School Uniforms

In My Humble Opinion
1

I see a lot of students from my old high school when I am on my way to work in the morning. This morning, I realised how dorky our school uniform was.

The winter uniform was:
Second Form (Grade 8):
Black shoes
Grey socks
Grey shorts
Long sleeved white shirt
School tie (dark and light blue striped tie)
Shool jumper (grey v-neck with light/dark blue trim)

Third and Fourth Form (Grades 9,10)
Black shoes
Long grey trousers
Long sleeved white shirt
Grey suit coat
Shool tie

Fifth and Sixth Form (Grades 11,12)
Black shoes
Long grey trousers
Long sleeved white shirt
School blazer (Dark blue with light blue trim, school badge, sporting and cultural awards (half and full colours))
School tie in in 5th form, senior (Dark Blue) tie or prefect (dark blue with thin light blue stripes) in 6th form.

In summer, the jumper, suit-coat or blazer came off, and students wore short sleeved light blue shirts with tie.
There was also a school hat, which no one really wore, as it was a grey akubra, and was pretty bad.

The 5th and 6th form uniform was ok, especially if you had some colours, but before that, the suit coat looked terrible as did the 2nd form uniform.

So, if you went to school with a compulsory uniform, describe what it was like, and what you thought of it.

  • Bubba.
2

Summer (Junior school prep - Grade 6):
Blue and white checked dress with matching belt
White ankle socks
Brown lace up or buckle shoes
Blue blazar with crest
Blue V-neck jumper
Smock worn during the day over the uniform to keep clean (before grade 4)

Winter (Junior school prep - Grade 6):
Knee high tan socks
Brown lace up shoes
primrose blouse with peter pan collar
knee length tartan skirt (with matching tartan braces if you didn’t have enough waist to hold it up)
Blue V-neck jumper
Blue blazar with crest
Smock over the top until grade 4

Summer (Senior school Year 7 - 11)
Blue and white checked tunic (no belt)
Knee length white socks]
Black lace up shoes
Blue V-neck jumper
Blue blazar with crest (with awards, colours etc - house colours in a band of colour (my house was purple) on the top of the pocket, sports, music and service awards embroidered on the pocket)

Optional straw hat with blue band.

Winter (Senior school Year 7 - 11)
Primrose shirt
Blue tie with crest
Tartan skirt
Knee length black socks or black stockings
Black lace up shoes
V-neck blue jumper
Blue Blazar with crest (with awards, colours etc - house colours in a band of colour (my house was purple) on the top of the pocket, sports, music and service awards embroidered on the pocket)

Year 12 was pretty much the same, but we had year 12 jumpers - these were navy, cable knit, with white trim, and a school crest embroidered on the front with the year written underneath.

Sports Uniform
White collared t-shirt with collar and cuff in navy with black and gold stripe
Navy netball skirt with name in house coloured patch on flap
navy bloomers
white socks with blue, black and gold stripe around the top
white runners.

You can see some dolls dressed in uniform here (Most of the way down the page - the 1969 - 1999 uniform)

I actually loved my uniform. Growing up in a place where everyone wore uniform it was an easy way to tell who went to which schools. I was proud to wear it and to belong to my school - and it made getting dressed in the morning so easy.

That said, it was pretty dorky, and they’ve sinced changed it and it is a much nicer uniform now.

3

Grade School
For Girls:
-White long or short sleeved button down blouse
-Hunter green plaid jumper (grades 1-5) or hunter green plaid skirt (grades 6-8)
-White ankle or knee socks or tights
-Pretty much any kind of shoes (including sneakers!)

For Boys:
-White or light blue long or short sleeved button down or polo
-Navy pants
-Pretty much any kind of shoes
All-Girls High School
-White button down shirt or polo shirt (if you wore a polo, it had to have the school’s name embroidered on it)
-(Optional, weather permitting) cardigan or pull-over sweater in gray or navy, with the school’s name embroidered on it
-Blue plaid skirt (each class/year had their own plaid pattern)
-Navy, white, black or grey knee or ankle socks, and tights could be worn only from October to April
-Saddleshoes (yes, saddleshoes)
I didn’t really mind wearing a uniform. It made dressing in the morning really easy, and it did decrease my clothing budget for the years. The only problem was going to a private (non uniform) university, when I suddenly realised that I really needed to stock up on basic jeans and whatnot. :frowning:

4

I wore uniforms until I graduated high school - this time was spent in 3 different schools, all Catholic.

Kindergarten - uniforms were not required
1st-6th grade - brown plaid polyester skirt, white or yellow blouse, vest of the same plaid as the skirt. Boys wore brown pants, and dress shirts of the same colors as the girls. Shoes had to be leather, and socks were either white or yellow (boys could wear brown socks as well as white or yellow). Sweaters could be white or yellow. Girls could also wear brown pants with a blouse and the vest.

7th-8th grade - blue plaid polyester skirt, white or pale blue blouse. Navy or white socks, leather shoes. Boys wore navy blue pants, white or blue shirts and socks of navy or white. Sweaters had to be blue or white. Girls could wear navy pants as well.

9th-12th grade: Green plaid polyester skirt, white or yellow blouse. Sweater, if desired, had to be white, yellow or green. Socks of white, yellow, green or navy. Leather shoes.
Pants (worn by girls or boys) were navy blue or green. Boys wore ties in the same plaid as the girls’ skirts.

Fairly standard Catholic school uniforms for the US. I didn’t mind at the time, although now I wonder how I made it through all those years of polyester without going nuts.

5

My high school uniform was…
White button down short-sleeve shirt with the school’s logo
“Charcoal grey” (or “uglyass”) dress pants
Black dress shoes

Until my senior year, when I could wear a “senior shirt”, which was a white polo with the school logo on it.

I didn’t care that much, I was never much of a clothes person. Still wear a uniform of sorts, actually. Black shirt, black or blue shorts, white socks, Reeboks.

6

Grades 1-5: Public (state) school. Boys: light blue short-sleeve shirt. Tucked if designed for it, untucked if designed for that. Dark blue pants (short or long). Girls: light blue blouse. Blue plaid jumper/skirt. Uniform not absolutely mandatory.

Grades 6-12: Catholic school, all boys. Grade 6: Navy pants, long. White short sleeve shirt, school name on breast pocket. Blue necktie. Black shoes. Uniform change after grade 7: white short-sleeve collared knit pullover (think tenniswear), tucked, school name over left breast pocket (or where the pocket would be if it had one); pants - navy blue chinos/twills. Black shoes. Black or white socks. Senior class allowed to design own pullover color/pattern (Class o’ 79: bright goldenrod yellow.) Gym uniform: School T-shirt (white), School shorts (blue). Hair allowed as long as the bottom of the back collar if reasonably groomed. No official raingear/chilly-weather gear so you could show up w. a denim jacket with various patches as long as not obscene. Jewelry and other personalization expressions allowed within reason (no trouble for having put a hammer-and-sicke on the back cover of my religion notebook :D)

7

Lutheran High School
White or pale blue oxford shirts
School neckties - blue with a burgundy stripe with a small school crest tie pin
Navy blue or burgundy blazers with school patch or sweaters with the school patch: navy or burgundy cardigan (had to be buttoned at all times), navy or burgundy pullovers (crew or v-neck) or burgundy v-neck vest.
Navy blue skirt - pleated and middle-of-the-kneecap length or longer
Navy blue or burgundy knee socks or navy tights (January - March only)
Navy or black dress shoes (had to have ties, had to have leather or leather-like soles)

Boys uniforms had navy blue slacks, black socks and black shoes, but they wore the same shirts, ties, tie tacks and blazers/sweathers.

For gym, we wore white t-shirts with burgundy sleeves and the school name on the left sleeve and burgundy sohrts with white piping – in that 70s runners’ style that barely covered the rear end. We had to wear white socks in the style that folded over into a 2" cuff at the ankle, and white athletic shoes and they had to remain clean and well-soled. Most of us just left them at the school and had other shoes for every day.

8

Episcopal school, for grades 7-12:

For boys:

  • Khaki dress slacks (no denim or corduroy)
  • White botton down oxford, short sleeves OK during 1st and 4th quarters
  • Black tie during 2nd and 3rd quarters
  • If worn, blue blazer, school crest optional
  • If qualified, optional honors tie - black with diagonal red pinstripes

For girls:

  • White blouse
  • Red black and grey pleated skirt, or,
  • Red jumper, or,
  • If qualified, pastel blue honors jumper
  • socks, no hose
  • no heels

Other things were dealt with as they appeared. Beatle boots got the boot quickly. Khaki bell-bottoms were legal for about 45 minutes.

How’d I feel about it? I wasn’t too thrilled, but we were used to it. I’ll note that twice this week I’ve gone to work wearing a white button down oxford and khakis, and the only blazer I own is navy blue.

9

Brisbane schools have bizarre uniforms IMO, well the cut of the girls’ blouses in particular.

I wore a dark green skirt, a weirdly cut blouse with a strange peplum (Kelvin Grove, Somerville House, lots of Brisbane schools use this blouse), a very odd beret thing they have since discontinued and American tan stockings with black lace up shoes in the full glory of the Brisbane summer.

We were overdressed for summer and underdressed for winter. About 2 days a year we’d be comfortable. Quite a feat really.

10

I went to public school and they started the wrecked things my 10th grade year. They were:
white/green polo shirts
‘number 4’ pleated kacki pants (the dark kind, we got sent home we wore “white” kacki)
brown leather belt
brown leather shoes
green or white socks
green jacket
and clear backpacks

I absolutly hated them. In high school, I had very low self-esteem, mainly becuase of my weight (size 14 then). It didnt’ help matters that with the uniforms I had to wear the same thing as a gril that is size 4…just made me look that much bigger. and I hated wearing the same thing everyday…I will never wear kacki or polo shirts again…never.

11

I went to school in Brisbane too. I agree that many of the private school uniforms are unsuitable, espicially the winter uniform at the beginning of the 2nd term and the end of the third term.

Doesn’t Sommerville House wear that lime green dress?

  • Bubba.
12

Brown or black dress shoes
Socks of one of several allowed colors, which I don’t remember now
Khaki pants or skirts
White cotton collared button-down dress shirt
Navy blue blazer, where a blazer is defined as a hip-length tailored jacket, and denim and leather are NOT ACCEPTABLE, missy
Ties for guys

Administrators always complained on out-of-uniform days, because they thought everyone got all riled up. They may have been right. Having uniforms most of the time meant that most students didn’t deal well with bright colors and shiny things.

13

black shoes
grey socks or tights
maroon skirt
grey shirt (juniors)
white shirt (seniors)
maroon, navy, grey, black striped tie
grey v-neck sweater/cardigan
grey blazer.

bleurgh!

14

I liked Victoria’s uniform on nubile young girls. Am I going to Hell? :wink:

black shoes
grey socks
charcoal grey trousers
white shirt (girls had a summer blouse with no tie)
navy tie with house colour thin stripe (green, yellow or red)
grey or black sweater (if required)
dark navy blazer with school badge. (see here)

I quite liked our uniform (it wasn’t offensive) and as Irishgirl will no doubt know, at least it wasn’t like the snotty green of Friends!

15

Let’s see…

Grades 1-2, St. Joseph’s School:
Pine green jumper, with false belt and box-pleated skirt, “SJS” patch on left side near shoulder
White blouse with peter pan collar, short or long sleeves
Pine green knee socks
optional: pine green crew-neck cardigan for winter

Grades 3-5, public school, no uniform

Grade 6, St. Joseph’s School again
Navy blue and green plaid jumper, same cut as the green one, SJS logo again
White peter pan collar blouse, short or long sleeve
Navy blue knee socks
Optional: navy blue crew-neck cardigan for winter

Grades 7-8, same school
Same plaid, this time in a box-pleated skirt
White pointed-collar blouse
Navy blue V-neck pullover or sweater vest, SJS logo again
Navy blue knee socks or tights

Grades 9-12, Catholic high school
Light blue and gold plaid box pleated skirt
White pointed-collar blouse
Navy blue V-neck pullover, simplified school crest on patch
Navy blue knee socks or tights
A navy blue blazer with a school crest patch could be worn instead of the sweater; in the first and last month of school we could wear a sweater vest or just the blouse

None of the schools ever required a particular type of shoe, except that it had to be a leather, closed shoe with a low heel, no sneakers, sandals, clogs or pumps allowed.

16

Catholic Girls School

Jr. & Sr. Infants AKA Low Babies and High Babies
Blue and white gingham smock/housecoat with a collar and elasticated cuffs. Street clothes worn underneath. Popular footware was (in my day) red high-top sneakers. On 4-5 year olds. Supercute! Led to the small children being nicknamed smurfs.

First to Sixth Class (roughly ages 6-12)
Bottle-green pinafore/tunic in very heavy nylon.
Two shades of green plus cream thin-striped shirt with round collar.
Bottle-green cardigan.
Beige or white socks
Black or brown shoes

First to Third Year in Secondary (roughly 12 to 15)
Same pinafore, but in wine-red.
Beige/Biscuit coloured shirt, regular collar
Wine-red tie.
Wine-red v-neck jumper
Beige or white socks
Black or brown shoes

Fifth to Sixth Year (not a typo, there was no fourth year)
Cornflour blue skirt (not pinny) in same industrial nylon
Two shades of blue plus white thin-striped shirt with regular collar
Cornblue v-neck jumper
Beige or white socks
Black or brown shoes

Navy gaberdine. Black blazer with crest on pocket.
Sports = Yellow or white airtex top, thick black knickershorts or skintight nylon tracksuit in wine-red with white stripes down the side.

Yes, I know it is nylon (or similar) I set fire to my uniform when I was done with school and it melted as opposed to burning. The fumes almost killed me. In theory though, I am pro uniform. Just not such a fugly uniform.

17

First Grade through 8th:

Red, white and blue plaid skirt, white shirt and white socks. any kind of shoes. Navy pants ok for girls too.

Boys (1st through 12th ) Navy pants, white shirt, white socks.

High School we were allowed Navy skirts if we wanted.

I still cannot wear Red, white and blue combination without squirming.

18

Ah, but for me, late August/early September feels like time to go shopping for plaid.

19

After seeing a picture online, it occurred to me that my school uniform was amazingly similar to the ones they wore on the television show “The Facts of Life” and I wonder if the producers of that program saw pictures of all of us poor geeky girls in our pleated skirts and thought “Yes! That’s what our actresses will wear for costumes everyday!”? Poor Tootie, poor Blair. :eek:

Jesleigh, from your comment, you’re a girl. You had to wear pants?! At a public school? What about girls who were from those strict Baptist groups who don’t wear pants or lipstick?

I’ve never heard of girls school uniforms that didn’t have skirts, in fact, I’ve heard of a lot that didn’t have pants as an option. My school uniform had pants that we could wear December - March, but they were polyester and shapeless and terrible. It didn’t matter if you were a size 2 or a size 22, they made your butt look wide, your legs look stubby and your stomach look like you were in your fourth month of pregnancy.

In my five years there (8-12 grade) I only remember one girl who ever came to school in the uniform pants, and she only did because it was unusally chilly (for Mississippi) and her mother told her that she couldn’t go out with her legs “exposed” in a skirt at those temperatures. It’s been 24 years since I graduated from high school and I still remember the details of that incident - that’s how unusual it was. I seem to recall that her mother made her wear the pants again, but she changed into her skirt when she got to school.

20

Catholic school, grades 1-8

Grades 1-3 - Immaculate Conception School - Light blue and grey plaid jumper and white blouse, with kneesocks of white or grey and leather shoes. No pants allowed.

Grades 3-8 - Our Lady of Perpetual Help School - Black watch plaid jumper with white blouse, navy or green kneesocks and leather shoes. We’d often wear shorts under our skirts so we could run with the boys on the playground. When you reached 7th grade (Junior high! Big Kids!) you could remove the vest part of your jumper and just wear the skirt. I was a tiny, tiny child and wore the same uniform (child’s size 4) from 3rd grade through 7th. 8th grade I was a bit bigger and wore a hand-me-down from one of my sisters.

StG