The law on the introduction of GOST on school uniforms was supposed to come into force on July 1, but "at the request of the workers" was postponed until September 3, 202...
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However, if one of the parents, in the wake of nostalgia for his own youth, believes that GOST will return a single school uniform to educational institutions, we hasten to disappoint - everything is not so rosy and bold. The new requirements of Rosstandart, in fact, concern only the quality of materials for sewing uniforms. The cut and models are still advisory in nature.
It is curious: over the past almost two hundred years, school uniforms have been a clear marker of state health and the well-being of society. Changes in the form for students, or its complete abolition, mark the transition from conservatism to freemen, from a mobilization economy to a civil one. The persistent refusal of the authorities to establish a single standard of school uniform suggests that Russia is still in an ideological gap, deep timelessness: one era has long ended, and the other will not come.
By the way, the first school uniform in Russia was not at all a uniform for boys, but a dress for girls. Uniforms for pupils of the Smolny Institute were introduced by Catherine II. Under the "mother empress," younger girls were supposed to wear coffee-colored dresses, older girls - dresses in blue and gray colors. Young ladies "for issue" put on white long dresses. The dresses were accompanied by aprons, sleeves and pelerinki.
The "Catherine" model of the form - brown dresses and aprons, as you can see, was mandatory for schoolgirls for almost 200 years, until the collapse of the USSR. Until now, this form is considered an example of elegant and strictly style.
The boys got their form much later. A pilot experiment was conducted on students of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum by Emperor Alexander I. For a small group of lyceum students, among whom was young Alexander Pushkin, they developed a children's version of the guards uniform: a dark blue uniform with red cuffs and a red collar.
With the development of public education, the emergence of gymnasiums in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other large cities, the state thought about introducing a single uniform for students. And so, in 1834, Emperor Nicholas I issued the "Regulation on civilian uniforms." This decree officially established school uniforms for gymnasium students of the Russian Empire.
Boys were instructed to go to classes in the uniform of a dark green cloth with a dark blue cloth collar. The uniform was decorated with "gold or silver buttonholes from galun in the districts." Also, gymnasium students wore dark green cloth caps "with a feather in the color of the collar." This form was not cheap, parents of gymnasium students often did not pull the purchase, but then rich trustees of gymnasiums came to the rescue. A single uniform for girls was not provided by imperial decree, as in those years female education was limited to several institutions for "noble maidens."
Obviously, school uniforms were in many ways a children's version of a military uniform. Although, there was also a process of reverse borrowing. For example, under Emperor Alexander II, in the 1860s, compulsory physical education lessons were introduced in gymnasiums. Then these classes were called "gymnastics." A loose shirt with a button-down collar was an element of the gymnasium students' athletic uniform and was nicknamed the "tunic." With this name, the shirt safely migrated to the army, where it became an obligatory part of the soldier's uniform for the next 100 years.
Alexander II, as you know, was a more liberal sovereign than his father, therefore, along with the liberation of peasants from serfdom, he experimented a lot with school uniforms. At the beginning of his reign, Alexander II the emperor replaced the Nikolaev uniform of the gymnasium students with a less militarized dark green half-caftan. Later, the emperor changed the style and color of the school uniform several more times. Finally, I settled on the "Tsarskoye Selo" dark blue color. "Blue beef" - this was the offensive nickname of the gymnasium students in those years (which the future Narodnaya Volya did not forgive the tsar).
The official version of the female form - "Catherine" brown dresses made of wool and black aprons (on holidays - white), was introduced only by Emperor Alexander III in 1886. In those years, there was an interest in mass female education.
Under Nicholas II, the gymnasium uniform became more modern and comfortable. Instead of outdated half-caftans, tunics of dark blue, or gray, were introduced. In the summer, gymnasium students were allowed to wear one shirt, belted with a varnish black belt.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, gymnasiums were abolished, along with a standard uniform for students. The Soviet government issued a decree "On a single labor school," where not a word was said about uniforms. For some reason, the People's Commissariat for Education considered uniform school suits a relic of tsarism and a symbol of the nobility. It is more likely that the young Soviet Russia simply did not have the funds to sew clothes for schoolchildren. Therefore, for about 30 years, students came to classes, just like now: in disunity, who is what. The motley schoolboys of the 1920s and 30s became one of the symbols of poverty and devastation of the interwar period.
After the victory over Germany, in 1948-1949, a comprehensive reform was carried out in the USSR: compulsory seven-year education was introduced throughout the country. At the same time, uniforms returned to schools. Boys in those years wore gray tunics. The uniform was complemented by a cap with a visor, a belt with a buckle and dark boots. Due to a shortage of shoes, boots were sometimes only worn on the doorstep of school.
As you can see, in the postwar years, students again resembled soldiers. In 1954, another element of military uniforms was added to the gymnasts - tunics. Schoolgirls returned classic "Catherine" brown dresses and aprons. Also, the girls received recommendations about the hairstyle: ribbons were woven into pigtails to match the color of the aprons, on weekdays - dark, on holidays - white.
The further the war went into the past, the more peaceful Soviet society became, which affected the models of school uniforms. In 1962, the authorities abandoned military boy gymnasts and tunics in favor of gray half-wool suits. The uniform of British college students was taken as a sample: straight jackets with small lapels and trousers with arrows. Schoolgirls were allowed to supplement the wardrobe with golf and tights.
In 1973-1975, the uniform for boys again changed its color to "Tsarskoye Selo" dark blue, and jackets with false pockets and emblems replaced English jackets. They were sewn on the model of a fashionable jacket-denim. The girls waited for their reform in 1984. Then a three-piece suit was introduced for high school girls, as well as blue blazers, vests and trapeze skirts with folds. There was an intention to introduce plaid skirts into the form, but then in the entire USSR there was no volume of plaid fabric necessary for sewing.
After the USSR suddenly ceased to exist, something familiar happened: school uniforms, under the banner of freedom and democracy, were abolished as a symbol of totalitarianism. Although, probably, the half-dead state again did not have money for mass tailoring. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, students went to school in sneakers, sweatpants or jeans, jerseys or windbreakers.
The new law "On Education," which allowed schools to introduce different forms, entered into force only in 2013 and was advisory in nature. School administrations were offered to focus on the financial situation of low-income families in choosing colors and styles - parents had to pay for the uniform on their own.
The GOST postponed to September 3, 2025 also does not imply a uniform school uniform in the country. Specific styles are not defined in GOST. It is recommended to introduce into the form such basic elements: blouse, vest, jacket, cardigan, jumper, turtleneck, shirt, dress or sundress, skirt, trousers, shorts, overalls or half overalls. The uniform should be sewn in a business style, in secular fashion. "Suspicious" badges, slogans, accessories are prohibited. Patches with state and patriotic symbols are welcome.
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