Fashions when you were at school

I remember a brown gabardine mac belted at the waist, skirt style shorts for PE, brown ribbed stocking which cut into the tops of my very chubby thighs.

Why not use common sense, and allow boys to wear white shirts and dark grey/ navy trousers? They still look smart and unified, but parents can buy supermarket cheapies. An attitude like that puts people’s backs up, and means the Head will have problems putting other - more important- decisions through

By the time l was secondary school age mini skirts were out and calf length was in. For a time wedge shoes were the fashion and even Clarks got in on the act with two designs; T bar, which l had, and lace up, which most other girls had (late seventies).

Oh and all our uniforms had to come from one supplier, a catalogue company with connections to our grammar school and could only be bought through the school. Definitely overpriced. The blazer badge was usually picked off after one year and stitched on an M&S blazer.

Calendargirl

Black stockings were very ‘in’, to be superseded by black tights.

Our senior mistress made us kneel down to measure how short our skirts were, only so much hemline off the floor was allowed.

She is still alive, well into her 90’s. Don’t know what she makes of the uniforms nowadays.

My grammar school did that too-I think it was 2 inches.

Our school was proud that they listened to pupils and parents' complaints but alas by the time the school outfitters/tailors/ etc could alter the styles it was too late and would have been better had they never tried to change with the fashions.

My DB went to the Bluecoat school and wore medieval dress. The pupils still do and apparently quite like it!
www.christs-hospital.org.uk/about-christs-hospital/history-of-the-uniform/the-christs-hospital-uniform/

Having a coloured streak in your hair was fashionable when I was at secondary school and they banned it. I had a natural blonde streak (it's now extremely blonde [grin) which showed up strongly in my brown hair. I was constantly pulled up by teachers and forced to explain over and over that it was natural and not dyed. Eventually I was called to the Head of Girls office...a terrifying place that you went to if you were in serious trouble. The Head of Girls closely examined my hair even going so far as to pull a few strands out to see if she could see any evidence of dye. Finally she accepted that it was natural and gave me a card to show to any teacher who might query my hair. Imagine having strands of hair roughly pulled out to prove that it was natural These days I'd cry assault but in those days children had to just put up with it along with the rest of the abuse that was inflicted at that school.

I went to one of the first comprehensive schools, and although we had a uniform, it was quite loosely enforced. In the summer we wore blue and white striped dresses - anything from turquoise to navy. The way you really made your mark in the school hierarchy was by wearing as many stiff petticoats underneath as your parents were prepared to buy - 'paper nylon' or stiff net. I only owned one, so I used to starch mine every week. Oh it was uncomfortable!

Anyone have little black flat pumps called "Whispies ?" Saxone and Dolcis made them slightly differently every season. Usually only the inside colour changed. They were always black and all the girls I knew wore them to school in summer (winter too if we could get away with it ) This was early 1960s

nanna8

Me too, Fanny. They used to give you a detention if you didn’t wear your gloves. White in Summer, navy in winter. Imagine that these days.

Oh yes, same here! Red gloves in winter, white in summer... school hat on at all times (but you couldn’t wear the school badge until you’d passed an exam on the history of the school). No going into shops/eating in uniform and we had to fill in a big ledger saying what we did after school each day ie guides/music lessons. If the headmistress didn’t think you had time to do your homework then she was on the phone to your parents.
But the worst thing was the systemic undermining of teenaged girls’ confidence by middle aged spinster teachers who thought nothing of telling you that you were an idiot or treating you like dirt.

Was mid 60’s I was at secondary school. You were either a mod, or a rocker. I was a mod, mini skirt, nylon raincoat and hush puppy shoes. Used to iron or sellotape my curly hair to straighten and emulate Mary Quant or Twiggy. Oh and wore skinny rib jumpers and bell bottom trousers although not to school.

Ellianne - we called buttoned long cardigans with pockets on the bottom edge as “bumuggers” (i.e. bum huggers)! Loved mine worn with my miniskirt and over-the-knee coloured socks and laced up granny boots. Great days (late 60’s).

Fashion didn’t really exist when I was at school, 1944-1955. They were very strict about uniform in the girls’ grammar school that I attended. Woe betide anyone spotted away from school without a hat, or eating chips. “Bringing down school standards!”
Our mothers bought our ordinary clothes, and we weren’t that bothered about what we wore. It was only in the late 50s that I started taking more interest in styles and fashion, but I have never been very interested in clothes, preferring comfort over style. The fact that I never wore high heels and fancy shoes is probably why, at 81, I have never had a corn or bunion.

Brings back memories, reading all these posts. I too was at a girl's grammar in London and endured a brown uniform but with red for the contrast.
Yes,, indoor and outdoor shoes, and a beret for winter to be worn at all times outside the school. In my 4th year there we had a 'poll' on a suitable summer hat and ended up with a rather nice and 'natty' straw boater.
I seem to remember wearing the same gymslip (skirts only from the 5th form up) for my entire time there (I left after GCE's), by, it did get mucky over a full week (never been the cleanest eater). Same games shorts/divided skirt too. They did actually turn into shorts by the end and lord knows how I managed to get them round my middle.
Uniform only from the one outfitter and definitely the correct distance from the floor when kneeling.
Beige knee socks and beige blouse. My, we were so colourful, just like a cage full of exotic parakeets. I expect we made the right noises though.

When I left school and went off to college, I was sent off with a couple of sensible skirts, and some M&S jumpers.
I couldn’t believe that you could wear absolutely anything, lots of charity shop ensembles, velvet trousers, jeans, cheesecloth tops, I felt a right twit!
I had to save my small allowance, and the first thing I bought was a totally impractical, practically see through maxi dress, from the market.

We had to wear stockings with a suspended belt. Tights were not allowed. Our MALE form teacher checked that we weren’t wearing tights by making us pull our dresses up so that he could see the suspender belts! I always liked to wear my skirts a bit longer because one of my legs was partially paralysed by polio’. My mum used to roll my waist band up so my skirts could be as short as my friends’ skirts. My older sister wore lots of net underskirts under her school dresses. They had to be dipped in a sugar solution to make them stiff and she was always plagued by wasps . She also backcombed her hair so that her school beret , in winter, and the white boater, in Summer, had to be pinned at the back of her head. They always looked like they’d been blown there and got stuck in the tumbleweed that was her hair . ?

Remember witches britches...??? In the winter they were nice and warm. One pair I had was bright red with white lace around the hems of the legs...!!!

''Anyone have little black flat pumps called "Whispies ?"

yes but ours were called boppers.

Yes we did the rolling the skirts over at the waist thing as our skirts were supposed to be no shorter than 4 inches above the knee, measured when you were kneeling down (the deputy head used to do spot checks from time to time)
There was also the feathercut hairstyle, that was basically a layered cut, done with a razor. I can remember one girl used to spray silver hairspray on her hair to make sort of highlights-looked quite effective if not done overboard on dark hair - mine was red, so never used it on mine!

At my comp we were allowed to wear what we liked over a white shirt/blouse with a tie or cravat in school colours as long as the colour was navy or grey. My mother rarely bought me clothes, I had one uniform only (a navy skirt and jumper). I ordered clothes from her catalogue behind her back and in 1978 wore a pair of the new straight cut jeans to school. I remember that most of my peers didn’t like them! But everyone was wearing them by the following year.

My granddaughter is in y7 and I carefully took her new school skirts up to the approved length - so of course she rolls them up ! Since these days girls are allowed to wear trouser to school I have no understanding as to why they even wear skirts - but nanny the black trousers are too narrow or too wide ?

Fifties fashions were so pretty. I loved the small waist and full skirt look, and it really suited me then. The small waist wouldn’t work on me now!

We wore white socks with our school uniform, even in the sixth form. ‘Nylons’ were for special occasions.

I spent 12 years in schools run and taught by nuns. For one in 1000 that was kind and gentle there were 500 that were sour and arrogant, the other 499 were downright vicious, vindictive, petty people that delighted in humiliating the weak. They had the humiliation streak down to a fine art.
We always wore FULL uniform dress over the regulation blouse, no chance of fiddling with the length unless you had had a growth spurt. They would get all of us to walk in indian file along one of the inner quadrangles and check that every dress was just below the knee. If it was not, the woman would call out STOP, walk to the poor offending girl and she would rip the hem off. This happened every month.
Fortunately every girl would rally round the tearful one and commiserate ... I have to say I had no experience of any kind of bullying in all my years at school in Spain. Well, not from the girls, plenty from the saintly nuns!
Having said all this, I adored Mother Olivia, my piano teacher, and Mother Teresa would wake me up every night at 4 am for 3 months to give me medicine at a point when I was not well and needed regular medication.

I started to the Grammar school in 1956,all uniform to be bought from an extortionate expensive drapers (the wife of the owner taught French) at school.The uniform for thirds and fourths was hideous strange shaped neck on the gymslip and a square neck blouse,navy blue you always had to wear your blazer and beret when out,even when cycling the three miles from the bus stop. Black indoor and outdoor shoes,whit socks until you reached removes,then you could wear nylons.The senior mistress stood on the corner of the hall after assembly and if there was a problem with your uniform,without raising her eyes from your leg area she put a hand out and you had to wait until everyone had passed and she would point out the faults in your uniform.It was during the time of massive net underskirt and waspy belts your skirt on summer uniform could only be a certain width and the belt could only be two inches wide,No leaving school premises unless under dire emergency,no eating in school uniform.I don't know what the girls of today would make of it all.Having said that everyone .oozed very smart

I remember wearing neon coloured knickers that came down to my knees!!