uniform

uniform
Originally uploaded by wordnerdy.

i was trying to describe my old school uniform to erin (i went to a private school during K-8, and had to wear a uniform from grades 5-8) and have no photos that i can find, and so i sketched it out just now.

what isn't reflected in this drawing (b/c i am a crappy artist) is that the tunic-thing was pleated--but the style was to buy older used uniforms where the pleats had been ripped out, lending an even baggier effect to the ensemble. the cool way to wear this garment (if such a thing was possible) involved belting it around the butt, preferably with those hippie-style woven multi-colored belts with pom-poms on the ends. failure to wear a belt resulted in a one-dollar uniform fine from every teacher who saw you (on one careless morning, i was forced to unlace my sneaker and wear a shoelace as a belt when i realized i'd left without one). the pocket of the tunic featured the school seal. i wish i could appropriately reflect the bagginess of the outfit without making my little drawing look fat, b/c really, those tunics were unflattering. i'll try and dig up a picture, although i am fairly sure i didn't like being photographed in the uniform.

shirts were collared/polo shirts in white or turtlenecks in the winter (green cords were also allowed in winter, as long as they were the right shade of green--hunter green only!). shoes were either white sneakers, brown loafers (with the laces curled!), or brown suede bucks. socks and/or tights, of course, were white.

the only individuality we could express came from the boxer shorts worn under our uniforms (to further shield our budding feminity? i never really got that part of the dress code, although i loved the boxers). i still have my favorite pair, from 8th grade--joe boxers in a toothpaste-and-toothbrush motif. my dad is a dentist, you know!

now that i think about it, i wore those to sleep in last night.

for further information on my school, check out annie dillard's ode to pittsburgh/memoir an american childhood. she's one of ellis' distinguished alumnae.