To think we should do away with girls/ boys uniforms?

[MerryMarigold]

Can't we just have a gender neutral uniform? Trousers, jumper, shirt, maybe tie
My daughter literally NEVER wears skirts outside of school but obviously ALL the girls wear skirts to school even though trousers are permitted.

A. It would help those struggling with what they identify as wouldn't need to make any massive statements via uniform.

B. The cost of girls uniform (usually) is ridiculous and much higher than boys. My daughter's school has a specific skirt and specific blouse (skirt is 30.00 alone!) where whereas boys have generic grey trousers and generic white shirts.

It seems schools have bought into/ contribute to/ emphasise this very distinct boys/ girls gendered clothing. I hate it!

@bonbonours

The different body shapes is true to an extent in secondary. But there is no excuse for the fact that girls' PE skorts are stretchy, tight fitting and very short, while boys' pe shorts are long and baggy. There is no sports related reason girls should have to show their body shape in this way.

You're right and I hope this will change. It's a bit like swimming costumes: men can wear shorts but women's swimwear was, until recently, brief, tight against and insufficiently covering of nethers, and revealing of boob. This seems to be changing with leg suits etc. Hopefully, short skorts are on the way out too, and girls can wear similar shorts to boys. They should be allowed to now! I always imagine pervy men designing girls' and women's sportswear.

I’d say it’s probably better to lobby your school to not have branded skirts?

The different body shapes is true to an extent in secondary. But there is no excuse for the fact that girls' PE skorts are stretchy, tight fitting and very short, while boys' pe shorts are long and baggy. There is no sports related reason girls should have to show their body shape in this way

Dd prefers the " girl fit" option on the pe tops as the extra material flaps around otherwise and is annoying. However they are not quite long enough . Agree with the bottoms issue I mean dd won't wear the skort as its so short. She used to wear sports leggings but doesn't like them any more. But girls joggers , well the draw steings are often decorative. Which means they fall down as you cant tighten them.

Obviously the solution is to buy from the " boys" section but uts frustrating that no ones invented clothes designed fir girls that actually function as sports clothing. And we wonder why so many girls drop out of sport

As an adult woman who accepts my body for what it is (I'm not a sylph) I happily work out in form fitting clothes. Way more comfortable not having flappy bits of clothing, especially around my legs. Leggings are my default exercise clothes, no question.

Can't wear short shorts, thighs too big and skin too sensitive to chafing - this is evidently not a universal problem otherwise a good chunk of the female population would be walking like cowboys in summer... Secondary schools need a longer leg solution than short skorts for those that need them - when we could swap from gym knickers to black cycling shorts for school PE (under netball skirts) was the best day of my school life!

They should wear what they want. Only a few of us at school wore PE skirts. We could have worn shorts or joggers but I liked my PE skirt.

PE is really strict at DD’s school.

Leggings for dance with PE shirt. Plain black, no logo at all.

Otherwise it is a mix of cycle shorts or skort, depending on the sport they play. Not sure why it makes a difference what you wear as a bottom unless you play outside for the school team and you need a proper kit.

Luckily the skort is actually fairly decent and we can buy the cycle shorts where we want and managed to find a longer pair DD likes to wear.

I think most people I know and who are actively sporty wear fairly tight fitting clothes as it is annoying to have extra fabric flabbing around. But it should be available on a length the person is comfortable wearing.

The main problem with school uniform is that we have to spend a lot of money on poor quality clothes with the school logo on.

If the logo wasn't needed we could just go to the supermarket/shop of our choice and buy clothes that fit properly, were much better quality and didn't cost the earth.

Girls school uniform is a disgrace - it takes no account of a feminine shape. I haven't seen any school shirts with a dart to fit a bust and the trousers are no good for anyone with a waist and hips.

The girls PE uniform tracksuit bottoms at DDs school have no stretch! They are a rigid shell suit.
Utterly ridiculous. I have never seen any of the girls wearing them as they are impossible to actually move in!

Yes, let them all wear the same. Pinafores and dresses are the way to go. They don't come untucked and look scruffy like shirts with skirts/trousers/shorts. All the children would look so much smarter and the teachers would have more time to teach without having to tell the kids to tuck their shirts all the time.

I would love dc to be treated the same, but you are suggesting scrapping the girls clothing while leaving boys the same. That isn't equality.

I agree. There's absolutely no reason for boys and girls uniforms to be different. My kids went to school in the US and they weren't any different. Having said that, girls could wear skirts or skorts if they wanted to. I don't know if there would have been an issue if a boy wore a skirt. I hope not.
My daughters wore polo shirts and shorts most of the year. (We live somewhere warm.) Skorts occasionally and trousers when it was colder.

What I don't get about schools is how we police the shit out of the girls if a skirt is a millimetre above the knee in English, maths and science because we don't want them to look slutty but come PE we stick them in oversized pants with a mini skirt (aka gym knickers and tennis skirt) but that's not revealing too much flesh in that context.

Its sooooo fucking confusing! I don't understand.

I am surprised there are still schools that insistt on the boy/girl uniform thing.
I know of three primary schools and two large secondary school that have a uniform but any item can be work by either sex or gender.

I'd prefer to focus on allowing girls to wear trousers and keeping the cost of uniform down.

So because your daughter doesn't like skirts we should ban them all? DD loves her skirt and doesn't like trousers, maybe we should ban them...