--- description: Heading back to school in 1939, corduroy slacks and Cossack coats were must-haves for boys, while girls mimicked their mothers styles. title: See Photos of Vintage Back-to-School Fashions image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5475521c3ab7a729/698860e7cf40a82848c3f67b/150826-girls-fashion-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [fashion](/tag/fashion/) ## fashion Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See Photos of Vintage Back-to-School Fashions  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 31, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  A young girl waits by a bus stop in her double-breasted coat. A young girl waits by a bus stop in her double-breasted coat.Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 31, 2015 12:00 PM CUT When LIFE published several pages on youth fashions going into the back-to-school season of 1939, the stakes were high. “Failure to conform brings agonizing grief,” the magazine explained, “for children are mannerless humans who revel in ridiculing their fellows.” Boys who wanted to fit in that season were advised to sport corduroy or dress slacks with a work, polo or plaid shirt. “Cossack coats,” a nickname for short, heavy-zippered jackets, were preferred on cold autumn days. Young boys, LIFE reported, eschewed any style that made it look as though their mothers had dressed them. According to a leading style expert of the time, mothers fell into one of two categories: “those who try to keep their sons little boys, and those who try to anticipate the time when their sons will look like their fathers.” In contrast, the magazine continued, young girls’ “secret sartorial aspiration is to dress exactly like their mothers.” A schoolgirl’s wardrobe—including two dresses, a wool jumper, blouses, sweaters, a coat and “an all-occasion frock for dressier occasions”—could be purchased at a department store like J.C. Penney for $15, equivalent to around $260 today. For a splurge, they might add a suede hat, made popular by the movie star Marlene Dietrich. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  A young girl waits by a bus stop in her double-breasted coat. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Most girls had at least one hat, made of up-rolled felt. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Jumper skirts and shirtwaist dresses are service outfits. Easily laundered cotton in plaids and stripes are the preferred dress fabrics. Separate skirts are mostly woolen, are worn with sweaters and washable blouses. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A girl models a striped shirtwaist dress for fall of 1939. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Suspender skirts offered an alternative to jumpers. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young girl models a plaid jumper with a complementary plaid school bag. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two school-aged girls model the popular plaid jumper going into the fall fashion season of 1939. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A girl models a warm-weather coat and matching hat. Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4011295/back-to-school-fashion-1939/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4011295/back-to-school-fashion-1939/"},"headline":"See Photos of Vintage Back-to-School Fashions","datePublished":"2015-08-31T12:00:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:55.088Z","description":"Corduroy slacks and Cossack coats were must-haves for boys, while girls mimicked their mothers styles","url":"https://time.com/4011295/back-to-school-fashion-1939/","keywords":["fashion","photography","alfred eisenstaedt","LIFE Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5475521c3ab7a729/698860e7cf40a82848c3f67b/150826-girls-fashion-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5475521c3ab7a729/698860e7cf40a82848c3f67b/150826-girls-fashion-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1939 Back to School Fashion","caption":"1939 Back to School Fashion","creditText":"Alfred Eisensteadt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fashion/","name":"fashion"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4011295/back-to-school-fashion-1939/","name":"See Photos of Vintage Back-to-School Fashions"}}]}] ```