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DRESS FOR SUCCESS
A LOOK INTO FORMAL DRESS AT THE ACADEMY
Generations of Cheshire Academy students have worn what is known as formal dress: a pressed, crisp, white shirt; gray slacks; and a blue blazer. Perhaps the most timeless tradition in Cheshire Academy’s history, formal dress is an experience that ties all graduates together. No matter what a student’s initial opinion of the dress code may have been, long after the blazer has been folded up and stored away, most alumni find themselves reflecting fondly on their days of blue and gray at Cheshire Academy. Read on as we delve into the history of the dress code and talk to members of the community about its place in our past and our future.
Cheshire Academy’s former Senior Master Bevan Dupre ’69 participated in the formal dress code requirements at the Academy during his 50-year tenure as both a student and faculty member. As a student, Dupre recalls a healthy disdain for the formal dress code, which students were required to wear seven days a week, even following afternoon sports practices and during sit-down dinners. “We would shower after practice and put our blazers right back on for supper,” he noted.
While the warmer weather brought a change in rules and allowed students to wear Bermuda shorts rather than long pants, blue blazers, white collared shirts, and ties were still required even during Saturday classes and Sunday Chapel services.
“It’s the idea of civility—giving up a certain amount of freedom to make others feel comfortable,” Dupre said. “It also speaks to our long history. Blue and gray represented unity during the Civil War, between the North and the South, and first occurred on campus when we were a military school.”
Reverend Sanford Horton, who was hired as the headmaster in 1862, established the Academy as a military boarding school for boys. “We had students attend from both sides of the war, Union and Confederate,” said former Academy Archivist Ann J. Moriarty. “Many families in the south— wealthy plantation owners—sent their boys to school in the north at the time. The blue and gray cadet military uniform that was ushered in during this time was certainly a unifying statement.”
In 1896, the school hired its first principal, E.D. Woodbury, who was not affiliated with the Episcopal church. The institution became a non-sectarian school yet the formal dress code—complete with blazer—persisted.
Today, many private schools—and even a growing number of public schools—cite multiple reasons for issuing a formal uniform or dress code. It provides a sense of community, improves the classroom environment, and limits distraction. Other attributes include fostering self-esteem in young people and preparing students for life beyond high school.
- Richard Natrillo ‘85
