School uniform

The current school uniform edition of 'The Chap' inspired' me to have a look at the relevant section of the school 'website' where I came across this picture. What a shower! You'd think they'd have employed a stylist or found a better crop than this lot to represent the school on what is after all an advert for prospective parents.

And what about the 'regulations themselves'? Years 7 - 8 ( I suppose that's the 2s and 3s) wear a 'Midnight blue blazer'. I thought there was something wrong with my computer but now I see the shade of blue really has changed since my day. What is 'midnight' blue anyway? What business of the school is what you wear at midnight? I'd call it 'blue-black' in memory of the Quink of that name, big bottles of which used to be kept in each form room to top up our ink wells. Then Years 9 - 11 (Remove, 4s and 5s?) wear black. All right, but I see black has crept down to the Remove which was definitely 'lower school' and blue in those days.

The grey suit option (instead of a blazer) has gone. I cottoned on to that one pretty soon after my arrival. The regs didn't say what shade of grey so I had a light one for the summer and a 'charcoal' one for winter - both m-to-m from Burton's on Northumberland Street. The grey suit facilitated clandestine slipping out during the lunch hour. Prefects and masters out for a smoke or en route to the Collingwood were less likely to notice you and you could occasionally (especially with new beaks) even deny being at the school at all, especially if you had also followed the option of the plain black tie. I see now you have to wear a 'claret and black school tie with house emblem'. Is anyone in the photo which is meant to be illustrating all of this in such a tie? One miscreant is even in a green thing. Come to think of it, maybe this lot are being sent home to change into proper uniform - always a good way of getting a few hours off.

Again no grey shirt option, only plebeian white. And you can wear 'leather-type' shoes! What on Horsley's grave does that mean? Crocodile? Alligator skin? Aren't the fees high enough already?

And what do the sixth formers (Years 17 and 18? I don't know) wear? I can't find anything on the 'site' about that.

It still comes as a surprise to me to see there are girls at school, but I have to say the ones here are far better turned out than their male colleagues. And furthermore they look a lot better in their 'midnight blue' than the girls across the road in their horrible purple threads. If they'd kept the brown and yellow I might have sent my daughters there; as it was I had to pack them off to St Trinian's where at least they got to wear proper straw hats.