The School Run Uniform

Sulkydoll - 10 Mar 16

So you know when you’re at school and they make you wear a hideous uniform in a ray of deeply unflattering colours you know the ones – maroon, bottle green, navy blue. And you literally long for the days when you can wear whatever you like and all will be well with the world? WRONG! Because, that whole uniform thing, it starts all over again, ironically right back in the playground once you have a school aged child.

Now don’t get me wrong, if you have the guts, you can wear whatever you like. Except pjs obvs, that’s not allowed appaz, even if they are a designer pair like the ones gracing the covers of Vogue etc. But, I digress, rest assured, there will be, in every playground across the land, a SRU. This SRU will, of course, be made up of different elements depending on where you live and what school your child attends, but if you dare to deviate from said uniform, you will stand out.

Now, personally, I live to stand out, I have an H&M jumpsuit for everyday of the week & I don’t mind attention. I am also not a people pleaser, I have a thick skin and avoid mediocrity at all costs. But… and here’s the rub, you must also be prepared for your child to be told by other children that ‘your mummy dresses differently’. Now, I use this is a life lesson, that it’s ok to be different and to teach my child the importance of embracing diversity in all forms. But it irks.

One of my lovely friends moved here recently and spent a whole 3 days choosing the outfit she would wear on her first day taking her kids to school…she looked am-az-ing, like some 1970s Charlie’s Angel…with 70s style purple Mui Mui shades, a purple Humanoid vest, See by Chloe jeans and Swedish Hasbeens on her feet…I clocked her instantly and watched as she walked through the playground and visibly shrank in stature as she took in all the stares.
I gravitated towards her and we’ve been mates ever since, but seriously? As mums aren’t we hard enough on ourselves? We don’t need other’s judgement, as my own mother said to me when I found out I was expecting my daughter, get used to guilt darling…it’s your new companion.

How I choose to dress is integral to who I am and all those elements that make up me did not get discarded along with the placenta. I have spoken to friends of my age who don’t have children and they argue that similar societal expectations are placed on them, the whole “mutton dressed as lamb” ridiculousness that gets spouted by, ironically, other female, journalists.

I get the whole need to fit in, the loss of identity post children and I also get that not everyone wants to stand out. But, don’t lose your sense of you and who you are in an attempt to be someone you are not.

In the words of the ultimate female bad ass, Angelina Jolie, mum of 6, actress, director, UN ambassador, double mastectomy survivor oh and Brad Pitt’s wife…’stay weird’.

Sulkydoll

Fashion Stylist, Fashion Blogger/Vlogger, Mama...never met a jumpsuit I don't like.

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