Comments on: Back to school style

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:25:53 +0000

I wore a uniform for 12 years. In elementary school, I do not recall any issues of trying to stand out. We all had the exact same uniform down to the shoes. In High School, we also had the same uniform but you could mix it up a bit with a winter skirt or pants. I remember expressing my individuality by buying izod sweaters(they made the perfectly matching kelly greeen that my school required). Izod socks(which we wore scrunched down but you could still see the little alligator) and penny loafers complete with the requisite penny. I wish my children were required to wear uniforms. I think overall, they look much better than the skin tight hollister shirts they want to wear that only the size 0 girls look good in. I never felt that I was missing out on anything either. After school or weekends we wore whatever was in style at the time. I was preppy(in the 80’s) so for me it was all about the Preppy Handbook! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.....y_Handbook

By: Eva

Eva — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:03:03 +0000

I’m amazed at how many people had uniforms. I went to public school in Hawaii. We had no uniforms. In elementary school it was shorts and t-shirts. Hopefully I remembered to wear slippers to school so I could run in the grass without worrying about stepping on pokies. I’ve come a long way.

By: Veronica

Veronica — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:12:39 +0000

I had the opportunity to swing both ways in a manner of speaking - up to 4th grade I had no uniform, then from 4th to 8th, I did, and from 8th through high school I did not. I found that life was actually MUCH easier when I wore a uniform. I always had a good sense of style, as did my mother when she dressed me those early school years, but I never had to spend half an hour figuring out what to wear and how to accessorize because it was all laid out for me. However, after the uniform days were over, I did find it refreshing to start thinking for myself when I got dressed. The bad news is that I was a bit out of practice and had to re-learn it.

By: seashell

seashell — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:27:21 +0000

Well, maybe something that will at least look decently appealing.

I’m not much into the idea of school uniform anyway - I don’t know about boys, but it often makes girls overcompensate after hours, and not always in a nice way.
Though I must say that the clothing rivalry and discrimination described in some of the comments here sounded like an alien experience to me. None of the schools I went to had any of it, or at least I never got influenced.

By: Angie

Angie — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:58:00 +0000

One should not expect a school uniform to be wildly flattering. A school uniform should look like a school uniform – generic, neat and durable.

By: seashell

seashell — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:37:44 +0000

It also depends on the uniform I guess When I went to a Russian school, they had the ugliest dresses: small turtleneck-like collar that shortens any neck that doesn’t look like a swan’s neck, pleated skirt with pleats starting at the (badly fitted) waist (which makes even the slimmest girls look like they need to lose ten pounds or are somewhat pregnant), the shade of brown reminding of cow’s droppings…

By: Kristers

Kristers — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:20:55 +0000

I also wish we had uniforms, I being one of the many public school grads [graduated early 80’s from high school]. Although we got a little money for clothes, not much direction from my mom or friends [the only direction being: you’re going to wear that??!]. I was never in style but always assumed I was invisible anyway so it didn’t matter. Now in my 40’s, I’m finally starting to figure out fashion, thanks to this site and shows like “what not to wear”.

I swear, Angie, if you ever came down to the SF Bay Area on business, I would SO set up an appointment with you to get some ‘rules’ for myself.

By: Marian

Marian — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:34:02 +0000

I wish we had had a uniform! My mom always told me that there was no money for clothes, so I wore the few pairs of jeans I had and free t-shirts from 4-H or school events nearly every day. Now, I’m on my own, still don’t have a lot of money for clothes but would like to start spending some to build a wardrobe and I’m clueless!

With a uniform, it wouldn’t have been so obvious that I had no money for clothes…plus it might have been more flattering than baggy t-shirts!

By: Angie

Angie — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:05:40 +0000

Thanks for the comments. You gave me wonderful insight into what wearing civvies at school was like. It’s interesting hearing the differences of opinion.

Going to school in different countries is different, and so is going to school now as opposed to 25 years ago. Because of these differences I am still very much on the fence about the benefits of school uniforms. I totally get how wearing civvies to school is an expression of you at an impressionable age; but I’m also with Australian Karen : “school is one area where fashion should not be involved”.

I suppose if I had to do it all again, I’d still favour the school uniform idea if I lived in a country where EVERYONE wore school uniforms to school.

By: seashell

seashell — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:35:21 +0000

I wore a uniform when I was little. Middle & high school time was spent in other school, so no uniform for me then. It’s interesting how self-image and self-esteem reflect on clothes (or maybe it’s the other way around?) - before puberty, I was a slim, pretty child. I didn’t care what I wore - jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, there were only two girlish things about me then: small gold earrings and long hair. My parents had a bad period, job and money wise, but I felt great about my looks, even though most girls wore much nicer clothes & had more clothes anyway.

When I hit puberty, an accident forced me to cut my hair short (chin length), and I gained a lot of weight, my skin looked worse too. Together, that made me feel like an ugly duck, even though the financial situation improved greatly and Mom bought me lots of nice clothes to make me feel better.

In a few years my hormones finally decided to behave again, I got my looks back, and I became a tomboy again. It’s like the better I looked without clothes, the less I cared about clothes themselves.