Did anyone else who went to primary school in the mid-80s have to do PE in their vest and pants?

[TheLightSideOfTheMoon]

I was telling my colleagues who are in their twenties about it and they looked at me like this: 🙄

Did anyone else experience this? Or was my school slightly strange?

Yes we had to do indoor PE in our vest and pants up until 3rd Yr juniors.

I want to say yes, because I have clear memories of us all being in the hall with the gym equipment out in our underwear and plimsolls. But we did PE outside as well, so we must have had t-shirts and shorts as well. I can't quite remember if it was the inside/outside thing that determined what we wore. But it was definitely normal to do PE indoors in our pants and vest. Everyone wore vests then, and underwear was all pretty voluminous, so it wasn't embarrassing (for me anyway).

I grew up in the 90s and I think we did this when we were v young. I remember being reasonably well through primary and id forgotten my judo kit for an outdoor of school activity and the coach suggested I did it in pants and vest. I remember being quite taken aback - i was the only girl in the class. I said no and went home. My mum was there and no one else felt it was a big deal but I felt mortified.

Yes in infants, not an issue. Remember some people were a lot poorer then (yes they were, there were not the handouts there are now) so easier to just have all kids the same.

Yep. Infants and junior school.
Sometimes there was spare kit, but mostly vest and pants.
1984-89.

Istr that in the 1980s it also wasn't seen as particularly weird to wear "vest and pants" for any kind of impromptu water activity in daily life right up until puberty - if you went to the swimming pool or for a full day at the beach you'd have a swimming costume, but if there was a paddling pool at a friend's house/large fountain in a park/wanting to paddle in the river or sea when just going for a walk you wouldn't necessarily have a costume and kids would just put their outer clothes and shoes aside to keep them dry and wear underwear. Then you'd go home with just your dry clothes on and your wet vest and pants in a bag.
It wasn't uncommon for at least one kid to forget to take off their socks with their outer clothes and get them wet too before realising their mistake.

Not aa bad as secondary school though where we had to have a shower with everyone else and not even a curtain for privacy.

Hell yeh. I remember one kid who always forgot his and there he was in his washed out grey pants. Nobody really cared as I recall , we were little kids and more worried it might be us next time. My elder brother took the piss but that was par for the course for him. 1982-1988

Yeah in infants school

I don’t remember being in a vest but I do vaguely remember a specific colour of pants for PE. I was at primary school ‘84 to ‘91 but I’m sure this was only at the very start, p1/p2 (Scotland).

Yes in infants school

Not primary, but I had to do PE in just my bra and knickers at SECONDARY once when I didn't have my PE kit 😮
And they were just my normal knickers, not those gym knickers others used to wear

I went to primary school in the 90s and we did pe in vests and pants in infants even then, kit for juniors though

I went to primary school in the early to mid 90s and we did PE in our vests and knickers too. In Year 5-6 it was only if you forgot your PE kit though.

Yeah my kids and myself would be mortified if they were made to do this these days tbh. Glad that’s something that’s stopped!

Yep, at primary school in the 80s. No PE kit, our pants and vests were out kit🙈 although, do remember a drawstring bag with our plimsolls in. Senior school in the 90s we had a kit, but had to take communal showers which I hated

Yes! In the mid 80’s in a village primary school I distinctly recall this.

Yes. I started primary school in 1985 and it was pants and vest for PE. Secondary school was gym knickers (I.e big pants) and a tshirt. Hideous and all the boys would stand and laugh at us in their nice long football shorts.

As for those who think this is a topic brought on by perverts... the same could be said about many other aspects of school nostalgia, or 80s nostalgia. Corporal punishment, sniffing photocopier ink, playground games, being sent to buy fags for teachers, reading Biff, Chip and sodding Kipper (they were new in the 1980s)... you name it. And I think it's a good thing for the younger generation to know what used to be "normal", then they know how good they have it these days with safeguarding: think of the Horrible Histories books. It's true that youngsters face other dangers now, such as everything to do with social media, so they're not necessarily safer these days; just facing different threats.

I started school in '75. PE was done in any t-shirt or shorts you had. I don't recall if anyone had to do it in underwear if they forgot, but I never did as my mum was very organised and always made sure I was kitted out. Later I recall a lot of girls wearing leotards on gym days.

Secondary was an all girls school, not overlooked thankfully. We didn't wear those gym knickers - we had shorts in "hot pants" style, in thick, stretchy material, worn with aertex shirt for gym. For outdoor sports we wore shirt and shorts with a kilt over the shorts, and a sweatshirt for warmth in cooler weather. Or we could wear a tracksuit, which was of that thick fleece lined material, not nasty shiny "shell suit" stuff. Private school, so all items were compulsory to have, along with plimsolls, tennis shoes and hockey boots (worn with lovely knee length green socks), our own tennis racket and hockey stick, all clothes had to be regulation green and gold.

No showers at any point in any school (I left the girls school in '89, after UVI), thank goodness.

I did it in the 1960s. And on hot summer days we sat in class like that.

Well known grammar school in Kingston!

1979/1980..yes I remember it well

Yes! There was always one who didn’t have a vest I or struggled with marked pants. It was normal right up until we went to middle school aged 9/10.

Yes. Secondary school -1980s /early 90s. Aertex shirt and “gym knickers “ which were nasty green elasticky things…

Yes in infant school we wore bare feet, pants & vests. In junior school we had pe kits of shorts & tshirts, mid 80’s.