From Gymslips to Djibbahs: Exploring the Unconventional Uniform of Roedean School 1905 -1939
Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school for girls located in Roedean Village near Brighton that was founded by the Lawrence sisters in 1885. The school was fee-based and educated the wealthy daughters of the upper classes. The sisters’ founding mission was to provide girls an education that was at least as good as that of their male counterparts. This was forward-thinking for the time, as the first women to graduate university had done so only five years earlier in 1880. In 1905, Sylvia Lawrence designed a new uniform to be worn that included the djibbah. The design of this sack-like dress was inspired by an African tribal costume. The uniform also included an afternoon djibbah to be worn after the school day, for which the girls could choose the colour and embroidery design.
This dissertation will focus on a specific piece of uniform history, the girl’s uniform worn at Roedean school between 1905 and 1939 with particular focus on the djibbah. It will analyse and interpret the uniform’s effectiveness as a part of girls’ education, placing Roedean within the academic debates of uniform, class and gender. By looking at the surviving Roedean uniform and a large body of primary source material, this dissertation will argue that Roedean’s djibbah can be used as a unique case study of school uniform.
Postcard of Roedean pupils wearing their djibbahs. Ann Hunter (left), Rosalind Wagner (top centre), Erica Silver (right) and Netta Lewis (bottom centre). c. 1930s. Roedean School archive, Roedean.