<\/p>
The wearing of a uniform that was distinctive to a particular school\u00a0can be traced back to Tudor times (though it was by no means a national phenomenon). Take Christ\u2019s Hospital School in Horsham, for example. They still wear long blue coats, yellow socks and leather belts \u2013 a uniform that differs little from that worn by its original scholars when the school was founded in the reign of Edward\u00a0VI<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n No. In Japan, boys in many secondary schools still wear an outfit modelled on 19th-century Prussian army uniforms, while many girls\u2019 schools still have sailor suits inspired by European naval dress\u00a0as a uniform. These designs have nothing to do with Japan\u2019s own military past but can be traced\u00a0back to the 1870s, when Japan\u00a0was influenced by Europe in the\u00a0establishment of its formal\u00a0education system.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As early as the 14th century, Oxbridge colleges were legislating against the \u201cexcess in apparel\u201d being worn by scholars.\u00a0However, while over the last 50\u00a0years or so students have\u00a0sought to hide jewellery, thicken ties or shorten skirts, they are by no means united in a desire to abolish their uniforms. The students of Christ\u2019s Hospital are not alone in having voted overwhelmingly to retain theirs.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n They are most definitely in. The vast majority of British schools have some form of compulsory uniform and there even seems to be a move away from the baggy sweatshirt of the 80s and 90s back to the traditional blazer.\u00a0In its current advice to schools\u00a0on the subject, the Department of Education barely pauses to discuss why schools should have uniforms (\u201cThe Department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can play a valuable role in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone\u201d) before advising in much greater length on issues of discrimination and value for money.<\/p>\nSo do we Brits have the monopoly on archaic school uniforms?<\/h3>\n
When did students start to rebel against their uniforms?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Are school uniforms \u2018in\u2019 or \u2018out\u2019\u00a0in Britain at the moment?<\/strong><\/h3>\n