Length of school skirt

[TheLathums]

Went to a high school transition event tonight and the presentation included a long and very detailed set of non-negotiables regarding school uniform. Length of skirt featured heavily.
They said it should be 'knee-length'. Of all the pupils who were helping at the event, none were wearing what I would describe as knee-length skirts. They were all at least 'above the knee'. So what does knee-length actually mean at the high schools you know of?
My daughter is quite tall and has a tiny waist, so a school skirt that properly fits her waist will almost certainly finish above her knee.
I don't want her to get into trouble, but she'll also hate me if I buy a size that hangs off her and is (in her opinion) too long.
Her school skirts will be branded and logoed, so I can't shop around for different styles.
Please advise!

Knee length was considered touching the top of the knee in our school. Girl on left would be too short, the other girls fine (though ironically this was lifted from an article about these girls being sent home for wearing skirts too short)!

At the schools I've worked at knee length is a common sense guide so as long as it's hitting at the knee (under/on/skimming the top of the knee) nobody would say anything or notice.

Our supplier sold different lengths and waist sizes.

A lot of students do the dance of rolling the skirt up, unrolling it when asked, but that's part of being a teenager and most accept the reminder.

DD's old head made the rule that 3x detention about skirt length means they have to wear trousers.

Let’s presume, if it’s a mixed school, that they have rules for the boys trouser length. I’d be checking what the teachers wear very closely indeed.

My daughter gave up wearing skirts after y7. They don’t have a specific supplier and just black skirts if they choose skirts a. But she’s a larger built child - adult size 12 but more a petite size. School skirts in children’s departments were awfully to get a good fit. She went for the pencil type and got the age 15-16 which seemed to fit her waist but was slightly below the knee in length. Most of the girls who wear those skirts have them so short they barely cover their bum but for some it’s the waist length that dictates the length as this are the much slimmer girls. I did mine John Lewis did some shorts that were in different waist and length sizes past a certain ‘age’.

She now wears trousers but that horrified me more than skirts as the school bang on about no leggings and no begging etc but the majority of girls wearing trousers seem to wear actual leggings or the really skinny fit ones that mask ally look like leggings. And many of the leggings are cheap and see through. But they don’t seem to police it. They girls even pull their jumpers right and tie them in bubbles at the back. The main things they police is wearing a jumper and if summer and take them off they must have a tie (y7-8 be neck so must have for anyway but y9+ round neck so tie only needed if no jumper).

And for people commenting on bits trouser length. It’s not the same. All boys trousers really seem appropriate. And any in slightly half mast tend to be those who’ve grown out of them and not quite replaced them. But they don’t seem to wear leggings/leggings and see through type trousers. What boys are policed on more than girls though are their shoes! Shoes drives me mad as what is sensible and comfy for one is not for another.

God, we were rolling up ours in the 1970s. They'll never win 😄

At every high school I know the girls roll up skirts regardless.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ASepqw5z7Ug?feature=share

This is my childrens school. It was outrageous. We sign a contract with school to say that we abide by their rules. Parents and pupils are taking over

I saw the pants gusset of 2 school girls yesterday whose skirt did not even properly cover their bum when standing. That's not knee length. It makes me sad to see young people feeling the need to show so much to strangers. For me knee length is 'around the knee', so just above is fine.

I do think that the rolling up of skirts has become much more extreme since I was a child. We used too want them to be mid-thigh. Now people show off their underwear.

In my DC school the girls aren’t allowed to wear skirts at all, they must all be in trousers.

I’d just get the waist to fit, and go from there.

Same. And we were checked periodically (1970s grammar).

I think this might be the only way forwards given just how extreme the showing off of private parts (I do mean that literally) has become.

Outside of school I do wish girls would not show their privates but schools are trying to help people prepare for a world of work and in many jobs you can't show people your vulva - you will be let go if you continue to do so. That said, I saw the whole of the pants of a school boy the other day - he was wearing his trousers so low slung that it was under his bum. I also have no desire to see that. Perhaps jumpsuits are the way forwards for both sexes.

Oh just put them all in trousers.

What a fuss over nothing

School trousers have to be the worst design ever the amount of trouble i have finding trousers that fit my perfectly normal child is unbelievable. Schopls need to calm down on an inch or two of skin rather than remove the only option that comfortably fit many a child.

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

Tbf, they are relaxing it a bit now, but it was ridiculous.
DD hates it though, and wishes she could wear a skirt as she has been baking in this weather in black.

For boys it's more about their arses hanging out of the top of their trousers.

Thankfully, that fad seems to have mostly blown over.

Short skirts or low trousers, no one wants to see arse at school.

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.