Branded school uniforms

[Ostrich]

That was also my experience in the 1960s, similarly at a boys Grammar School. The only hated item in the uniform was the school cap but the requirement to wear that got gradually abolished over the decade.

At the Select Grammar I attended in the 60s, the school cap was compulsory - but it was just for the first year students! Boy you were in trouble if you were spotted off the school premises and not wearing it.

The other thing was tie snobbery. You started with a basic school tie, but then you were entitled to wear a differently-designed one if you won a "House Colour" (for sporting achievements). Eight Houses, so 8 differently coloured ties. And then there were different ties again for prefects and 6th Form Club Members. Very few boys finished their school career only entitled to wear the basic tie, the lowest of the low. I was one ....

I think there was a Gent's Outfitters in a nearby suburb which you had to use - they seemed to have exclusive rights to the School's uniform.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

What I find incredible is the idea promoted by some that school uniforms help to prepare pupils for life in employment. Perhaps these people need to take a good look at what's happening in the real world. In the majority of places of employment where staff are required to wear a uniform the on-going trend is to casualise uniforms as much as possible. Even safety footwear these days has a much more casual appearance than used to be the case. And the compulsion around ties is gradually dying out so why bother with them in schools. At all.

I believe that what government should do is make all state-funded schools follow a much more relaxed policy on uniforms with no more than generic ranges of colours and no need for any branded items whatsoever. All items should be freely available from multiple retailers. If schools feel the need for something more corporate then they should provide something like a semi-hi-vis vest or tabard free of charge to pupils. Or a sash perhaps. Only to be worn during school hours. Yes it's a little silly but so is the obsession that some so-called educators have with the whole concept of uniforms. At no point during my school life did I ever feel like my learning experience was being enhanced by wearing a uniform.