Feeling gutsy? Come and share your insane school uniform rules with us.

By LUCY ORMONDE

A recent survey of high school graduates found that 87 per cent of students* celebrated the day they realised they would never have to wear their school uniform again.

75 per cent of students pushed down their knee highs as soon as the final bell rang.* Ninety three per cent of students threw away their blazers.* Eighty one per cent shoved their ties in their school bags and left them there to die.* And 96 per cent vowed never to wear clashing colours again.*

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Stubbies Schoolwear. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in her own words.

(*Okay, the truth is that I made those figures up. But if someone was to survey school leavers, I think those results wouldn’t be far from the truth.)

Mamamia’s Production Manager Nat knows what I’m talking about. Back when Nat was at school – which wasn’t actually that long ago – the Uniform Gods blessed her with the daily task of wearing this:

“We had to wear a kilt that was EXACTLY knee length according to school uniform rules,” Nat says. “Most girls spent the great majority of their time trying to secretly roll them up without the teachers noticing. So it was a productive use of everybody’s time really.”

Looking back, my school uniform wasn’t nearly as bad as some the maroon and army green dreams that were worn by kids at neighbouring schools.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t have it’s flaws.

There was the tie: Worn with a buttoned-up collared shirt. To this day, I still struggle to understand why a tie was part of the school uniform rules. I put it down to life skills and I’m proud to say that on at least three occasions in the past 10 years, I’ve been able to wow party-goers with my ability to tie ties in a variety of knots.

The shoes: Laced, black, polished. Once my friends tried to stretch the rules by wearing the more feminine – and oh so cool –  T-Bar (you remember the flat, buckled shoes?) and were told to go home.

The blazer: To be worn on the commute to and from school unless the weather made it over 30 degrees Celsius. My family were big believers in buy-it-big-and-she’ll-grow-into-it so for the first three years of high school I walked around looking like I’d stolen a suit jacket from my Dad’s wardrobe and teamed it with Grandpa’s picnic rug for a skirt.

The dress: Same deal as the blazer. Buy it big and it’ll last her until Year 12. It’s true. It did last. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t look like I was wearing a tent for six years.

The knee high socks: I’ll bet the genius who decided girls should wear knee-high socks with an above-the-knee kilt never had to don the duo while waiting for a train on a cold winter’s day in Melbourne.

The good news is that in the 10 years since I’ve left the school, the uniform’s had a major makeover. Boys no longer need to tuck in their shirts, girls no longer have to wear the ties. School uniform rules have changed.

But rumour tells me the kids are still working on doing away with the chunky, black shoes.

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So what about you? What was your primary school and high school uniform like? Were there strict school uniform rules? And how did you feel the last time you had to wear it? 

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