Catholic school uniform
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unattributed claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details. |
The Catholic school uniform of stereotype consists of a pleated plaid skirt or jumper (a sleeveless dress), Mary Jane or saddle shoes, and a blouse, for girls; for boys, a button-down shirt, a necktie, and dark pants. Actual school uniforms vary widely by location and individual school.
Nearly all Roman Catholic schools have some form of dress code, and most of them (especially those with students in the lower grade levels) have a mandatory uniform policy.
Before about the early to mid 1970s, the uniform for girls almost always consisted of a skirt or jumper (by the American definition); but it is now common, in the United States, for female pupils to wear uniform shorts or slacks, especially in warmer weather. This is mainly the result of changing societal norms that, beginning in the late 1960s to early 1970s, resulted in a trend for women and girls in most levels of society to wear trousers and shorts, instead of skirts and dresses, for everyday life. Today, some schools require girls to wear skirts, others allow girls the choice of skirts or shorts and pants.
A kilted skirt is sometimes worn, especially in schools with predominantly Celtic student populations. In some parts of Canada, the skirt has been modified to include an attached pair of shorts beneath, for modesty, somewhat like a skort and called an x-kilt. Culottes are also sometimes substituted for a skirt, especially at Episcopalian or non-parochial private schools.
In the younger grades of such schools, girls are often seen wearing plaid jumpers over a blouse. Many schools require such a jumper up to the fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, presumably because the lifestyles and habits of younger girls may make blouses more likely to become untucked from skirt waistbands. After that, the jumper is often discarded in favor of a plaid skirt and blouse.
Boys typically wear a collared shirt, tie, and slacks of required colors, although polo shirts have to some extent replaced dress shirt.
Both sexes usually wear a sweater or blazer (or both) when required by regulations or weather.
Some schools have unisex uniforms--most often a distinctive shirt, and sometimes pants of a given color.
Uniforms may vary based on time of year. At many schools, students are excused from having to wear the fairly formal (and warm) uniforms described above during the hotter months of the school year in favor of lighter uniform clothing.
In the United Kingdom, similar school uniforms are the requirement of most state schools before the sixth form. Nearly all school pupils up to the age of 16 are required to wear uniforms. Many schools in recent years, however, have begun to allow pupils to wear 'casual' clothes within the limits of certain guidelines, or to follow a dress code instead. Individual schools are responsible for the dress codes regarding uniforms, such as school ties; shirts and blouses; blazers; skirt length; and trousers for females.
[edit] In popular culture
- Further information: Schoolgirl uniform fetish
The girls' uniform has become an iconic figure in Western culture, on par with the sailor fuku of Japan; women dressed in Catholic school uniforms (or a variation thereof) is also a common sexual fetish.
The hit 1998 music video for Britney Spears' first single, "...Baby One More Time" (pictured at right) featured Spears and a number of backup dancers wearing a modified (and somewhat more revealing) version of the Catholic school uniform, making the video somewhat controversial at the time, especially given Spears' young age at the time. This would not be the last time the iconic costume would be used or referenced in a music video in recent years, however.
The Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. also wore clothing resembling Catholic school uniforms in a video for their song "Ya Soshla S Uma" (also known by the title of its English-language version, "All The Things She Said"), which was considered even more controversial in some areas due to the overt lesbian themes of the video (in keeping with the early marketing of the duo as a pair of young lesbians), which included a provocative rain-drenched kissing scene between the uniform-clad singers.
