September 1 of the same year, the boys went to school in an updated uniform, which lacked a tunic with a waist belt and a cap with a cockade.

The new uniform completely lacked elements of “militarism”: instead of paramilitary clothes, the boys received a gray wool-blend civilian suit: a single-breasted jacket with three plastic buttons and classic trousers. A white or plain light shirt was recommended under the jacket.

In 1975, the boys' school suit again underwent significant changes. The gray fabric was replaced with dark blue, the jacket with a classic denim jacket in favor of the “denim fashion” that was flourishing at that time. The cut of the school trousers has not changed, but the jacket is decorated with shoulder straps and chest pockets with flaps resembling a brace in shape. Plastic buttons were replaced by aluminum ones, and a patch like a military chevron with the emblem of enlightenment appeared on the sleeve: an open book against the backdrop of the rising sun.

Upperclassmen now wore a classic navy blue pantsuit with a blue emblem on the sleeve. In such elegant suits, the guys looked quite handsome, arousing keen interest not only among their classmates, but also among girls from middle and even junior classes. True, the stylish image was somewhat spoiled by the not very aesthetic emblem, which, moreover, quickly wore off and took on a sloppy appearance. Therefore, the high school boys simply cut it off.

While a significant transformation of the boy's school suit was taking place, the girl's uniform remained the same: a brown knee-length dress with a white detachable collar, a white festive apron and a black casual apron remained until the early 70s. The only slight change concerned the length of school dresses: they became shorter.

Author's digression

According to the rules, the uniform dress was just above the knees. But which of the girls followed these rules? In my memory, no one, including me. Moreover, at one time my mother and I had a silent duel: she unbent the hem of her school dress, and I stubbornly folded it again. Then my mother, without saying a word, seizing the moment while I was not looking, went through the same procedure again: unbending the hem and carefully steaming it with an iron through damp gauze. This went on for some time until I got tired of this silent argument - and then I took drastic measures: I simply cut off the hated piece of fabric. Mom had to come to terms with it. And it became just like in the photo.

The last change in the girl's school uniform of the USSR era was in 1984, when for high school girls, instead of traditional brown dresses, a blue three-piece suit was introduced: a pleated skirt, a vest and a jacket with patch pockets. Individual elements of the costume were allowed to vary: the skirt was worn either with a vest or with a jacket, and in some areas of Siberia, the Far North and the Leningrad Region, the skirt was allowed to be replaced with trousers in winter.

In addition to the everyday uniform, in Soviet schools there was also a ceremonial pioneer uniform. For the girls, it was a white uniform shirt with long sleeves, aluminum buttons and a pioneer emblem on the sleeve, and a gray-blue slightly flared skirt. Boys did not have a separate pioneer uniform, but for special occasions a white shirt and uniform trousers were provided. And, of course, the dress uniforms of both were crowned with a pioneer badge and a pioneer tie. This uniform was worn during ceremonial pioneer events: festive lines, detachment and squad gatherings dedicated to some important event, etc.

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In 1994, three years after the collapse of the USSR, compulsory uniforms in Russian schools were abolished. For 19 years, starting in the spring of 1994, a school uniform was an optional attribute of schoolchildren throughout post-Soviet Russia; its presence or absence was regulated by the internal rules of each individual school or by order of the school director. Several years ago, the president, by decree, returned compulsory uniforms to Russian schoolchildren. But this decision, like many others, remained only on paper. How and by whom it will be fulfilled, and whether it will be fulfilled at all – we’ll see.

The unified Soviet school uniform in our country was introduced during the Stalin era. The USSR school uniform for boys was gray and consisted of trousers and a shirt, similar to a soldier's tunic. This was complemented by a wide belt with a massive buckle and a cap with a cockade.

The USSR school uniform for girls continued to consist of a brown dress and an apron. The dress was brown, perhaps because this color suits a business environment, helps to concentrate, and does not distract attention from study.

During the era of Stalin, strict morals reigned in our country. This also applied to school life. Even small experiments with the style or length of the dress were strictly punished by the school administration. In addition, wearing braids with bows was mandatory for girls. No haircuts were allowed.

In the 1960s, Soviet school uniforms for boys changed.

First-graders boys went to school on September 1, 1962 in a gray wool blend suit - trousers and a single-breasted jacket with three black plastic buttons

And in the seventies there were changes again

Now for primary schoolchildren it began to consist of a jacket and trousers in dark blue. The trousers became narrower, and the jacket resembled a modern denim jacket in its style. The buttons were metal and white. They were made of aluminum. On the sleeve of the jacket was sewn a soft plastic emblem with a drawing of an open textbook and a rising sun.

In the early 1980s, uniforms for high school students were introduced. (This uniform began to be worn in the eighth grade). Girls from first to seventh grade wore a brown dress, as in the previous period. Only it was not much higher than the knees.
For boys, trousers and a jacket were replaced with a trouser suit. The color of the fabric was still blue. The emblem on the sleeve was also blue.

Very often the emblem was cut off because it did not look very aesthetically pleasing, especially after some time - the paint on the plastic began to wear off.

Soviet school uniforms for high school students were of fairly good quality and inexpensive. Men willingly bought it as clothing for work. Therefore, the USSR school uniform for high school students fell into the category of shortage in those days.

For girls, a blue three-piece suit was introduced in 1984, consisting of an A-line skirt with pleats at the front, a jacket with patch pockets and a vest. The skirt could be worn with either a jacket or a vest, or the whole suit at once. In 1988, the wearing of blue trousers in winter was allowed for Leningrad, regions of Siberia and the Far North. Also, girls could wear a pioneer uniform, which consisted of a dark blue skirt, a white blouse with short or long sleeves and a pioneer tie.

A mandatory addition to the school uniform, depending on the age of the student, was the October (in primary school), Pioneer (in middle school) or Komsomol (in high school) badges. Pioneers were also required to wear a pioneer tie.

In addition to the regular pioneer badge, there was a special option for pioneers actively involved in social work. It was a little larger than usual and had the inscription “For active work” on it. And the senior pioneer badge, which was a regular pioneer badge against the background of a red banner.

See also other posts in the series :

Old foreign cinema. Leaders of Soviet film distribution. Part 1	Drinks of our childhood	Yards of our childhood	Soviet stationery	How they bought gadgets in the USSR	Legends of video salons	Bicycles of our childhood

The question of the need for school uniforms still remains open. He has many opponents and supporters. Today in Russia a uniform has been introduced that is very similar to the style in which school uniforms were created in the USSR, although parents and children have the opportunity to choose styles, colors, and quality of fabric.

The main argument of opponents of the school uniform is the assertion that it deprives a person of individuality and does not allow self-expression. Supporters of the uniform argue that it disciplines children and motivates them to study. Both are right.

Today it is fashionable to wear a Soviet-era school uniform for the first and last bell. This is a tribute to the past and an immersion in the history of school uniforms. The photos presented on the site will help you remember how the school uniform of the USSR arose, and what it was like a few decades ago.

In pre-revolutionary Russia

The school uniform of the USSR is rooted in the history of uniforms for schoolchildren in Tsarist Russia. The year of reference is usually called 1834. It was at this time that school uniforms for boys were introduced, as shown in the photo. Under Nicholas the First, it was very similar to the military uniform.

Girls acquired uniforms much later - in 1896. At this time, students of the Smolny Institute had to wear a uniform, which depended on the age of the girls:

• 6-9 years – brown;
• 9-12 – blue;
• 12-15 – gray;
• 15-18 – white.

In 1918, after the revolution, school uniforms were abolished and called “a relic of the past.” However, there were other reasons for this:

• the state did not have the money to sew identical clothes for all children;
• the uniform was associated with the upper classes;
• it limited the freedom of students.

The stage of “formlessness” lasted until 1949.

For boys

After the Second World War, school uniforms were introduced as compulsory clothing for students. During the time of I. Stalin, the uniform for boys was very similar to the clothes of high school students: a tunic and woolen trousers, as shown in the photo.

In 1962, there was a reform in clothing for boys. Now it was a gray wool suit, but the military style remained in fashion for a long time. In addition to the gray suit, the young men wore caps with cockades and a belt with a badge (see photo).

In 1973, another reform of boys' clothing took place. The color changed: the suits were now dark blue. This is clearly visible in the photo. Iron stripes, buttons and cuffs were added to them. Two chest pockets remain from the uniform of earlier times.

In 1980, the previous trousers and jacket were replaced by wool suits. The color remains the same. Pioneer paraphernalia is added - red ties, as in the photo.

The school uniform was completely abolished in 1992, but today this tradition has been resumed, and each school has the opportunity to independently choose the color and style of clothing for students.

For girls

The USSR school uniform for girls remained practically unchanged and reminded many of the clothes of the students of the Smolny Institute. The photo clearly shows long dresses and neat aprons with frills that almost covered the skirt of the dress.

During the time of I. Stalin, the uniform for girls was a brown dress with a skirt below the knees and an apron. Subsequently, blue dresses appeared. The everyday apron was black, and the formal apron was white (see photo).

To prevent the student’s outfit from seeming gloomy, white cuffs were sewn onto the sleeves and collar. When they became dirty, new ones were sewn on. The hairstyle consisted of braids in which bows could be woven.

There could be differences in the color of dresses in different republics. For example, in the Uzbek SSR, girls wore blue dresses and aprons. However, otherwise, experiments in the style and style of school uniforms could be severely punished.

It wasn't until the 1980s that students' skirt lengths became a little shorter. At the same time, blue three-piece suits were introduced and rules regarding hairstyles were slightly relaxed. The photo shows what were the latest changes in the style of school uniforms during the Soviet era.

Despite significant differences in school uniforms in modern educational institutions, the tradition of wearing Soviet-era dress uniforms in honor of significant events in the lives of students is being renewed.

In the USSR, school uniforms changed several times, and I will remember my 80s.
For girls, the classic brown dress with a collar, apron and cuffs had a certain variety of variations (for example, the collar could be “shirt” or “stand-up”). There were two aprons (or aprons, as they were also called) - black for everyday wear and white for festive occasions, and they were tied at the back with a bow.
Initially, aprons were used to protect dresses from ink stains (in case something happened, not the entire dress had to be washed), and then this accessory became established as a traditional one. It was the most important decoration of a girl's school uniform, since the styles of aprons varied. And also a variety of lace collars and cuffs that were hemmed to dresses.

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A certain variety of aprons and cuffs with collars allowed schoolgirls not to look like “incubators.” At the same time, some girls by April-May were still switching to dresses with short sleeves - I don’t know whether they had a “second set”, or whether the existing sleeves were cut off.
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What also allowed girls to be different was that school uniforms were different in different Soviet republics, and wearing the uniform of other republics was not prohibited. Moreover, it was very fashionable and was considered a kind of chic. And it was considered super cool to have the uniform of socialist countries.
According to the model, the girl's uniform of high school girls of the mid-80s differed in the following way across the republics of the USSR:
- girls in the RSFSR had a three-piece suit: an a-line skirt with pleats in the front, a jacket with patch pockets and a vest (in the regions of Siberia, the Far North and for some reason Leningrad, since 1988, girls were allowed to wear trousers in winter).
- the uniform of the Ukrainian SSR was a long wide skirt and a blouse-jacket with a belt;
- in the BSSR the uniform was in the form of a sundress with a pleated skirt bottom,
- and so on across the republics: half-sun skirts, pleated skirts, and in the Baltics, for example, skirts were in a dark large check.

Alexander Vasiliev (“Splin”), 1982

The most common boy's Soviet school uniform for primary and secondary classes consisted of trousers and a blue jacket, which was similar to the classic denim jacket. And on the side of the sleeve there was an emblem patch made of soft plastic with a drawn open textbook and a rising sun.
After washing, this paint on the patch began to wear off, and usually the emblem was torn off (there was another option - to rip off the top of the emblem, and then an additional pocket for a bus pass appeared). And sometimes the enemies painted on these stripes with ballpoint pens while you were doing physical education.

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Well, in addition to the school uniform, they were supposed to have October, Pioneer or Komsomol badges and a Pioneer tie (although many also stuck pins and all sorts of multi-colored diodes-triodes into the collars of their jackets).
And the buttons on this uniform were white aluminum, gold-plated aluminum, and (rarely) blue plastic. Aluminum white buttons had one peculiarity - if you sprinkled them with chalk and rubbed them on the skin, you got a wonderful bruise very similar to a real one.

From the eighth grade, schoolchildren were required to wear an adult school uniform, resembling a men's trouser suit. It had one peculiarity - unlike girls' school uniforms, it did not wrinkle (girls' skirts always looked wrinkled after school).
Also, all school uniform items were sold separately, and if the sleeves of an old jacket were shiny, you could buy a new jacket without trousers. Or vice versa - trousers without a jacket. The complete school uniform cost, I think, 30 rubles (that’s what my mother remembers, anyway).
Boys were supposed to wear a plain shirt under their uniform, but they also wore checkered shirts and turtlenecks. In high school, they were allowed to wear an adult, dull tie under their shirts.

The boyish Ukrainian school uniform of the mid-80s was very different from the Russian one in both color and cut - it was made of thick woolen fabric of an eerie brown color, with two top options: a jacket or a jacket. In the warm season, it was a bit hot in it, and I couldn’t stand it (and also, unlike the Russian one, there was no sleeve emblem, the buttons were not aluminum, but some other kind, and sometimes “School” was written on them) .
Relatives and acquaintances of my parents from Russia sent me a blue Moscow uniform every year (to at least somehow differ from my classmates). But my peers from the RSFSR thought differently, and my parents constantly bought Ukrainian school uniforms for the children of relatives and friends in Russia.
However, by the end of school I completely gave up on the uniform and wore any trousers and jackets. True, I didn’t risk wearing jeans - we were strict about this, and we weren’t allowed to wear jeans to lessons. And fat people were allowed not to wear school uniforms almost from the first grade - they didn’t have a size.

The girls also complained that their uniforms were hot in the summer and cold in the winter. And they were also “sick” of tearing off these white cuffs every weekend, washing them by hand, and then sewing them on again.
Maybe these dresses were made from uncomfortable fabric, but, in my opinion, they looked very beautiful. Sexy, I'd say. In high school, for girls with normal legs, the dress ended somewhere in the middle of the thigh, or even almost on the butt. In any case, I don’t remember a single dress below the knees of slender high school girls.

Tomorrow is the first of September!!! Inspired by... I reviewed a lot of material and decided to put it together somehow. Here's what happened

History of school uniforms in USSR and R Russia

School uniforms in Russia have a rich history.

At the same time, the development of women's education began. Therefore, student uniforms were required for girls as well. In 1896, regulations on gymnasium uniforms for girls appeared. Pupils of the famous Smolny Institute were required to wear dresses of certain colors, depending on the age of the pupils. For pupils 6 - 9 years old - brown (coffee), 9 - 12 years old - blue, 12 - 15 years old - gray and 15 - 18 years old - white.

To attend the gymnasium, they had three types of clothing provided by the charter:
1. “mandatory uniform for daily attendance,” which consisted of a brown woolen dress and a black woolen apron.
2. dark formal dresses with pleated knee-length skirts.
3. On holidays - a white apron.Girls always wore braids with bows
The charter required “to keep the dress clean and tidy, not to wear it at home, to iron it daily and to keep the white collar clean.”
The dress uniform consisted of the same dress, a white apron and an elegant lace collar. In full dress uniform, schoolgirls attended the theater and the Elenin Church on holidays, and wore it to Christmas and New Year's parties. Also, “no one was forbidden to have a separate dress of any model and cut if the parents’ means allowed such luxury.”
The color scheme was different for each educational institution.
For example, from the memoirs of Valentina Savitskaya, a 1909 graduate of gymnasium No. 36, we know that the color of the fabric of the gymnasium students’ dresses was different, depending on age: for the younger ones it was dark blue, for 12-14 year olds it was almost sea green , and for graduates - brown. And the pupils of the famous Smolny Institute were required to wear dresses of other colors, depending on the age of the pupils: for pupils 6 - 9 years old - brown (coffee), 9 - 12 years old - blue, 12 - 15 years old - gray and 15 - 18 years old - white.

However, soon after the revolution, as part of the fight against bourgeois remnants and the legacy of the tsarist police regime, a decree was issued in 1918 abolishing the wearing of school uniforms. Undoubtedly, in the early years of the Soviet state, wearing a school uniform was an unaffordable luxury in a country devastated by world war, revolution and civil war.

From the memoirs of Valentina Savitskaya, a 1909 graduate of gymnasium No. 36: “The old uniform was considered a symbol of belonging to the upper classes (there was even a contemptuous nickname for a sentimental girl - “gymnasium student”). It was believed that the uniform symbolizes the lack of freedom, the humiliated, servile position of the student. But this refusal of form had another, more understandable reason - poverty. The students went to school in what their parents could provide them with.”
From the point of view of the “class struggle”, the old uniform was considered a symbol of belonging to the upper classes (there was even a contemptuous nickname for a sentimental girl - “schoolgirl”). On the other hand, the uniform symbolized the student’s absolute lack of freedom, his humiliated and subservient position.
The official explanations were as follows: the uniform demonstrates the student’s lack of freedom and humiliates him. But in fact, the country at that time simply did not have the financial capacity to put a huge number of children in uniform. Students went to school in what their parents could provide them with, and the state at that moment was actively fighting devastation, class enemies and remnants of the past.

1945 M. Nesterova. "Study excellently!"

Still from the film "Two Captains"

The October and Komsomol badges remained a mandatory addition to the school uniform. The pioneers added a badge to their pioneer tie. Other types of badges appeared, including award and commemorative ones.