The bluecoat is a style of dress code, traditionally worn in Bluecoat school

Bluecoat school

Blue Coat School, Bluecoat school etc. may refer to:*Charity school in England, originally known as Blue Coat School-Individual schools:* St Mary's School, Banbury, a primary school founded as Bluecoat School in 1705....

s (British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 private schools

Independent school

An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

 deriving from charity school

Charity school

A charity school, also called Blue Coat School, was significant in the History of education in England. They were erected and maintained in various parishes, by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants, for teaching poor children to read, write, and other necessary parts of education...

s).

The main element of the bluecoat is a long (dark blue or black) coat, belted at the waist, with white neck decoration

Bands (neckwear)

Bands are a form of formal neckwear, worn by some clergy and lawyers, and with some forms of academic dress. They take the form of two oblong pieces of cloth, usually though not invariably white, which are tied to the neck. Bands is usually plural because they require two similar parts and did not...

. Underneath a white shirt and grey shorts are worn, with knee-length socks and smart shoes.

History

The uniform has its origin in the 16th century dress of foundlings housed at Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...

 in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

. Bluecoat schools based on the model of Christ's Hospital were set up in emulation in other urban centres. The last Bluecoat school to be founded was that in Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

 in 1773.

Leigh Hunt (educated at Christ's Hospital from 1791 to 1799) described the bluecoat uniform: "Our dress was of the coarsest and quaintest kind, but was respected out of doors, and is so. It consisted of a blue drugget gown, or body, with ample coats to it; a yellow vest underneath in winter-time; small-clothes of Russia duck; worsted yellow stockings; a leathern girdle; and a little black worsted cap, usually carried in the hand. I believe it was the ordinary dress of children in humble life, during the reign of the Tudors. We used to flatter ourselves that it was taken from the monks..."

Most Bluecoat schools have abandoned the uniform and replaced it with more modern styles. There are a few schools however that still retain the uniform, but use it for special occasions only. Only one school in the UK, Christ's Hospital, still uses bluecoat uniform as normal day wear.