By the 1980s only a handful of private schols still required them. Some authors, however, maintain that this is fiction and that the blazer originated in the bright jackets worn by a rowing club. What ever their origins, blazers were adopted by British school boys and came to become the primary uniform element of generations of school boys. A great variety of colors and striped blazers were worn by British boys from the 1920s through the 1970s. The cost of the blazers and a trend of simplifying the uniform caused many schools using blazers, primarily preparatory schools, to retire the more expensive striped blazers.
Most secondary schools continue to require blazers, but it is usually a basic black one.
Some English schools in stead of a blazer and usually grey short or long pants have the boys wear a suit, usually a grey suit with matching jacket and trousers. Tha jacket is always single breasted. Some schools had blazers for every day schoolwear and grey suits for dress wear. While most American schools did not have uniform suits, dress standards at highschools through the 1930s were high and boys often wore suits to school. The suits through the 1920s were mostly worn with knickers.