To return to Eton again, we might mention one or two fashions in the ordinary dress which are curious. It is ordained that the lowest button of the waistcoat should be left unbuttoned and the bottom of the trousers should be turned up, while it is part of the performance to thrust the hands deeply into the trouser pockets. If a boy elects to wear an overcoat, and he does not occupy a certain definite position or status in the school, public opinion forces him to keep the collar of his top coat turned up. Of course, schools generally, and sometimes the various houses in important schools, make a particular point of school or house colours.
At Eton, on the Fourth of June, in connection with the boating there are interesting ornamentations added to the straw hats in the shape of flowers, and three boys who act as coxswains wear the uniform of an admiral and carry bouquets. The Fourth of June celebrations were instituted to take the place of the festival known as the Eton Montem. The ceremony consisted of a procession to a little hill near Slough, when many old and interesting costumes were worn.
The custom came to an end in the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign, and its immediate object was the collecting of money with which to send the head boy of the year to the University. It seems, however, to have originated in a piece of folk-lore, probably connected with the old tree worship, but sanctioned by the early Christian authorities as a semi-religious function. In this connection it is pleasant to think that flowers seen in the hats on the Fourth of June are a survival of the green branches and garlands that were once brought back each year from the Montem expedition.
When dealing with children’s dress we ought not to forget the special costumes that have been adopted in some private girls’ schools, nor how much is being done in them towards disseminating ideas on the subject of dress reform. For, after all, it is to the women of the future that we must look if any alteration is to be generally made. The introduction of exercises in the gymnasium has necessitated the adoption of a drilling dress in very many cases, but there are schools where such a costume is generally worn at all times, and others where it forms the working dress, while long skirts are only put on when no active exertion is expected.
Fig. 126.—Dress worn by the girls at Coombe Hill School, Westerham. It is a modification of the Dervish Djibah.
At Coombe Hill School, Westerham, in Kent, the dress takes the form of a tunic with wide sleeves which come to the elbow (see Figure [126]). It is put over the head and has no fastenings. It is modelled upon the Djibah of the Dervishes, and is made of soft woollen material of a fawn colour. The yoke is of green embroidery and the underslip is tussore. Under the tunic a blouse of white silk is worn, and the sleeves, of course, show from the elbow downwards. The rest of the costume consists of cloth knickerbockers and stockings, with sandals or shoes that are made to the shape of the foot. This dress is worn on all occasions at school, and the girls are very proud of it.
