United in uniforms

1934: Standardizing school uniforms for the country

In 1934, the government initiated the New Life Movement (新生活運動). According to an article written by Zhao Yucheng in Dongfang Daily, this campaign was centered on schools. Unifying school uniforms was seen as a way of making education patriotic and collective. A high school boy of that time would wear a Chinese tunic suit and an army cap according to the regulation. However, only one third of schools in Shanghai implemented the new regulation on school uniforms.

1950s to the 1970s: Workers' uniforms and army uniforms