School uniform for girls

The school I visited recently on the far side of the world had a school uniform from reception to Y6 then another from year 7 until year 11.
After that pupils were not obliged to wear uniform, but the clothes had to show respect for the school’ reputation.

Our children went to school internationally and there was no uniform. The kids wore what was comfortable and very little evidence of inappropriate under-dressing by the girls.

My sons both went to non-uniform schools and it seemed to me that everyone just wore jeans/joggers with t shirts or sweatshirts. There didn’t seem to be any “keeping up” going on nor very short skirts. I worked in a school with a very strict uniform policy and the staff seemed to spend a lot of time telling the students off for uniform infractions and that was the majority of their interactions with them - which was not great.

Mollygo, I’m with you on that. At my daughter’s school girls can wear either trousers or skirts. My daughter is unable to wear the trousers due to the fabric and only tolerates the skirt fabric by wearing shorts underneath so that she doesn’t have to sit on the fabric.

The head of the school should be making rules for the boys and girls uniform.

Fallingstar It’s not whether girls would prefer to wear trousers, - it’s the fact that they have to wear trousers because of male behaviour

Surely the main point should be that girls should not have to change their mode of dress because of the behaviour of boys!!! It's the boys who need to change, starting with learning respect for females via their parents and secondly by their teachers and society in general. We'll have all schoolgirls wearing burqua's next just because immature schoolboys can't be controlled.

Some may well be wearing modesty shorts underneath. Who knows unless you try to look?

Rules in life are important, but for them to have value they need to be as few as possible and necessary.

School uniform is an unnecessary rule that wastes teacher time. Not being in uniform does not interfere with education, which is the purpose of school.

My local school has a no uniform policy but pupils are required to wear a school sweatshirt when on outings for easy identification of pupils for safety so as not to lose anyone!

We have a few "alternative" type schools in our neck of the woods - you know, the type where children can swing from the trees if they feel like it. They don't wear a uniform because it's all to do with freedom of choice, so that pupils only choose to dress and behave in a way that matters to them!

I'm not so sure about this. In life, there are many rules that are compulsory, and learning to follow them is a beneficial practice.

Mollygo What experiences do others who have mentioned children at non-uniform schools have? Or should we believe that all children at non uniform schools automatically make sensible clothing choices?

My sons went to a state school. No uniform. The only rule l remember was no football colours.

One son wore sensible jeans/t-shirts/sweatshirts. The other wore trendy (at that time) frayed/holed low slung jeans with his backside hanging out, expensive designer t-shirts, don't think he had enough money left for designer sweatshirts (they both had quite lucrative part time jobs from age 14 so were free to buy what they wanted to wear).

It was fairly apparent that various peer groups had a self styled uniform of sorts.

I really like the idea of smart uniform sportswear for schools. It can look really good for most shapes. Same for boys and girls. A co-ordinated hoodie for winter and matching shorts for summer. I can’t believe that some schools still expect girls to wear ties. How many adult women wear ties?

Minis were the fashion when I was a girl, but school was max 3 inches above floor when kneeling rigidly enforced. I often wore my gym skirt home - a lovely pleated mini that I got away with as netball and hockey teams met at the end of a school day.
The girls in the school near me are in lycra elastic bands often showing knickers with lots of hem tugging. Less about the length than the cling.

DGD has a "buy only here" expensive school skirt. They supply a range of waist sizes to get around the issue of having to buy a shorter one to get the fit. This is a pleated, plaid skirt that is hard to duplicate, so no real chance of elastic bands, and they look smart.

Another school has gone quite the other way - it looks like very smart sports wear with joggers and polo/sweat tops in great designs.

I’m just home from Greece. As with other European countries, no uniform, children wear what they choose. I don’t believe uniforms make better behaviour.
Our local high school has introduced trousers for boys and girls. A much better idea than skirts

Fallingstar

I have seen very young schoolgirls wearing these pelmet skirts and also seen men looking at them. Not nice. I think as many have said that schools should adopt trousers for both genders and scrap the skirts.

Fallingstar
that is precisely the point I’m making.
I’ve seen men looking at them
boys upskirting
^ boys standing below looking up skirts and making comments^
And the people who have to pay the price for that male behaviour are . . .
females!
It’s not whether girls would prefer to wear trousers, - it’s the fact that they have to wear trousers because of male behaviour.

My grandchildren go to the local high school here. None of the high schools have a uniform policy but the rule is appropiate footwear and no underwear on display. They all wear their own comforable jeans, leggings or shorts with trainers. Skirts are very rarely worn.

Vickymeldrew, we have a high school just up the road from us and I have to say that the girls wear very much the same as school wear as you described but with thick black tights. I see them walking down the road pulling their skirts as well and I wonder if they are any shorter than I/we wore at school as the only difference seems to be the skirts are made of lycra and they ride up against the black tights. It's just a different fashion than in the 60's but I don't think I would have been comfortable back then but it's a different generation and my mother, and friends mothers, went mental at what we were walking out in. I know my mother tried buying me a longer 'proper' school skirt and I just turned up the waistband to the length I wanted and unfurled it as I got off the bus going home.

My dd wore a kilt at her single sex school
And in 6th form they could wear their own clothes as long as they weren’t strapless or cropped tops .,
My DS wore uniform until 6th form and then they wore suits which looked very smart . His school is now coed for 6th form and the girls wear trousers or a skirt with a smart jacket and blouse . There are a number of Muslim girls and obviously they want to be covered up.

My GD has started high school this year - co ed. All the girls wear trousers. Perfect on my opinion.

And I agree the poor girls keep self consciously tugging their skirts so as to cover their knickers. The Lycra shorts underneath are good, especially I would think when the girls are on their period.
But just put them in trousers.

I have seen very young schoolgirls wearing these pelmet skirts and also seen men looking at them. Not nice. I think as many have said that schools should adopt trousers for both genders and scrap the skirts.

Most schools insist on the knee length rule for skirts, however there's nothing to prevent the students rolling up their waistbands just as we did all those years ago. In days of yore girls petitioned to be allowed to wear trousers, now they are unhappy if they are required to wear trousers (no skirts). Just like everything else, it goes round & round. As an ex secondary school manager ties, untucked shirts, drainpipe trousers, short skirts etc etc were the bane of my life. You cannot ignore transgressions but not you cannot spend every interaction with a student to be about their uniform. I find myself looking at my teenage grandchildren and mentally ticking off their rule breeches.

Plain trousers (not grungy tracksuit bottoms or skin-tight leggings, which do nobody any favours!) would help to instil in girls a sense of taking pride in their appearance rather than in their physical attractiveness. Smart uniforms would perhaps help to do away with the insultingly saucy "Ooooh, naughty St Trinian's schoolgirls, wink-wink-nudge-nudge" stereotyping. Add to that a "no piercings, false eyelashes or makeup on school premises" principle and children just might go back to being children rather than mini "pick-me!" women.
Yes, I know a lot of them will get changed and put on slap as soon as they're out of the gates but then so did we, after a fashion! The main point for me, is that dress codes give girls a basic understanding of one of life's Great Truths: the way we present ourselves will affect the way people treat us. I think we fail our girls badly when we don't make sure they learn that.
Dodgy male attention aside, less revealing school clothes could also help girls to fit in whose race and/or religion requires them to dress "demurely".
I'm not sure about blazers. They're smart and schools seem to like them as walking adverts, but they're expensive. Neckties are just plain ridiculous and outdated - we might as well make bustles and spats compulsory too!
I and most of my friends hated our uniforms. On the other hand, all those strict dress-code rules did give us a kind of trench camaraderie, which is priceless at any stage of life.

I am not a fan of school uniform. Pupils learn fine at colleges without uniforms.

I think they should be scrapped whilst keeping the same rules about decency ... length of skirt, neckline etc.

I have huge sympathy with teachers having to waste time enforcing uniform rules. The fewer the rules the less time wasted.

Two of my children went to a school with no uniform... it did not hold them back in any way.

If I had my way girls would be wearing culottes instead of skirts……..try rolling those up at the waist band! i always remember my mum telling me that it isn’t classy or smart to show a lot of leg, it’s cheap and common!

When I was at school..there was a standard school uniform ..blazer tie etc. Grey skirts . Minis were in when I started secondary and we all wore them ...indeed we even rolled them up to b shorter. Let the young b young !