About
Rise of school uniforms in Hong Kong
From 1840s to 1920s, students, attending Sishu or traditional Chinese private schools, were allowed to wear Chinese costumes. For female students, they wore blouse and skirt, as well as traditional Chinese style Qipao, while for the boys, they wore magua or Cheongsam. Significant transformation has been made during 1918. St Paul’s Girls’ College was the pioneer in Hong Kong to make uniforms compulsory for attending schools. After World War 2, school uniforms has been widely adopted with a massive influx of Mainland Chinese migrants. Currently, there are 506 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Regarding the school uniforms have been placed in the pivotal position in the education and most of the secondary schools in Hong Kong require students to wear uniforms, exploring Hong Kong secondary schools uniform enables people to discover Hong Kong secondary school’s unique history, values and traditions
History: The transformation of school uniform
Witnessing the transformation of Hong Kong secondary school uniforms, there are several distinctive and unique designs that can represent various historical periods in Hong Kong. Maids’ suit, a two-piece suit consisting of a blouse and trousers derived from the traditional clothes worn by housemaids, were commonly found among the secondary school students before the 1950s. The influence of Western and Japanese culture also contributed to the secondary school uniforms profoundly. For instance, Cheongsam and Yat-sen, the Chinese tunic suit based on the design of Japanese military uniforms, were introduced. Overalls (工人褲), an apron stitched to a pair of trousers to protect the layers underneath from dirt, were introduced with the idea of work clothes in Europe.
Today, prestigious secondary schools such as True Light Middle School of Hong Kong preserve the adoption of traditional Cheongsam as their school uniforms. Thanks to globalization, the schools uniforms today not only preserve the traditional Chinese style, but also combined with different styles such as Japanese and Western one. During the 1970s, impressed by the sailor collar in Japan, Mr. Lam, the manager of Kam Lun School Uniform Limited, decided to incorporate such style into the school uniform of New Method College. As a result, sailor collar school uniforms have indicated the prominent trend in Hong Kong with the example of St.Francis of Assisi's College’s school uniforms. Moreover, under British style influence, the school uniform of St.Paul Convent School integrated scottish tartan patterns to bring an exotic appearance of uniforms. As for the boys’ uniforms, the combination of a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of trousers has also embodied the English gentleman’s style.
Above all, the school uniforms in Hong Kong today have embodied the cultural diversity and witnessed transition of uniforms history under different cultural influence. It is believed that the exploration journey of Hong Kong secondary school uniforms enables us to establish a closer bonding between the history and resonate our school memories.