AIBU to think the new sixth form outfit looks like something from "The Handmaid'sTale"

[joanjett]

I am surprised the school did not add a cloak and a "chastity bonnet"

I love a long skirt and while yes, they are a bit impractical, it is perfectly possible to hitch them up to walk up stairs and get on buses in them. Cycling in something long and heavy would be tricky though - I can cycle in a long floaty skirt as you just tuck it in your chub rub shorts/knickers, but that heavy material looks too thick to get out of the way.

So long as trousers are an option as well, this is fine as an alternative. It does look a bit odd with the blazer, certainly not fashionable, but I prefer it to seeing all the girls' bum cheeks as you get when you walk past a school at the moment. (And I say that as someone who absolutely rolled her skirt in school, but there are limits!)

I really dislike the trend for 'business wear' in 6th forms nowadays. No-one wears suits to the office, it's likely the most formally dressed most of the students will ever be and feels like control for the sake of it. What's wrong with black trousers and a polo shirt/sweatshirt in the school colour, for goodness sake.

This is just not true so long as the weight is not too heavy. I wear long skirts on the tube and in the heatwave and manage just fine.

I was talking to a friend the other day about uniforms like this. When I was younger I thought they looked hideous but now im older I think they're all great looking!!
The girls look so confident and theres no rolling them up or worrying about ladders in tights, less focus on shoes to an extent too.

This is very similar to the uniform for years 7-11 at Cranbrook School in Kent. But girls wear business clothes in the 6th Form.

My DD’s school introduced culottes as part of their uniform. They look really smart and can’t be rolled up too far. DD says she wasn’t too sure at first but likes them now.

Well, the fact that there's no trouser option is unacceptable.

Otherwise, I think if you're going to have a skirt option then a non-wrap-around, mid calf option in a mid to light-weight fabric is the most practical.

I do too. But this material looks heavy to me.
I have found it interesting so many are in favour, while I - from a modesty culture- am not!

Ooh Maxi skirts coming back? I remember the fad in the late 60's/early '70's.

True - I had a step through bike.
Doesn't alter the fact that you can't cycle at all in a short skirt.

It would be helpful if OP could come back and confirm this because if it's the school I think it is then she is mistaken.

Because some people don't like wearing trousers and don't find them more practical. To be honest, I feel sorry for the boys who are bound by society's conventions to wear trousers.

You’re definitely allowed to name the school. But in Bristol presumably it’s Badminton?

Yes, but that's a well known part of the ethos! My DH went there, and still likes wearing breeches (don't ask).

Badminton sixth formers wear their own clothes with a tweed blazer.

Actually I’ve just checked - the girls private schools in Bristol are redmaids and badminton, and neither have uniforms for sixth form. Badminton has own clothes worn with a specific tweed jacket, and redmaids has “smart business attire”. Both allow trousers.

So @joanjett I think you’ve been misinformed?

Yes sorry just checked and added a comment to that effect!

Cross-post!

I know Google isn't always right, but I was bored so wandered down a rabbit hole. Google reverse image search didn't bring up any matches apart from the one on this thread. So it might be AI. Google also said there are no schools in the Bristol area that have ONLY long skirt options.

The tie matches Derby Moor Academy, but they have a varied uniform.

Make of that what you will. 😂

Had a long skirt at the girls school I went to. It’s very restrictive and heavy to walk in. Trousers or a mid skirt would be far more practical.

Its the "enforced modesty" that makes it "handsmaid's tale"

You'd have to ride side saddle in that skirt.The amount of angst about school uniforms is bizarre, obviously a side effect of our messed up views on adolescence.
My 4 ft 11 daughter would have been a disaster in that skirt while her 6ft friends could have looked great in it.There's so much fabric I'm surprised it's not a h&s hazard.

That's it. Women in jobs, even in the law, aren't hidebound by such rigid ideas of what women should wear. Our 6th fim takes the view that they are there voluntarily, so uniform no longer applies.

Why wouldn’t they allow it? Assuming anyone who lives near the school can actually see the students wearing the uniform 🤷🏻‍♀️

Christ Hospital is different - 72% to 78% of pupils are on financial support or bursaries - this is a special school. So the pupils there would wear hobbit ears, if the school tells them and make no noise as beggars can't be choosers. Having said that, I think their uniform is stunning!

No trouser option is unreasonable!

A couple of the high schools in our area introduced long style skirts, but trousers are an acceptable alternative. The skirts here are pleated though as well which is even more fabric! I have seen a few girls near me wearing them and they do look uncomfortable and entirely impractical.