C.H. CAPE PHOTO WANTED

[Barnes Mum]

Barnes Mum has provided me with some delightful pics of a cape from her store being modelled by one of today's girls.
The cape was knee-length, made of dark blue gaberdine with bright yellow lining. It had two slits for the arms, and buttoned down the front. It also had a huge hood. The sigh of three hundred 'Little Blue Riding Hoods' scuttling between lessons must have been quite something!
PROBLEM SOLVED. THANK YOU BARNES MUM.
David

You're very welcome! My 'model' and I are both looking forward to seeing the finished booklet.

[englishangel]

any chance of us all seeing it on here?

[Barnes Mum]

any chance of us all seeing it on here?

I'm not sure how she would feel about the photo ending up on here, there may also be parental permission needed. Unless of course her face could be 'pixelated' or such somehow!

[wurzel]

The sigh of three hundred 'Little Blue Riding Hoods' scuttling between lessons must have been quite something!
David

There were only i think 220 girls when the merger first happened so could never have been 300 little blue riding hoods. I do remember the capes and the fact that the girls complained that the were unflattering and completely useless as weather protection - i think they became wet weather "best" within < half a term. As for the jabot's i think the ones that female button grecians wore were the most ridiculous, i have seen smaller lace tablecloths. I don't remember any chemistry lab accidents though, I would have thought eye injuries in the wind more likely - like you can get from the bands in a strong wind.

[englishangel]

any chance of us all seeing it on here?

I'm not sure how she would feel about the photo ending up on here, there may also be parental permission needed. Unless of course her face could be 'pixelated' or such somehow!

Well if she is going in John's book!
I would have though pixelation was quite simple, she could probably do it herself.

Perhaps a photo of YOU wearing it?

[phyllis]

I was interested to read these posts but if the photos are to go into an official book about CH uniform may I point out that a cape is a short, sleeveless outer garment while what was made for the girls was a cloak ie a long, usually sleeveless outer garment. I remember a meeting at Hertford just before the merger when some girls modelled the new uniform for us. We were told that it was designed by a theatrical costumier through the good offices of John Gale. There was also to have been a Tudor beret for the girls made in a gold colour velvet corduroy but this was, I believe, vetoed by Miss Morrison.

Are we absolutley sure that they were worn at Horsham? The story I heard was that they were late and were not available for the beginning of the winter term when the weather was extremely cold. The girls had no other outer coat/cape/cloak and so were kitted out with the Housey coat to keep them warm and they proved so popular (and no doubt warm) that the girls have used them ever since.

Surely there must be someone who was there and who can remember so that David has the correct information for his book!

[Katharine]

There was also to have been a Tudor beret for the girls made in a gold colour velvet corduroy but this was, I believe, vetoed by Miss Morrison.

What I heard was that she got my very red headed niece, Jo, to model the beret - and the result was that it was thrown out! Maria or Vonny may be able to clarify this.

[mvgrogan]

There was also to have been a Tudor beret for the girls made in a gold colour velvet corduroy but this was, I believe, vetoed by Miss Morrison.

What I heard was that she got my very red headed niece, Jo, to model the beret - and the result was that it was thrown out! Maria or Vonny may be able to clarify this.

TRUE! Jo did model that awful beret and YES, there was an outcry against them... not just the redheads! Of course it WAS the mid 80s when big hair was very fashionable and hats weren't (except the John Taylor trilby )... that may also have had a bearing on the outcry.

Are we absolutley sure that they were worn at Horsham? The story I heard was that they were late and were not available for the beginning of the winter term when the weather was extremely cold. The girls had no other outer coat/cape/cloak and so were kitted out with the Housey coat to keep them warm and they proved so popular (and no doubt warm) that the girls have used them ever since.

Surely there must be someone who was there and who can remember so that David has the correct information for his book!

We definitely had them for a short while at Horsham. I don't remember specifically if we had them from the start, but term started in August so presumably we didn't really need them for a while. I do know that by the time the really bad weather set in, we were demanding housey coats instead of the capes/cloaks (they were long, not short). The Housey coats were very warm and comfortable but ripped the ankles of the seniors' tights like, well, rippy things yellow socks were obviously built to withstand that kind of battering!

[Foureyes]

OK, to answer all those points:

any chance of us all seeing it [the picture] on here?

Provided BarnesMum and the model agree, I will discuss this with Julian to see whether we can produce a pixillated version.

There were only i think 220 girls when the merger first happened so could never have been 300 little blue riding hoods

Numberswise, that strikes me as a bit "picky" - it was only meant as a humorous aside, but you will see what I mean when the picture is published. The fact that it was designed by a theatrical costumier explains a lot!

if the photos are to go into an official book about CH uniform

It is NOT an official book. It is being researched and written by me, as a private individual, covering the dress for both girls and boys from 1552 to today, although I am obviously consulting as many as I can, including the school - and, of course, on this forum - to make sure I get the story right. In fact, the reason I started this project is because there is no official handbook on what I deem to be an important poart of Housie history.

what was made for the girls was a cloak

That is an excellent point, thank you, and I will refer to the item as a 'cloak' from here on in. The reason I called it a cape is that I had never seen one, either for real or in a picture, until Barnesmum sent me the photos, and as the Hertford girls used to wear a cape in the 1900s, I had assumed it was something similar.

Tudor beret for the girls made in a gold colour velvet corduroy

Gosh, first I have heard of that! Will mention briefly in a footnote.

Are we absolutely sure that they were worn at Horsham?

Yes. I have reports from those who wore them, one including the comment that it was very difficult to carry books to/from class when wearing a cloak in the rain and wind, which sounds autherntic.

FURTHER COMMENT. I would welcome any further personal reminiscences on dress. I am particularly interested in the fact that the 'fashion show' at Hertford actually did have some effect in that the hat was rejected. Was anything else turned down or modified?

David

[jtaylor]

Send me the pic, and I can pixelate and attach here....

[Barnes Mum]

any chance of us all seeing it on here?

I'm not sure how she would feel about the photo ending up on here, there may also be parental permission needed. Unless of course her face could be 'pixelated' or such somehow!

Well if she is going in John's book!
I would have though pixelation was quite simple, she could probably do it herself.

Perhaps a photo of YOU wearing it?

She's given her permission for it to go in John's book, he is going to have parental permission before it's printed.

And as for a photo of me wearing it........NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[Foureyes]

I think we should quietly bin this idea of the photo of the young woman wearing the cloak. It will be in the book.
Anyway, who is this fellow John who is writing a book? Is he competing with me?
David

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Apropos "Berets" -----

I seem to remember that, in the early 40s, there was a cabinet of "Museum" items in the upper floor of the block, to the left of Big School, as you face it.

Names of buildings seem to have changed a lot in 70 years (Surprise surprise !) but that should identify the site.

One of the exhibitss was a, proposed "Hat" to be worn with CH uniform. It was rejected, but it may be that the current Museum has one ?

[Foureyes]

Neill,
It is possible that your memory of the existence of the cap in the Museum in those far-off days is accurate, but that your recollection of its origins may be slightly awry. The boys at C.H. possessed a headdress from 1553 onwards. This was a round, Tudor-style cap, with a narrow brim, and is believed to have been black, but with a red band and, possibly, also a red pompom. For reasons now not known, this cap grew smaller and smaller, and by the early 1800s was only worn on ceremonial occasions or for throwing water-bombs in the playground at Newgate Street. Existing pictures only rarely show it being worn, and mostly it was carried, either in a hand or tucked into the girdle. In the 1850s it was decided to discontinue it on the grounds that: A. It was a nuisnace and pretty useless as headgear; B. If worn in a wind it blew off; and C. The boys never marked their caps so they were moved from one child to another, which was disastrous if one in the chain had some form of skin complaint or headlice. So, I think that the cap you saw may have been one of the discarded model and there is still one in the Museum today, which could be the one you saw.
I have never heard if any attempt subsequent to the 1850s to resurrect any form of boys' headgear - but I am repeatedly taken by surprise where C.H. dress is concerned, so I may be wrong.
David

[Vonny]

Are we absolutley sure that they were worn at Horsham? The story I heard was that they were late and were not available for the beginning of the winter term when the weather was extremely cold. The girls had no other outer coat/cape/cloak and so were kitted out with the Housey coat to keep them warm and they proved so popular (and no doubt warm) that the girls have used them ever since.

Surely there must be someone who was there and who can remember so that David has the correct information for his book!

They were definitely worn when we first moved to Horsham in 1985 albeit briefly. I do remember them but can't say I remember wearing one myself.