Old Alleynians - School Uniform and Colours

School Uniform and Colours

Within the dress code for pupils of Dulwich College has long been found an element of variety, dependent on the boarding or day houses a boy might belong to, the sports teams represented, or whether a boy has attained school colours or become a prefect (For more details see Boarding Houses, Day Houses and Sport). This variety is rooted in the mid to late nineteenth century, and is in fact now more standard than that which could have been seen at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, a theme has been maintained for well over a century which is markedly different from that prescribed in Edward Alleyn's founding statutes. Alleyn had prescribed the clothing of poor scholars to be "a white calico surplice, a long coat such as that worn by Christ's Hospital boys, of good cloth of sad (dark and sober) colour, a bodice lined with canvas, skirts with cotton lining, canvas shirts, white cotton drawers, knitted stockings, shoes and belt, a girdle and a black cap." This is how boys were dressed for over two centuries, until the new foundation in 1857. In 1863, the Master, Alfred Carver, decreed the uniform should be "Short tunic buttoned to the chin, trousers of an Oxford mixture, an ordinary rifle cap with a broad band and narrow peak, and a dark coloured Inverness cape for winter." However, under Carver, boys still wore waistcoats of varied hues and "the latest creations in neckties". This was suppressed in 1883 by the new Master, Welldon, whose first rule on arrival was that the boy's should wear uniform, a forerunner of the subfusc jackets of today.

The colours of the college, blue and black, according to tradition are based on Marlborough College although facts suggest that Haileybury is more likely the model. It is known that in 1864 caps were introduced, with cross ribbons of purple soon altered to blue. The college arms were added in 1875. From this time, the colour scheme arose for rewarding achievement, limited at first to sport with blazers for the 1st and 2nd team of the major sports, rugby and cricket (as well as ties, caps and squares). The minor sports also had colours, although these did not extend to a full blazer. Rather, athletics, fives, shooting, boxing, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, fencing and waterpolo had blazer badges (plus caps and ties). Additionally, the boarding houses, which historically had a disproportionate effect on the sporting life of the college, had their own boarding house colours. (For more details see Boarding Houses)

By 1909 there were seventeen different caps plus a variety of blazers. The striped jackets for prominent sportsmen also conferred certain privileges, such as having the right to proceed first through the doors of centre block. Further emphasising status were special caps for major sports colours. Rugby had a pie shaped porker with tassels. Likewise, prefects wearing caps quartered in blue and black, could unbutton their jackets and keep their hands in their trousers. The most exclusive items, however, took precedence even over the striped blazers of members of the 1st teams for major sports. The very best rugby players were on rare occasions awarded the rugby honours cap, and perhaps the most fabled item of all, still displayed in the college's Wodehouse library, was the white blazer. This was only awarded on the recommendation of the Field Sports Committee (see Sport section) with the essential requirement being that a boy be a member of both the Cricket 1st XI and the Rugby 1st XV and display prominence in a minor sport (e.g. boxing, fives, squash, fencing, shooting). Testament to the judgment of the committee are the careers of certain alumni who received this blazer such as Trevor Bailey the England cricket all-rounder, who was so awarded because he was also a distinguished squash player.

This uniform changed little till the 1960s (save for the arms change in 1935, and the addition of the house colours on sports shirts following the athletics houses foundation in 1920). The 1960s saw the demise of caps and boaters and a reduction in the variety of blazers, as well as the end of shirts with separate collars. Since 1970, the college colours standardised to three types of blazer (plus the option of single breasted jackets for the upper school) although a streak of variety pertained in the proliferation of approved college ties for team, colours, society or prefects, with over thirty types currently in existence. Ties for prefects, 1st to 3rd teams for major sports, half colours specific to activities (such as Edward Alleyn Hall colours, or Madrigal choir half colours); tours (such as Hockey Malaysia 1987 or Rugby South Africa 2006); committees (e.g. the science committee); CCF; and more are in existence. Today, the standard College Blazer (or for the Upper School only a black single-breasted jacket) may be replaced in the Upper School by those awarded half School colours with a blazer bearing a braided crest on their left breast pocket, or for full School colours a blue striped blazer with braided badge. The latter is a direct descendent and modern interpretation of the major sports teams colours, although colours can now be achieved in a variety of fields. Aside from the blazer, rules do apply to other elements, such as charcoal grey or black trousers and white shirts, and stipulations exist over shoes, socks, scarves, coats and hats. However, some idiosyncrasies do remain, such as Senior Prefects being able to wear blue collared shirts, or the captain of the croquet team being able to wear a non-standard maroon and cream striped blazer and a boater hat with a band of his house colours, as well as the right of the House Captain of either of the two senior boarding houses of Blew and Ivyholme, to wear the blazer of that House, if he has also attained full colours of the school. However, traditions such as the elusive white blazer no longer pertain to the school dress code.