1950s and 60s leisure wear. Was school uniform worn socially?

My school had a rule strictly forbidding the wearing of school uniform out of school. Not that we wanted to.

My C went to a local primary which was built to take the children from the newly developing area.
Mt D was in the first intake and the uniform included purple blazers with the school insignia of an oak tree embroidered in silver on the pocket, they were very attractive.
One neighbour, who had grown up in a not very nice area, took her two boys to a family wedding back in her home town and was delighted to have them wear their blazers and grey short trousers to impress the family and friends.
This is over 50 years ago.
The school is still there but the blazers are no longer part of the uniform.
I couldn’t wait to get out of my navy gym slip and Viyella blouse and school tie.
They were hideous.

Yes, my older siblings often wore their uniforms on family outings and the photographs show this. This changed as we started senior school a few years later.
Why?
We were better off plain and simple.

Something to do with rationing or rather coupons perhaps? Were school uniforms included? Everyone had fewer clothes in the '50s.

BlueBelle

School uniform (strict) from 4/17 for me but never outside school Straight off when I got home

Yes.

It wasn't washed every day as it seems to be now, either!
Blouses lasted two days, cardigans washed once a week. gymslips and blazer dry cleaned,

We have a black and white photo of my dad and brother on a trip to London in probably 1961/2 and my brother (then aged about 12) appears to be wearing his school uniform of peaked cap, belted gabardine mac, white shirt with a tie, short trousers, knee high socks and black shoes. It’s a black and white snap so it’s difficult to tell, but you did often see boys dressed this way on trips out. Possibly no other dressy clothes to wear, I suppose.

I took off my uniform as soon as I got home.

But yes I wore it sometimes at weekends if we were going to town or to see relatives. They were my ‘smart’ clothes as opposed to my at home set of clothes.

The cost of the uniform meant that there wasn’t any money for a second smart set for going out.

Straight out of the uniform in order to keep it clean, mum would only wash it at the weekend and I only had one uniform. When playing out after school I wore hand me downs from my sister or cousin, usually dresses, many of which my nana, who was an accomplished seamstress, had made.
Woolies were knitted by my mum.

Never.! We all enjoyed being in non-school clothes.Blouse Tie and skirt and thick stockings in the winter and a horrible hat.
Off with that tie ;off with that hat.

I couldn’t wait to get out of uniform and had trousers and hand knitted jumpers to wear. I also had one outfit at a time for church on Sunday.
There is a photo of DH in his early teens attending a family funeral in his school uniform otherwise he wore the trousers with a jumper.

School uniform (strict) from 4/17 for me but never outside school Straight off when I got home

I was at a private school with a very stiff uniform. Couldn't wait to get out of it. And I still have nightmares about the straw boater which we just had to wear at all time when outside the school premises.

I remember a girl in my Sunday school class wearing her new school uniform to Church for several Sundays, then trying to adapt it with different jumpers and blouses. Years later I learned that she had the step mother from hell who resented every penny spent on her and said the school uniform had cost so much she didn't need any other new clothes. We had no idea.

Ordinary clothes at junior school, but a very expensive uniform at my girls’ Grammar School, which was a special French dye and only available at 2 retailers, one in Durham, the other in Newcastle. There’s a uniform shop at both my DGSs schools, but nothing like that back in the ‘60’s. I changed out of uniform as soon as I got home and woe betide any girl who removed her felt hat, before she got inside - somehow it always got back to the headmistress!

Hi Stoker 48, hope you are well.
My Dad also wore a suit all the time. He was a painter and decorator but even wore one to work! I too have photos of him on the beach in a suit with his trouser legs rolled up. One even has him with a knotted handkerchief on his head!
I can’t imagine that I would have ever worn my school uniform outside of school as I hated it with a passion. It consisted on a brown gym slip (up until the 4th year then we could wear a pleated skirt) a brown blazer and beret. The beret only lasted the first term as some girls from another school threw it into a tree. My Mum never believed me! The very worse thing was the romper suit that we had to wear for PE , it was a shapeless brown thing made out of school knicker material! Oh how I would have loved the shorts and top worn by my DGD these days.

I made a lot of my own clothes from the age of 14 - fabric from the market and using my Mum's trusty Singer hand sewing machine.

I went to the grammar school in 1958 and basically my uniform was the only smart outfit I'd got. I've got photographs of me with my mother at the zoo and I'm wearing my school uniform, right down to the panama hat. Later she got a part time job so there was a bit of spare money for clothes for me.

I had to be very careful with my grammar school uniform as it was so expensive. If my Dad had not won £100 on the Labour tote I would not have had a uniform full stop.

Luckily I was quite petite so my uniform lasted me right through school. I had to hang it up every day after school.
I always had part time jobs from about age 13 so I was able to save up and buy non school clothes.

No, we wore our ordinary clothes at junior school, and always changed out of our uniforms when we got home from secondary school, into trousers and jumpers, or dresses in the summer. I got my first pair of jeans, which were Sea Dogs, when I was 12, I saved up for them, and I’ve never been out of jeans since then.

I never wore my school uniform out of school.

However, I have photos of a group of us at college, the girls wearing dresses and the boys wearing suits and ties - loosely.

It must have been fashionable in the Sixties.
These were not the boys in the photo!

Winter outer clothes were expensive so my school winter coat, whether woollen coat or gaberdine mac was the only winter outer garment I had and I wore it whenever I went outside, rgardless of whether I was in school uniform or not.

I had my first non-school winter coat for my 13th birthday, a lovely scarlet 3/4 jacket. I loved that coat and wore it on all occasions. I was still wearing it when I first went to university. I wore it until it was completely worn out; fraying and worn.

I was “made” to take off my uniform as soon as I got home and hang it up.

It was never ever worn for anything g other than school.

I was born in 1958, my “leisure” clothes many came from wonderful Woolworths, many trousers, t-shirts and shorts (my choices) and then once or twice a year I was taken (forced) to go to a posh dress shop to purchase a dress or two (choices of my mother) to wear with white knee socks for “best”!

Always Clark’s shoes for school and best and canvas shoes for “leisure”

Yes, and unfortunately there is photographic evidence, which confused my offspring.

I think I wore my school gabardine coat out of school as I didn’t have another coat until one day I was bought a camel coat which I was very proud of.
My everyday clothes were much the same as my mother’s. Usually a jumper knitted by her and a skirt.
Stoker48 mentioned her Dad on the beach in a suit. Mine also wore a suit on the beach, complete with tie as my mother insisted on that. How ridiculous that would look today. I think he did also wear grey flannels and a tweed jacket, always with leather shoes.

I was talking to my daughter today about city gents on the train back in the 50s/60s all clad in the same uniform of suit, bowler hat, briefcase and umbrella. Gen X and younger”Gens”who also work in the city now wear trainers and carry rucksacks. I’m sure they’re more comfortable too.

School blazer was the only jacket I had until I was ten, when I went to one where the uniform was a plain grey lumberjacket, and a blazer for the summer. At secondary (boarding) school the uniform was tweed sports jacket and optional blazer, with ghastly brown herringbone suit for Sundays. Grey flannels throughout. So essentially, uniform was all I had to wear, and all I needed - term time and holidays.