School uniform kilts

if parents can afford the fees they can afford the uniform
Exactly, they want a smart, distinctive look.

Cold - it's a new(ish) thing for me - in the sense that I had occasionally seen girls wearing them, but didn't know the history of the school and assumed there was a specific reason. Interesting that they were common in your area 50 years ago.

So it seems that maybe they were / still are associated with posher schools; and being more expensive may act as a sort of excluder (hmmmm).

Something that has interested me as this post has gone on is the way the discussion has centred on girls looking smart and attractive, even 'young ladies'. By its nature it has focussed on girls (although I am still interested in whether kilts are part of male school uniform anywhere). I wonder if we would use similar words when discussing boys' school uniform?

Anyway, it has been interesting, and I thank all who have contributed. Still also wondering if schools have to register the tartan!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202309/medium-935024-img-2612.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202309/medium-927857-img-2611.png

This is a publicity shot for Westfield School (independent) just outside Newcastle. Very distinctive, but very short!
In most independent schools the second hand uniform shops are well used. I was approached by other parents to buy my girls’ Winter coats, before they’d even left! It seemed quite a common thing to do.

I am genuinely surprised that folk are saying schools are making money out of expensive uniforms. There used to be stringent rules about not being able to make a profit eg we could buy calculators for £4.39 but weren't allowed to sell them for £4.50 (which made life a lot easier from a change point of view) because it broke these rules.
Does anyone actually know what the rules are now?

Katie59

Girls will always find a way of bending the rules on skirts if they can, wether kilts of not. There is a private girls school nearby that has calf length skirts I don’t remember seeing trousers either, very strict uniform code.

My granddaughters school has a policy of trousers for all pupils. It’s cuts out a lot of arguments between parents, teachers, children.

I like the younger girls there in tartan Georgesgran, and the pink blouses, but not so keen on the minis for the older girls.
I don't think you have to register the tartan Nannarose because other schools can use the same one. I remember being irritated that another school copied ours, but then decided it was a compliment! Also school near us chose the same tartan school uniform as in a long standing Australian soap!

My Grammar school changed over to Kilts in 1970, different
colours for the ages. I wore a white background kilt and loved it. They said it was to honour the name of the school being
that of a Scottish born King. As far as I know the uniform is
still the same today. The boys wore a tartan tie and grey
trousers.

My dd wore a kilt at her grammar school until 6th form and then they wore their own clothes . The bonus of a kilt is it expands as the girls get bigger . My dds was calf length at 11 and a mini at 16 . It was quite expensive and I refused to buy another one just for one year . A local comp now has a kilt very similar to my dds school

Catholic Schools are associated with wearing kilts but gd goes to local authority comprehensive and girls wear kilts.

My daughter would have been in a terrible state in a pair of trousers as she suffered from UTI's and candida from the antibiotics she was almost continually taking.

My lovely grandaughter wears a kilt where she goes to school. It is very smart if not a little long.

Primrose53

Germanshepherdsmum

Is that Gresham’s School Primrose? The girls look very smart in their kilts.

Where I used to live there was a comprehensive which required the girls to wear kilts or trousers. The girls used to roll the tops of the skirts over (as we did in the 60s!) and didn’t look nearly so good.

Yes it is. germanshepherdsmum The kilts come well down to mid calf and are so thick and heavy that they would look ridiculous rolled over.

It's funny - when I was at High School in the 70s, the era of the "midi-skirt", mid calf length skirts were banned as a safety hazard and skirts had to sit on the knee and not lower.

I think they look smart and distinctive, but would have hated having to wear them as a teen.

I suppose much depends on the purpose of the uniform. If it is to ‘give a good impression’ to those not wearing them, they score highly. Their adjustable nature (if they are true kilts and not tartan skirts) is a plus point, but if the purpose is to find a mode of dress that is comfortable and practical, and that the wearer will be happy with, I think that trousers (with cut and style options to suit different figures) with polo shirts in summer, and added sweatshirts in winter is the way forward. My two (boy and girl) wore that uniform in both nursery and primary and it was so much more comfortable than the shirts and ties they wore later - and that’s without the horrible blazers insisted on in all weathers.

Sorry, I'm away so can't find the best photos on the computer, but this is one of my little pickles in the tartan uniform I mentioned earlier.

Cute

I note this is all about girls in kilts.
At my late DH’s school in the North of Scotland (yes, that one) boys had the option of kilts as an alternative to shorts.
Being English he wore shorts but was assured kilts kept the legs and nether regions warmer in the often bitter cold of Morayshire.

Thank you Foxygloves! It doesn't appear to be an option at any of the other schools mentioned. I do understand that in England, few boys would wear kilts, but remain amused by the disparity.
I also found out that although you should register / apply for a true tartan, of course anyone can mock up a plaid pattern.

PS: Youngest GC (just turned 5) is at a school with a 'uniform' of white Tshirt, black joggers / sport shorts / grey sweatshirt - school badges to be sewn on! How sensible

School uniform is expensive and could be bought much more cheaply if schools didn’t have such ridiculous demands for them. Just thankful that I didn’t have to buy anything new for my child this year as everything still fits, although the skirt is shorter, but still too big on the waist.

My DD had a kilt as school uniform, bit of a nightmare to keep clean when she was 4. She also had to wear a hat, I still have her little hat somewhere.

Couple of other schools around the area wear kilts as well.

Tenko

My dd wore a kilt at her grammar school until 6th form and then they wore their own clothes . The bonus of a kilt is it expands as the girls get bigger . My dds was calf length at 11 and a mini at 16 . It was quite expensive and I refused to buy another one just for one year . A local comp now has a kilt very similar to my dds school

The bonus of a kilt is it expands as the girls get bigger
Yes, the waist can expand even if the kilt gets shorter.

I remember kilts being popular for little girls when my DD were young, not for school uniform but for wearing every day.
Kilts and hand knitted jumpers were standard wear, the tinies wore tartan pleated skirts attached to a bodice which just pulled over the head, then the obligatory hand knitted jumper on top.

I love the little tartan pinafore up thread.
On a practical note with the heavier tartan kilts,how do you launder and dry them,and keep the pleats in.
Sorry if I am bit thick here,I hate to see pleated skirts without the pleats defined.

I think kilts for schoolgirls are absolutely ridiculous. They are expensive, difficult to care for and completely out of keeping with what people actually wear in relatively formal situations.
They were brought in by private schools and copied by some state schools to make them seem posher than some others.
Black trousers and a school jumper I find more practical and look resonably smart on everyone.
And while I'm on the subject, for goodness sake get rid of ties for both boys and girls. Even the prime minister doesn't wear one except for proper formal occasions. A normal school day is not a formal occasion.

There's a huge amount of fabric in a proper kilt, far more than an A line skirt or trousers, so they must be pretty expensive.

All children should be permitted to wear trousers now

lizzypopbottle

There's a huge amount of fabric in a proper kilt, far more than an A line skirt or trousers, so they must be pretty expensive.

I think they are mostly kilt-style skirts. A real kilt wouldn't be washable (would it?) and ironing the pleats back into shape would be a nightmare.

I think they have caught on because the tartan makes the pupil recognisable as belonging to the school.