A Catholic school uniform in North America typically consists of a pleated and tartan skirt or jumper dress (a sleeveless dress), Mary Jane or saddle shoes, a button-down shirt, and a sweater for girls, while boys' uniforms consist of a button-down shirt, a necktie, and dark pants. Actual school uniforms vary widely by location and individual school.
In contrast to most schools in the United States, almost all Catholic schools in that country have some form of dress code, and most of them (especially those with students in the lower grade levels) have a mandatory uniform policy.
In most Commonwealth countries, European countries, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, school uniforms (often similar to the "Catholic school uniform" type in the United States) are common in all types of schools, whether secular or not and regardless of religious denomination.
In most schools in Latin America and the Philippines, school uniforms are common and their design is often very similar to the Catholic school uniform type from the United States.
The stated purpose of uniforms, often set forth in school uniform policies, include reducing clothing expenditures for parents as well as avoiding distinctions among children based on whose parents can afford to buy them fashionable clothing to wear to school. The school attire is also said to reduce distractions and help with student identification, ensuring that a stranger will stand out among the uniformed students. Clothing is among the more significant aspects of the Catholic symbolic repertoire. It's associated with liturgy, status, and people's relationship to material objects. It helps define the religious body, or the leadership of the Catholic Church, and how people have muted their individualism in their commitment to the church. It has conveyed a sense of community, solidarity, and allegiance.[1]
Several examples of Catholic school uniform skirts showing the tartan patterns.
In North America
Until the early to mid-1970s, the uniform for girls almost always consisted of a skirt or jumper dress; but it is now common, in the United States, for female pupils to wear uniform shorts or slacks, depending on the 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, most schools require girls to wear skirts, while others allow girls the choice of skirts, dress or culottes and pants including ankle pants that stop at or just a little above the ankle and twill jogger 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 called a skort. Bike shorts or leggings are often worn under girls' skirts or jumper dresses for modesty and to prevent individuals from looking under the girl's skirt or dress. The leggings can be ankle-length or capri-length with crew or knee-high socks worn over the ankle leggings. Culottes or ankle pants that stop at or just above the ankle are also sometimes substituted for a skirt, especially at non-parochial private schools; however, for special events, the skirt is usually still worn. Also knee socks or tights are two other commonly worn items with the skirt.
Students in preschool and, less frequently, kindergarten, are held to be more likely to engage in messy activities. As such, they may be asked to wear their school's physical education uniform as their regular uniform. Younger girls are often seen wearing jumper dresses in tartan (often called "plaid" in America) over a blouse under their skirts. Many schools require a jumper dress 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 or culotte waistbands. They are often worn with tights or knee socks and flats, Sperrys, or sometimes dressy sneakers. After that, the jumper dress is often discarded in favor of a tartan skirt with bike shorts, capri or ankle length leggings, with crew or knee socks over the ankle leggings, tights, knee socks or culottes and blouse or polo depending on the weather and season. Often the skirt and blouse or polo must be worn with a sweater (what "jumper" means in British and other Commonwealth English) or sweater vest, or the polo is worn by itself or with a layering long-sleeved tee underneath or with the polo worn underneath a sweater or sweatshirt with the polo collar turned over the sweater or sweatshirt collar so it's visible. Usually flats, or Sperrys, and sometimes other dressy shoes are worn.
High school uniforms on display at a warehouse store in Canada
Boys typically wear a collared shirt and tie or polo shirt, and slacks of required colors. Twill jogger pants are becoming a comfortable but still appropriate uniform pants choice worn by boys. Polo shirts have to some extent replaced dress shirt. In the winter colder months the polo is seen worn with a layered long-sleeved tee underneath or a sweatshirt or sweater over the polo with the collar of the polo folded over the collar of the sweatshirt or sweater so it's visible. Many times in warmer weather dress shorts can be worn usually with crew or knee length socks with ankle socks allowed in some schools. Usually Sperrys or sometimes other dressy shoes or occasionally sneakers are worn.
Both sexes usually wear a sweater or blazer (or both) or polo with a layered long-sleeved tee underneath or a sweatshirt or sweater over the polo with the collar of the polo folded over the collar of the sweatshirt or sweater so the polo collar is visible when required by regulations or weather.
Some schools have unisex uniforms—most often a distinctive shirt, and sometimes pants of a given color. They may also require that a specially-designated, more formal uniform be worn on liturgy days or other special occasions.
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 such as skorts, skirts, or shorts worn with knee socks, crew socks, quarter socks, or triple roll socks, or capri leggings under the skirt. Capri pants are also allowed in some schools. However, at some schools appearance and formality prevail over comfort and students must suffer through the warm weather in their full uniform, which can include long-sleeved dress shirts, ties, wool sweaters, blazers, wool skirts, jumper dresses, leggings, and tights.
In many schools, flats for girls and Sperrys for both girls and boys have become popular and acceptable footwear with the uniforms.
Scrunchies, headbands, or headwrap-style headbands are usually worn in school colors and patterns.
In popular culture
A K-pop all-girls band group wearing modified Catholic school uniform during a performance, 2017.
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").
The Japanese school uniform is modeled in appearance similar to that of the European-style naval uniforms. It was first used in Japan in the late 19th century, replacing the traditional kimono. Today, school uniforms are common in many of the Japanese public and private school systems. The Japanese word for this type of uniform is seifuku (制服).
A leotard is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and long-sleeved leotards. A variation is the unitard, which also covers the legs. It provides a degree of modesty and style, while allowing for freedom of movement.
Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concept of the American term pantyhose with sheer legs and opaque panty.
A sweater or pullover, also called a jersey or jumper, is a piece of clothing, typically with long sleeves, made of knitted or crocheted material that covers the upper part of the body. When sleeveless, the garment is often called a slipover, tank top, or sweater vest.
Business casual is an ambiguously defined Western dress code that is generally considered casual wear but with smart components of a proper lounge suit from traditional informal wear, adopted for white-collar workplaces. This interpretation typically including dress shirt and trousers, but worn with an odd-coloured blazer or a sports coat instead. Neck ties are optional in this category.
Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg warmers or tights. Usage from the 18th century refers to men's wear usually made of cloth or leather that is wrapped around the leg down to the ankle. In the 19th century, leggings usually referred to infants' leg clothing that were matched with a jacket, as well as leg-wrappings made of leather or wool and worn by soldiers and trappers. Leggings prominently returned to women's fashion in the 1960s, drawing from the form-fitting clothing of dancers. With the widespread adoption of the synthetic fibre Lycra and the rise in popularity of aerobics, leggings came to further prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, and eventually made their way into streetwear. Leggings are a part of the late 2010s into the 2020s athleisure fashion trend of wearing activewear outside sporting activities and in casual settings.
Fashion in the 1990s was defined by a return to minimalist fashion, in contrast to the more elaborate and flashy trends of the 1980s. One notable shift was the mainstream adoption of tattoos, body piercings aside from ear piercing and, to a much lesser extent, other forms of body modification such as branding.
Fashion of the 1980s was characterized by a rejection of 1970s fashion. Punk fashion began as a reaction against both the hippie movement of the past decades and the materialist values of the current decade. The first half of the decade was relatively tame in comparison to the second half, which was when apparel became very bright and vivid in appearance.
The fashion of the 2000's is often described as a global mash up, where trends saw the fusion of vintage styles, global and ethnic clothing, as well as the fashions of numerous music-based subcultures. Hip-hop fashion generally was the most popular among young people of all sexes, followed by the retro inspired indie look later in the decade.
Fashion in the 1970s was about individuality. In the early 1970s, Vogue proclaimed "There are no rules in the fashion game now" due to overproduction flooding the market with cheap synthetic clothing. Common items included mini skirts, bell-bottoms popularized by hippies, vintage clothing from the 1950s and earlier, and the androgynous glam rock and disco styles that introduced platform shoes, bright colors, glitter, and satin.
Informal wear or undress, also called business wear, corporate/office wear, tenue de ville or dress clothes, is a Western dress code for clothing defined by a business suit for men, and cocktail dress or pant suit for women. On the scale of formality, it is considered less formal than semi-formal wear but more formal than casual wear. Informal or undress should not be confused with casual wear such as business casual or smart casual; most situations calling for “informal wear” will usually tolerate casual dress to varying extents.
A cheerleading uniform is a standardized outfit worn by cheerleaders during games and other events. These uniforms typically include the official colors and mascots of the school or team and are designed to make the wearer appear physically attractive.
This is a list of existing articles related to fashion and clothing. For individual designers, see List of fashion designers
Cheltenham Secondary College is a co-educational high school in Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia, catering for students in years 7 to 12. The school officially opened in 1959 as 'Cheltenham High School', and then later changed its name to Cheltenham Secondary College. The school participates in the Windsor-Cheltenham Exchange, an exchange between Avenues College in Adelaide and Cheltenham where a range of sports and other activities are played out over a week to see who will win the Exchange Shield, Captains Plate and Exchange Cup.
The 2010s were defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, a revival of austerity-era period pieces and alternative fashions, swag-inspired outfits, 1980s-style neon streetwear, and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge and skater fashions. The later years of the decade witnessed the growing importance in the western world of social media influencers paid to promote fast fashion brands on Pinterest and Instagram.
Slouch socks, slouchy socks or loose socks are a type of sock featuring a heavy non-elastic upper that may be pushed down into heavy folds around the ankles or pulled up to the knee. In Japan, the loose sock style has been popular with high-school girls. In the US, slouch socks have trended in and out of fashion since the 1980s.
Stirrup pants or stirrup leggings are a type of close-fitting women's pants that taper at the ankle, similar to leggings, except that the material extends to a band, or strap, that is worn under the arch of the foot to hold the pant leg in place. The band of material is often elasticized to prevent the material around the foot from tearing. Stirrup pants were originally sportswear for women, and remain sportswear for horse riding and skiing. However, they have come in and out of fashion during the 20th and early 21st centuries, peaking in popularity as street fashion during the 1980s to the mid 1990s.
School uniform is a practice that dates to the 16th century in England. Charity schools such Christ's Hospital, founded in 1552 in London, were among the first schools to use a uniform for their students. The earliest documented proof of institutionalised use of a standard academic dress dates back to 1222 when the Archbishop of Canterbury ordered wearing of the cappa clausa.
Fashion and clothing in the Philippines refers to the way the people of the Philippine society generally dress up at home, at work, travelling and during special occasions.
The fashions of the 2020s represent a departure from 2010s fashion and feature a nostalgia for older aesthetics. They have been largely inspired by styles of the late 1990s to mid-2000s, 1980s, and late 1960s to early 1970s Early in the decade, several publications noted the shortened trend and nostalgia cycle in 2020s fashion. Fashion was also shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the fashion industry, and led to shifting retail and consumer trends.
Dwyer-McNulty, Sally (2014). Common Threads: A Cultural History of Clothing in American Catholicism. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN978-1469614090.
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