Length of school skirt

I hate policing uniform, I started teaching in FE so few students wore uniform and there didn't seem to be any problems, most wore jeans and a hoody, boys and girls.

I once had a long grumbling conversation with a head teacher who I sked, "Do you realise how sexist this school is?"

I pointed out a few things but included the fact girls develop curves. For illustration I said to look at squaddies on parade, the female soldiers all look like their trousers are tight, they aren't it's just the uniform.

This was the school where one girl had to spend a day in isolation because her uniform was, "too sexual". Her crime? She wore knee socks with a skirt.

Apparently the male teacher was 'too embarrassed' to tell her and had to have a female deliver the message.

I did ask her if she wanted me to fight it but she was apparently happy to have a day in isolation.

Whatevs- any colour decided on nationally works for me.

Handy for hand me downs too.

This is one of the reasons my two girls wear trousers! That and the regulation school skirt isn’t a style they like. I have seen some girls at the school in proper tiny skirts (just under their knickers) and they are obviously trying to regulate against this. It was the same when I was at school and that was a fair while ago.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz not white T-Shirts. White gets too grubby. Navy might be better 😂

We couldnuust treat it a bit like prison

Nationwide govt produced black trainers, 5x white basic round necked tshirts, 2x elasticated grey joggers and 1x matching zip up hoodie. Does for school and sport. Set price at £100 per year per student, with additional support for those FSM families.

Every single state school has the same, with a small iron patch given for the hoodies with the name/logo of the school to be ironed on at home.

Done.

Agreed it is a society and image problem and it's incredibly sad

Why on earth can't they all just wear joggers?
I used to think the same.

Honestly it's because the same people who argue it's their daughter's right to have their bum on show/roll their skirts/wear leggings so tight and see through that nothing is left to the imagination instead of trousers / their son's right to have his boxers and half his bottom hanging out etc, will be the same parents who don't buy their children plain joggers that meet the uniform rules.

I'd love a simple uniform or a dress code that's simple and consistent for all.

Sadly experience has shown that some parents and students will pick a fight and argue against any rule schools set because they fundamentally object to boundaries.

Maybe because we live in a world where for generations girls have been measured firstly on their looks. We tell girl babies they are beautiful, we compliment girls based on what they look like, stores do a shit job of providing practical comfortable clothes for girls, instead designing everything to look :cute: or attractive to the eye instead of just doing a basic practical job.

Girls who are adults now grew up with their mothers, aunts and grandmother's in the grip of diet culture. Girls who are still teens now are growing up in a culture which still weighs the looks of girls before any other element of their personality.

Is it any wonder young girls act like this?

Apparently we have a whole generation of girls who are biologically incapable of this.

Weirdly, nobody wore skirts at my school in the 90's

Snap !

What is provocative is not wearing the proscribed uniform but instead wearing it much shorter or tighter than proscribed

girls are much more likely than boys to make every effort to flaunt their body at inappropriate times and places

Those of you saying ‘they come in different lengths’ clearly weren’t me. Age 12, 5’10” tall with a waist smaller than a 6…luckily my school could wrap their head around that. And also around one of the girls whose bust was too big for the largest prescribed school shirt and jumper. Sensible discussion seems to have evaporated.

can't they wear trousers.
seems a practical solution.
apparently with skirts they all wear cycling shorts underneath due to upskirting.

What is provocative about a teen girl wearing the prescribed uniform?

Boys tend to dress far less provocative
If they did the same then perhaps their rules would become more stringent

It must have taken a lot to hold back. Unsurprisingly the boys' uniform doesn't come with such strict rules. Men start trying to rule over what girls should look like and wear from an early age. Makes me fume, I would totally be "that mum"!!!!

I would encourage my DD to respect the rules, as a parent that’s what you got to do. If she chooses then to role it up when she gets into the school gates, that’s down to her and so are the consequences.
I can’t believe we are now living in a society where mums support their DC in breaking rules!

My high school had a strict policy on skirts where the length had to be no more than 10cm above the knee whilst kneeling. Only ever witnessed it once, but a teacher made a girl kneel as she whipped out a tape measure…. 🙄

I've never found a lar of trousers outside of jeans either. They all make me look like I'm wearing a nappy. I have exactly the same issues as my dds do. Too much material round the thighs making me look fat beyond belief ( im a 14-16 so curvy but not huge) .

Luckily at work I can wear jeans. Id have never touched skinny jeans 10 years ago but I'm warming to them.now I have to admit. They dont have yards if extra material every where and they dont look terrible when I have to size up to get over my waist and hips and have to tightly belt the waist.

I dont know what goes on in clothes designs any more but they are a joke. Tailored my arse.

All of dd1s friends only wore skirts at school because of trouser issues. As in they are awful and dont fit.

Why on earth can't they all just wear joggers?

DD's school offers two trousers design, someone at least listen to the girls when they introduced them. They are properly tailored for girls, not the "oh, just buy any school trouser at M&S". They never fit as they are designed for boys.

This is one of the reasons I hate school uniform, especially in secondary. Luckily DD didn't need a tie but another school insists on ties for girls and the poor girls with larger bra sizes, omg, they look so miserable, it just doesn't fit properly and makes them self-consious even more.

We now have to buy "business smart" for DD going to 6th form in September. The helpful hint "based on office's dress codes" is now hillarious. They don't allow jeans/jeggings etc but only tailored skirts and trousers.
I bet they haven't looked at office attire in the last 3 years. I work for an international investment bank and jeans definitely replaced tailored trousers.

As a parent and teacher skirts are the bane of my life. At my school it's the usual rule skirts to be within one inch of the knee. I am forever asking girls to sort their skirts as they are so short. Most wear shorts under their skirts but still they are too short. I hate having the conversation but some girls take it to such an extreme you have no choice.

And as a parent it's difficult to get skirts to fit my two daughters, both very different shapes. Arguments about how short they should be, whether they comply or not. For one daughter I resorted to taking in the waistband myself. We'll soon be having discussions about whether she will need a new winter skirt for Sept - that finally the one she had in Year 5 is just too short to be acceptable in Yr 11.

(I remember thinking when she started at the school that the Yr 11s skirts were too short. Now I know why - the waist still fits so they keep the same skirt but it just gets shorter as they get taller and taller. And at £50 a time I'm not spending that unless I have to.)

I wish there was an answer that was easy for everyone.

Yes it will. The skirts all come in different lengths.

God, we were rolling up ours in the 1970s. They'll never win 😄
😂
And in 10 years when the current students are teachers, they'll be saying the same thing.

My observation is that a lot comes down to culture and parental values.

Thinking about two schools I've worked in.
School A: parents generally buy the appropriate uniform, support the school even if they don't agree with every individual rule. Students push on the uniform a bit by rolling their skirts. They come into the classroom. I say "girls, skirts please", they roll them back down, the lesson starts. No conflict 99% of the time.

School B: parents don't generally support the school. They buy their children items that are obviously non uniform, or weirdly buying skirts that are several sizes too small so that their child can wear it under their ribs and hardly breathe but at least their bum is on show when they move. The ones that don't buy their skirts several sizes too small roll them up. At the start of the day those obviously not wearing uniform are challenged. The staff are met with a torrent of abuse, claims that male staff are paedophiles, parents are called, parents back the child saying that staff shouldn't be teaching if they can't cope with teen girls, the students sit their grinning as their parent goes off on a weird rant about how it's their daughter's human right to flash her pants at school if she wants to.

School A is more like what many of us experienced as teens.
School B is an eye opening experience because some of the parents haven't left the playground themselves.

Unfortunately though the policing of girls bodies doesn’t stop with these measures, they are still sanctioned if their trousers are ‘too tight’

Dd1 was told off at school for her ankles. As an 11/12 year old she was short and skinny. We always had to size down so trousers didn't fall down. This often meant they were on the shorter side so when she sat down you could see her ankles.

Fast forward through puberty whwre she developed her mums larger arse and thighs ( sorry girls 😳) we had to size up in the womens trousers we bought her fir school because although the size 8 fitted perfectly round the waist they were too tight around the arse and thighs. So we sized up to a 10 and she wore a belt. Which then also landed her in trouble again. A smart black belt....

What are girls meant to do...