How were your school uniforms?
Posted by LeftHandedGuitarist@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 44 comments
How did you feel about the school uniforms you had to wear? I always felt an odd one out because I found them so comfortable and wouldn't change out of them once I got home, whereas my friends did.
The only things I hated were the ties, which I would have gladly burned, and once we hit secondary school the annoying blazers we had to wear and had to ask permission to take off in lessons.
PowerSkunk92@reddit
Went to public schools in Mobile County, AL, back in the 90s. They introduced uniforms in my freshman year. The idea was to make it so you couldn't tell the difference between the wealthier kids and the poorer kids because we were all wearing the same general out fit. For my school, it was khaki pants/skirt/skort/shorts, brown dress shoes, white or maroon polo or button up shirts. For cold weather, a grey or black fleece jacket. Exceptions for sports teams, cheer leaders, JROTC, and letterman jackets.
Everyone involved knew it was bullshit since we could tell the difference between Dickies and George branded clothes who Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.
And one of the other uniform argument crap (gangs, violence, etc) was really enough of a problem to warrant the switch where I lived at the time. Or affected enough to matter.
SlackerDS5@reddit
You mean my shorts and hoodie, all year round? It was great.
The only thing I hated was having to change for gym in high school. I purposely picked it for the end of the day so i didn’t chance to change back into regular clothes or spend the whole day sweaty.
LeftHandedGuitarist@reddit (OP)
You got to pick your own timetable?
SlackerDS5@reddit
Yeah, it was only required for two years in HS, and you could pick your class as long as you registered early. If not you got whatever period was available.
Funny_Collection8362@reddit
As a brit I think every UK school had a uniform. It always amazed me when watching US shows how cool and alien it was to wear civvies to school every day. About once or twice per term usually the last day before Easter or summer holidays we were allowed to wear civvies. The absolute novelty of wearing a pair of jeans and an Austin 3:16 T-shirt to high school was the peak of our excitement.
LeftHandedGuitarist@reddit (OP)
Ah, I would see American shows/films and always feel glad that we had to wear uniforms here. All being dressed the same, it was one less thing to be bullied over.
Funny_Collection8362@reddit
Fair point, but then it came down to shoes. Rich kids in the timberland/kickers/Dr Martins/Clarks....and the poor kids like me would get shoezone or B-wize cheap shit
Disastrous-Square662@reddit
Primary school was just tracksuit jumper and pants. High school was woollen skirt and jumper in winter and cotton dress in summer.
sweat-it-all-out@reddit
F@#% those blazers!
BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit
Didn't.
In my region only Catholic schools had uniforms.
Weird_Researcher3391@reddit
I once wore my sweater outside of school without my blazer. One of our teachers was driving past and saw me bolting for the bus, blazer tied around my waist, tights laddered to buggery and hair in its usual rat’s nest. I think I broke a half dozen rules that afternoon.
Week’s worth of after school detentions. I hated uniforms. Apparently it wasn’t so bad for our group. Once upon a time you weren’t allowed to eat in uniform outside the school gates. And the white gloves! Imagine. I couldn’t even manage to wear a hair tie without losing it. I’d have been in permanent detention if I had to keep track of gloves.
theshub@reddit
I was in the military, and even they weren’t that strict with uniform rules. Geez.
Weird_Researcher3391@reddit
All girls private school here in Aus. In an area known for its spendy k-12s. We weren’t allowed to eat in uniform outside the school gates either. I think a lot of it came from so many schools being in such proximity to each other. Every head wanted their students to distinguish as the best behaved, the best turned out, etc etc. Good education, but the uniform rules were from another era altogether. The cost was something else too. Even in 1996 the full summer/winter/sports kit was about $1200.
Horizontal_Bob@reddit
We has to wear khakis and collared shirts. No jeans or tshirts allowed
Although in middle school those hooded long sleeve shirts were popular and they were cool with those
CorgiMonsoon@reddit
My high school (all boys Jesuit high school) had probably the loosest uniform/dress code policy of any school in the area that had one. Button down shirt, tie, and slacks. Sounds pretty standard. However, the slacks could be any color, just not denim and not have cargo pockets. Our shirts could be short or long sleeved, any color, and almost any pattern (Hawaiian shirts were oddly specifically called out as prohibited). Our ties could also be any color or pattern as long as they weren’t considered obscene. You could also option to layer your button down with a turtleneck and then you didn’t have to wear a tie at all. Even shoes only had the restriction of not being sneakers or sandals, so you could get away with a pretty wide range of shoes from dress shoes to combat boots and Doc Martins.
We did occasionally have dress days where we were expected to wear a navy blazer, white shirt, and khaki pants, but those were only a small handful of days for specific events, like our Mass of the Holy Spirit that was held at the downtown cathedral sometime in the first few weeks of the school year.
Meanwhile all the other schools had pretty tight restrictions on colors for everything, and I don’t think any allowed patterned shirts or ties. Some of the really fancy schools also had blazers for everyday wear.
WheelLeast1873@reddit
Sounds very similar to my catholic hs
VelocityGrrl39@reddit
Turtleneck over or under the button down? I’m having such a hard time imagining what it looks like.
CorgiMonsoon@reddit
Under, like the douche next to John Belushi in this shot from Animal House
CreativeFedora@reddit
I wish I had more style back in the mid 90s as a middle schooler. The uniform would have been dripping. 🤣
WheelLeast1873@reddit
Brown polyester pants, uncomfortable as fuck. Yellow button down shirts.
We wore poop and pee colored uniforms and they were awefu :)
TrystanScott@reddit
Didn’t have to wear one, had only a handful of rules on dress. No profanity, no nude images, girls had to be “covered” but that was so loosely enforced
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
I grew up in England and now live in the US. I roll my eyes at any man who doesn’t know how to tie a tie (or anyone who asks me if I know how to tie a tie 🙄)
Economy-Mango7875@reddit
Didn't have them. Remember, in the US mostly, our generation is what made the rules most schools use now
twirlerina024@reddit
My uniforms were kind of ugly but I loved not having to think about clothes. In high school, I wished that our uniforms were a little more obviously a uniform instead of just being ugly. Our skirts were solid grey, with one big box pleat in the front, and then we had white polo shirts and maroon sweaters. I worried that people wouldn't see me and think "Catholic school kid", but "dork with bad taste".
VisibleSea4533@reddit
Never had them except for HS. Went to a tech school so only had to wear them when we were in shop, mine was just khakis and a polo (with the shop logo) for drafting.
VelocityGrrl39@reddit
I went to catholic grade school and a public high school with NJROTC, so even though I’m American I had to wear uniforms most of my school years and I hated it. The rotc uniforms were all polyester and so scratchy and uncomfortable. The catholic uniform was higher quality but it was yellow shirts, which is not a color I should ever wear, so I hated them. I shot up like a weed and the skirts were always shorter on me than they were supposed to be because I was so tall and skinny, but my parents couldn’t afford to buy multiple uniforms for me throughout the year, so the nuns fussed but never gave me detention.
bikeonychus@reddit
I fucking HATED my uniform. Bottle green polyester sweater with a bottle green and amber tie, fitted shirt, black leather shoes and black trousers or skirts (technically, girls weren't allowed to wear trousers up until a couple of years before my year group turned up). It itched, too hot, nothing fit right, and we were told that uniforms were supposed to make everyone look equal, but in reality, it made it really easy to spot who had money and who didn't (and inevitably had to buy second hand clothes from the school).
I emigrated to Canada from the UK years later, and when my daughter started school, the first school she went to demanded uniforms, and she also hated them! Luckily she goes to a different school now with no uniforms, and she is a lot happier and more comfortable. It's also cheaper to buy regular clothes here, the uniforms are like 2-3x the price.
mstermind@reddit
We don't have school uniforms in Sweden but my children wear it in UK schools.
lord_nerdly@reddit
Went to catholic elementary school. Boys’ uniform was navy blue slacks and a light blue or white button down collared shirt.
Since graduating from there in 6th grade, I have not owned a pair of navy blue pants nor a light blue shirt. White I still wear as it was my concert uniform in High School band and goes well with suits and tuxes, but that’s it.
Krazylegz1485@reddit
Uniforms? Ha. We were poor white trash at public school.
FakeNamesAreReal@reddit
Never had to wear one. I wore blue jeans and boots to school every day
emptybeetoo@reddit
I went to public school in the US, so our school uniforms were just “don’t wear Big Johnson or Coed Naked shirts”
witch_of_winooski@reddit
Parents sent me to a private school for middle/high.The clothing permitted to students on school grounds could only come from one single prep-school uniform store, the garments were distractingly uncomfortable and ludicrously poorly-made (especially for the cost), and everyone had to wear polo shirts (haha not once ever has anyone in any context rocked a polo shirt). At least skirts were optional for AFABs rather than there being a mandatory binary partition in garments, especially since my 404gendernotfound self was going through things I didn't yet have the language to convey... but I came away with an intense burning hatred for school uniforms of any kind that smoulders to this day.
WittyAndWeird@reddit
We didn’t have school uniforms but my kids did. I absolutely hated it. They never fit my kids right. I was so happy when they got to high school and could wear what they wanted.
Basic-Aioli-7652@reddit
My schools at the time didn't require uniforms. They were an option but only poor kids wore them. I'm poor kids.
Adrasteia-One@reddit
In high school, it was just collared shirt, slacks, and casual shoes. No sneakers, t-shirts, or jeans, unless it was a pep rally day on a Friday. Oh, and we had to be clean-shaven.
Significant_Dog412@reddit
School uniforms are still normal in Britain, but me and my Sister went to a rare non uniform secondary school.
I don't like the concept and would happily see them phased out. We don't all go to work suited and booted as previous generations did, and with schools insisting on very specific items and what my Nephew's uniform costs, it's stupidly expensive.
Closest I ever came to uniform was kitchen/factory overalls. For a Buckingham Palace job, I had to wear a shirt and tie UNDER my overall jacket, which was ridiculous.
Smurfblossom@reddit
Didn't have school uniforms, but I wouldn't have minded them. The simplicity of wearing the same thing would have saved time planning the night before.
Adventurous_Check_45@reddit
I loved mine. Great, normal colours (navy and green). My parents were kind enough to have my blazer tailored so it fit me like a glove. Especially, no time wasted on wondering what to wear in the morning (after years of it, before I got a scholarship to attend private school). When I moved abroad, I brought my kilt and wore it all the time, with nice sweaters and stuff so it didn't give off schoolgirl vibes or anything.
I moved back to my hometown a couple of years ago, so it's too recognizable to wear (and my son is starting at the school in September) but I wore it until I was 36, it was that comfy!
11229988B@reddit
Never had uniforms. 2 different states.
Deep-Interest9947@reddit
No school uniforms, but I did have to wear some variation of my cheerleading uniform to school more days than not. I found it annoying and was always in trouble for wearing my wind pants instead of/under my skirt (because pantyhose).
no_clever_name_yet@reddit
No uniforms here (Minnesota, USA), but I sort of wish my kids had uniforms because it would make their wardrobes easier to manage.
Seven22am@reddit
I didn’t have uniforms but I taught at and now send the kids to a school that does and have become a fan.
Also, remember when this was a hot button national issue!? Ahh the 90s.
crazycatlady331@reddit
Didn't wear a uniform until my first job (camp counselor-- the uniform was a camp t-shirt).
But I hate blazers in general as I just find them really uncomfortable. I own one and it just sits in my closet. I haven't worn it since before Covid lockdowns (job interviews have gone to zoom and I can get away with a cardigan).