Posts filed under 'dress code'
One secondary school in England has decided to change its uniform radically, and claims the new look is a hit with pupils and parents. Students at the Cooper School in Churchill Road, Bucks used to wear purple polo-shirts and black trousers or skirts, but the casual top has been changed into a white shirt, tie and a black blazer. To launch the new uniform, the school gave all students a black and blue striped tie along with a sew-on school badge free of charge. Headteacher Ben Baxter said the decision to change uniform had not been taken lightly, and followed consultation with students, parents, governors and staff. ‘The school firmly believes in the maxim of Look smart, Be smart,’ He said ‘We hope the obvious pride the students are showing will express itself in the level of progress in their learning over the coming year.’ One wonders how the parents will feel when the added laundry costs start to factor into the equation …
And in Ireland The Department of Education has recommended that there be no change in how schools decide their uniform policies. New say the current system, which allows schools decide uniform policy at local level, is reasonable and should be maintained. The guidelines were drawn up after disquiet earlier in the year over the wearing of the Hijab by Muslim students. The guidelines say no school uniform policy should act in such a way that it would exclude students of a particular religious background from the school. Commenting on the guidelines, the Minister for Education said while 92% of schools in the country were under the patronage of one religion, that fact had not … excluded pupils of different religions from these schools.
Purple polo courtesy of safi
September 29th, 2008
It’s that time of year: some businesses are gearing up and others are laying off staff – employers are looking around for new talent and employees are looking around for a job that will satisfy them now their summer holiday is over and they are realising that it’s another whole long year before they can escape the workplace for another few weeks of sunshine. And if affects the way we dress.
When somebody shows up for work dressed differently to usual, there are two things that go through the heads of their colleagues and three things that go through the heads of their bosses. Colleagues think:
- She’s got a date with a man she wants to impress or
- He’s got an interview in his lunch break
Bosses think
- She’s got an interview
- He’s after my job and trying to look like he deserves my desk
- She’s on her way to see her bank manager for a loan
In other words, when you upgrade your work style co-workers and bosses tend to view your behaviour with suspicion rather than respect. Overdressing is tolerated in bosses, new employees and very young people but mocked as pretentious in our contemporaries or colleagues who suddenly seem to think they are better than the rest of us. A day spent perusing the advice of Trinny and Susannah or Gok Wan might make you feel great but it will demoralise your workmates if you suddenly turn up dressed differently – in fact they will think you look like a dog’s dinner!
If you want to upgrade your work clothing, do it piece by piece over a period of weeks, and never ignore the unwritten guidelines for your workplace. Take your cue from the people around you who and don’t great an unbridgeable gap between you and other people in the organization. If the boss wears a polo-shirt and chinos, your Armani suit won’t have the effect you expect it to – in fact, it could lead to you being shown the door!
Suit and tie courtesy of Janiebell
August 25th, 2008
As Britain’s beleaguered Prime Minister faces more criticism, more Treasury money being pumped into Northern Rock and more manoeuvring from his cabinet colleagues, Hadley Freeman, deputy fashion editor at The Guardian has some advice for him. She says ‘For heaven’s sake, Gordon, take off your jacket! … buy some shirts in colours other than “starchy white”, maybe even a loose polo-shirt for your off-duty moments, ruffle your hair up a bit and don’t be afraid of showing a wrist or two. Perhaps even consider switching your facial expression from “bitter glower” to “friendly smile”.’
Would it work? It’s a certain fact that recent political stars on the world of the Western stage: Barack Obama, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton – all have the ability to dress down in their more relaxed moments without looking like a complete prat. But each has had their own moment of sartorial disaster too: the anti-Obama campaign chose to use a photograph of him in West African dress at a ceremony to suggest he wasn’t really ‘American’ while we can all remember Tony Blair’s sweaty armpits on the conference platform in that light blue shirt, can’t we? As for Clinton and clothing, well … the least said about his ability to deal with his trousers, the better! There are dozens of examples of wardrobe failure in politics – for example, William Haig wore a baseball cap to a festival and lost public confidence immediately.
But there is something important about being able to dress down without looking daft. We see our politicians much more these days, and much more often when they are off duty and supposedly relaxed, but they don’t have the right that we all have to schlep around the place in old trackies and flip-flops: they have a duty to give the impression of power even while at rest. So I echo Hadley’s call, and will go a step further: by all means sport a polo-shirt, but why not also show yourself in a hoody and reveal your inner class victim, or take to the streets in an organic sweatshirt and show that what’s closest to your heart is a bit of fair-trade and social equality in purest cotton!
Gordon Brown courtesy of fotologic
August 5th, 2008
It’s an important thing to do if you’re a Mormon! A practicing Mormon who created a calendar with pictures of shirtless (male) Mormon missionaries has been excommunicated after a disciplinary meeting with his local church leaders in Las Vegas.
The man with a calendar mission - Chad Hardy - bears no ill will towards the council of elders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He’s an entrepreneur and he says ‘I spoke my truth …they still felt the calendar is inappropriate and not the image that the church wants to have.’ The calendar, called Men on a Mission had already sold over 10,000 copies and has now sold out as a result of the publicity, although Chad says there won’t be any more printed to meet the new demand. The dozen missionaries are all wearing their uniform of black trousers but lacked the Mormon trademark white shirts. In smaller supplementary pictures they were shown in their full missionary wear and talking about their religious beliefs.
It isn’t yet clear if action will be taken against the 12 modelling Mormons by their church elders.
July 17th, 2008
There’s as much talk at Wimbledon about the fashion as the forehand smash. For the sports clothing and casual-wear designers, this is a testing ground for summer hits – one has already emerged: Roger Federer’s white cardigan with the F monogram was much commented on (not always politely) and is turning up in sports stores right now even though he didn’t win the final. Serena Williams didn’t fare so well in her white warm-up trench coat: it was pretty universally derided as a fashion faux pas and isn’t likely to become this year’s High street fashion hit. Maria Sharapova somewhat see-through bib top and shorts was popular with men, but her opponent Alla Kudryavtseva said after beating her, ‘… I don’t like her outfit. …It was one of my motivations to beat her.’
Venus Williams wore her own design, although the way she kept pulling at the top suggests it wasn’t entirely a tennis-designed garment. It appears in her clothing collection so we can expect to see plenty of those plaited front dresses on the beaches this year. The fascination of Wimbledon is its constraints - dress whites are still de rigueur and any woman wearing a low-cut top can be removed from the court. This means that the sportswear has to work within the confines of the rules and that makes for subtle alterations to sportswear that fast fashion outlets watch hungrily to be sure they don’t miss this year’s big hit.
Federer courtesy of toga
July 8th, 2008
Yogi Berra, the superstar player and manager of baseball, has been sharing his views on teams and their appearance, but his views go further than sporting achievements. Here’s what he had to say:
- …you have a responsibility to those wearing the same uniform. Break a rule or do something foolhardy, you embarrass the uniform. You embarrass yourself and your team. Wearing a uniform — whether you’re a cop or a coffee shop waitress — carries a responsibility and dependability. To those one serves and those wearing the same uniform.
- When I played in the minors, we wore hand-me-down Yankee uniforms. I don’t know whose old woollen jersey I wore, but Charlie Silvera was always thrilled that he wore Lou Gehrig’s old trousers. Nowadays, nobody wears baggy flannels anymore; there’s no more hand-me-downs. But anyone who puts on a Yankee uniform can’t ignore the history of it all.
- Uniforms are more than a fashion statement. They’re a team’s identity. It’s like what Jerry Seinfeld said about fans: They don’t really root for players, they root for a team’s laundry. I still like that the Yankees still don’t put players’ names on their backs. The team’s identity is more important.
And if Yogi Berra says it, it must be true! I don’t think he’d approve of this T-shirt though …
Anti-yankee T-shirt courtesy of ewan and donabel
June 30th, 2008
There’s been a public statement about schoolwear … in the Philippines. Students in elementary and high school there no longer have to wear uniforms, but after this relaxation of the dress code, the Education Department has found it necessary spell out what ‘proper attire’ actually is.
In a circular letter distributed to all schools, the Education Secretary has spelt out and appropriate dress code. For boys, that’s a polo-shirt or T-shirt with sleeves in a plain colour and either long trousers or shorts. For girls, a dress, skirt or trousers, and blouse in any colour will do. No footwear is prescribed: slip-ons and shoes are both allowed as long as the student doesn’t go barefoot to class. The students’ attire ‘should reflect respect for the school’, the letter says. Why has this statement of clothing been necessary? Because there has been an outbreak of: ‘flashy outfits’ including tight-fitting trousers, mini-skirts, and tops with plunging necklines for girls and the boys have apparently been coming to school in hip-hop pants and, believe it or not, their pyjamas!
Schoolchildren courtesy of Tajai
