SCHOOLBOYS' CLOTHES [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR] SIR,—I feel
that I am very brave—and perhaps rash—in taking up the cudgels on behalf of a section of the community who will themselves be the first to criticize my action and to
resent any interference with long-established custom. But these are the days of emancipation from old and uncomfortable and unhealthy clothing—tight corsets, for instance, have dis- appeared, obviously to the great advantage of the rising generation, as far as girls are concerned. One has only to notice the greatly improved physique—as shown in dances and drill in girls' schools even in poor neighbourhoods where, owing to bad housing and other adverse conditions, a C3 population is growing up.
When we come to the boys, however, the same improvement is not shown—from the waist downwards their development is distinctly inferior to that of their sisters, and the cause is not far to seek. Whereas a girl's dress is supported from the shoulders and there is, therefore, no constriction round the
waist, the boy wears a belt round his middle—and a fairly tight one, too—as it has to keep up, and down, and in, a con- glomeration of garments : drawers, vest, shirt, knickers. The sensible and useful " combination " garment is taboo in
most preparatory schools. " Whatever you do, don't send him back in the combies—it's as much as his life is worth ! "
was the advice of an experienced mother. Braces, too, seem to be considered " impossible " for small boys. Apart from the discomfort of this belt it is obvious that if worn as tight as it must be, in order to be efficient, its use may lead to digestive troubles—and later on to varicose veins (which kept back so many recruits in the late War).
Boys will not complain—it is for parents and headmasters to find some simple solution for this problem, and if some sensible preparatory school would take the lead, the pernicious belt might disappear, replaced perhaps by another kind, gripping only the back portion of the knickers after the fashion of flannel cricketing trousers.
The problem is more hygienic than sartorial, but eminently worth the consideration of parents of all classes.—I am, Sir, &c., M. F. S.
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