Monday, April 6

School uniform.... love it or hate it???




I went to school in the UK, and like all schools over there we had a uniform. One of the reasons behind it was it put everyone on an equal footing because they’re all dressed the same. Um… no!


It was very easy to tell whose uniform was brand new, whose came from the second hand store, and which students tried to adapt their uniform to reflect their personality. I fell into the latter category.


My grey felt hat… which we all had but wasn’t compulsory to wear, had the brim turned down, the ribbon removed, was fringed and drawn all over (my parents weren’t too pleased about that). The waist band on my knee length grey skirt was rolled over enough times to make it much shorter. The tie was knotted in such a way that the wide end only hung down a couple of inches from the knot and the long thin end was tucked into our shirts. We thought we looked cool!!


I hated wearing a uniform, though it did mean we didn’t have to worry about what to wear every day.

What about you, did you wear a uniform and if so what did you think about it?

22 comments:

Alyson Noel said...

I didn't wear a uniform for school- I'm sure I would've hated that--but as a flight attendant, I wore one for over a decade--and you know what--I loved it!

Not the uniform itself-um, it was pretty standard issue, navy blue--but the ease of waking up for a super early flight and just blindly grabbing all the pieces without a second thought. They were really restrictive - telling us how many rings we could wear, how big our earrings could be, how to wear our hair- and while part of me certainly hated it, I liked that fact that the rest of my wardrobe was all play- no business suits, no sensible shoes! And I've found that since I've quit, I've adopted another uniform of sorts- jeans, heels, something on top--unless I'm working, then it's the sweatpants uniform!

Unknown said...

That does seem like it looked cool hehe

I only had to wear uniforms throughout my three years of middle school. At first I hated it, but not that I'm in high school and we don't wear uniforms, I kinda miss it. :(

Brooke Reviews said...

I didn't have to wear one in school, and I wish I had. It would have saved me from feeling poor compared to everyone else all the time. lol

Anonymous said...

I had to wear a uniform for two years--7th and 8th grade. The uniforms were pretty standard: white tops, blue bottoms, and any shoes (except for some types of open-toed). We were also allowed to wear blue tops as well as long as there wasn't any writing or logos on them. I didn't like it because the uniforms were put in place to try to get kids to behave. But it didn't work, because all the good kids would wear their uniforms and the bad kids would continuously get in trouble because they wouldn't, so it was like punishing the good kids as well as the bad.

In high school, I didn't have to wear a uniform, so that was cool, but maybe it would've been better if we did.

Sara Hantz said...

Alyson, my partners neice worked for a middle eastern airline for a while and they weren't allowed to be over a certain weight!!! I think British Airways, where she now works, are better.

Steph Bowe said...

I'm finishing high school by correspondence, so my uniform tends to be my PJs most days. (I kid, I kid).

I've always worn uniforms when I went to school, and I have to admit I kind of liked that. You don't have to worry about what you're going to wear every morning. Though it did make free dress days especially stressful.

Steph
http://heyteenager.blogspot.com

MarjoleinBookBlog said...

maybe I sound totally crazy, but I kinda like school uniforms. I think it looks chique in a certain way. When I was in high school, people where wearing realy trashy things sometimes and it was always a sort of silent battle who had the most expensive brands of clothes. And if you didn't wear anything by an expensive brand, you where out. I really liked the funny school uniforms wich they where wearing in the princess diaries 1 movie, it looked cute!

Megan Burke said...

I wore a uniform all through-out school.
After school, i went into full time work: also uniformed.
now, i am at uni.
no uniform!
every morning i stare at my clothes, thinking of a new combination!
argh
*sighs*
i miss uniforms....

Unknown said...

I am from South Texas and I went to a public school. We had to wear uniforms in middle and high school. It was horrendous! They were maroon or white polos and blue jeans or khakis. I hated it so badly. It just made me seem like everyone else, not to mention that you could defintely tell who was richer or poorer because everybody's clothes were different. I am glad that now I'm at college, so when I wake up, I don't have to look for a uniform shirt.

Leigh Brescia said...

I didn’t have to wear a uniform (that rule was implemented after I graduated, thank God), but I did have to follow a dress code. Girls could only wear dress pants or skirts (to the knee), and appropriately modest shirts. Do you know how hard it was to find “appropriately modest” shirts that were in style in the 90’s?

(Ugh) I hated it. I’m a denim person and I’ve worn jeans every day since I graduated. In fact, I noticed an improvement in my grades when I went to college and was allowed to wear whatever I wanted. In conclusion: I blame my poor grades and study habits on dress codes (it had nothing to do with the fact that I didn’t care and never paid attention). :)

Now, even the public schools in my county have uniforms. I can see the benefits, obviously, but I still feel kinda sorry for those good little soldiers whenever I see them cloning about. I've heard they "express themselves" through their choice of socks.

Gerb said...

I only had to wear a PE uniform in Junior High. That was bad enough!

Amanda Ashby said...

My school uniform resembled a nurses dress with a big zip down the front and a lovely collar. Oh, and in case you're thinking 'hey, that's not so bad,' let me add that it was bright yellow with green trim. Nice!

Kate said...

Living in the UK, I have to wear a school uniform. I try to adapt it to suit my personality. I sewed a corsage on to my blazer and we all pretty much have short ties. On mufti days w can wear what we look, usually one every term and you have to pay £1 as it goes to charity. Although there is one less thing to worry about, it takes away our independence. Our teachers say that on mufti day we always look at what everyone else is wearing. I disagree, if we were always wearing what we wanted, we would start caring less.

Wendy Toliver said...

I never had to wear a uniform, either, but I kind of get what you're saying b/c we could alter our sports team uniforms to reflect our sense of style. And as someone who carefully selected every outfit the night before so as not to be late to school, I think it would've been nice not to worry about that. BTW, I always liked the "chunky Doc Marten boots and short plaid skirt" look you see in the movies. :)

Melissa Walker said...

I never wore a uniform, but I always wanted one! I doubt I would have been brave enough to style it well... I was a fashion-phobe back in the day!

Kabby said...

I wear a uniform and have since elementary school, and will through out high school =[ I hate them but we have some choice...it's khaki or black pants, most girls wear dickies, and red, white, navy, or green polo shirts. People try to add as much as they can to have there own uniqueness.
I did go to this one school, though, where you had one (itchy...ugly) plaid skirt and a sweater and 2 polo shirts (NO makeup only black or white shoes No highlights...) ugh I HATED it. But I'll be stuck in private school forever *sigh* people say how you always know what to wear and stuff, but it gets boring! I wanna pick out cute stuff =[ oh, well we still have free dress days =]

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

We wore a uniform, but in seventh grade petitioned the board of ed and won the right to wear other stuff Mon-Th, overturning a policy that had been existence for 60 years. Not exactly saving the whales, but definitely political action!

Sara Hantz said...

Wow, more of you wore uniform that I thought!!!

Lauren, WTG on changing things.... very impressive!!!

Anonymous said...

uniforms uniforms... well i hate them i've been wearing one since primary.
no one here really cares about "looking better" its just we perfer to have our own style.

to tell you the truth were to bissy bithcing over teachers and girls wiht attituide to care what we wear, but when we put on our own clothgs were al relaxed and happy =]

Scout said...

oh I hated tucking in my shirt in high school!

Anonymous said...

I have to wear a uniform and I really don't care for it. Guys are always grabbing at my tie and making it loose or crooked. I can't tie my tie very good, anyhow. In my class picture, my tie is crooked and my collar is sticking up so I look hideous.

Anonymous said...

I always hated it when I'd had to put my uniform back on after PE class. In just a matter of minutes, I'd have to button up my blouse,tuck it in, button my collar, tie my tie and put on my blaser. I'd always return to class with my tie crooked.