The Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 school uniform

School uniform

A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...

stereotype consists of a pleated plaid

Plaid (pattern)

For other meanings, see plaid.A plaid is a pattern consisting of crossed horizontal and vertical bands in two or more colors in woven cloth.Common examples of plaid patterns include:*Tartan, the pattern most commonly associated with plaid....

 skirt or jumper (a sleeveless dress), Mary Jane

Mary Jane (shoe)

Mary Jane is an American term for a strap shoe or bar shoe that typically has low heels, broad and rounded closed toes, and a single-buckle strap across the instep and/or around the ankle...

 or saddle shoes, a blouse, and a sweater, for girls; for boys, a button-down shirt, a necktie

Necktie

A necktie is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the ascot tie, bow tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neck...

, and dark pants. Actual school uniforms vary widely by location and individual school.

Nearly all Roman Catholic schools have some form of dress code, and most of them (especially those with students in the lower grade levels) have a mandatory uniform policy.

Purpose of School Uniforms

Stated purpose for uniforms, often set forth in school uniform policies, include reducing clothing expenditures for parents as well as avoiding distinctions among children based on whose parents can afford to buy them fashionable clothing to wear to school. The conservative clothing is also said to reduce distractions and help with student identification, ensuring that a stranger will stand out among the uniformed students.

Other than the reduction in clothing expenditures and pure logic, there is no concrete evidence that any of the above purposes outlined above ring true. D around the country have been implementing uniforms as a deterrent to violent acts committed by students. While some schools do boast a correlative decrease in violence, the overall statistics remain either virtually unchanged or show only a marginal decline.

In North America

Until the early to mid 1970s, the uniform for girls almost always consisted of a skirt

Skirt

A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...

 or jumper

Jumper dress

A jumper , pinafore dress or pinafore is a sleeveless, collarless dress intended to be worn over a blouse, shirt or sweater.In British English, the term jumper describes a sweater...

; but it is now common, in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, for female pupils to wear uniform shorts or slacks, especially in warmer weather. This is mainly the result of changing societal norms that, beginning in the late 1960s to early 1970s, resulted in a trend for women and girls in most levels of society to wear trousers and shorts, instead of skirts and dresses, for everyday life. Today, most schools require girls to wear skirts, others allow girls the choice of skirts or culottes and pants.

A kilt

Kilt

The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...

ed skirt is sometimes worn, especially in schools with predominantly Celtic student populations. In some parts of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, the skirt has been modified to include an attached pair of shorts beneath, for modesty called a skort

Skort

A skort, sometimes called a scooter or skant, resembles a skirt all the way around, and has shorts underneath. Some skorts are essentially skirts with a pair of shorts hidden underneath, though most resemble a pair of shorts with a panel of fabric over the front.-History:The term "skort" is used...

. Bike shorts or Leggings

Leggings

Leggings are a type of fitted clothing covering the legs, which can be worn by both men and women.Originally leggings were two separate garments, one for each leg....

 are often worn under girls' skirts or jumpers for modesty. Culottes

Culottes

Culottes is a word that originated in French. Historically, "culottes" referred to the knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance through the early nineteenth century. This style of tight pants ending just below the knee was first...

 are also sometimes substituted for a skirt, especially at Episcopalian or non-parochial private schools.

In the younger grades of such schools, girls are often seen wearing plaid jumpers over a blouse and bike shorts under the jumpers. Many schools require such a jumper up to the fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, presumably because the lifestyles and habits of younger girls may make blouses more likely to become untucked from skirt or culotte waistbands. After that, the jumper is often discarded in favor of a plaid skirt with bike shorts or culottes and blouse. Often the skirt and blouse must be worn with a sweater or sweater vest.

Boys typically wear a collared shirt, tie, and slacks of required colors, although polo shirts have to some extent replaced dress shirt.

Both sexes usually wear a sweater or blazer (or both) when required by regulations or weather.

Some schools have unisex uniforms—most often a distinctive shirt, and sometimes pants of a given color.

Uniforms may vary based on time of year. At many schools, students are excused from having to wear the fairly formal (and warm) uniforms described above during the hotter months of the school year in favor of lighter uniform clothing such as skorts or shorts worn with knee socks, quarter socks, or triple roll socks and capri pants are also worn. However, at some schools appearance and formality prevail over comfort and students must suffer through the warm weather in their full uniform, which can include long sleeved dress shirts, ties, wool sweaters, blazers, wool skirts or jumpers and tights.

In popular culture

• The hit 1998 music video
  Music video
  A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
  
   for Britney Spears
  Britney Spears
  Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
  
  ' first single, "...Baby One More Time" featured Spears and a number of backup dancers wearing a modified version of the Catholic school uniform.

• The Russian pop duo t.A.T.u.
  T.A.T.u.
  t.A.T.u. was a duo formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consisted of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova.Their debut single "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released in December 2000. The single had a huge success in Russia and Eastern Europe...
  
   also wore clothing resembling Catholic school uniforms in a video for their song "Ya Soshla S Uma
  Ya Soshla S Uma
  "Ya Soshla S Uma" is a song by t.A.T.u., released as their first CD single. The song is from the 200 Po Vstrechnoy album, with music by Sergio Galoyan and lyrics by Elena Kiper, Sergio Galoyan and Valeriy Polienko.-Background:After splitting with Neposedi, their producer Ivan Shapovalov had signed...
  
  " (also known by the title of its English-language version, "All the Things She Said
  All the Things She Said
  "All the Things She Said" is a song by Russian recording duo t.A.T.u., which was for their first English-language studio album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane . The song was written by Sergio Galoyan, Trevor Horn, Martin Kierszenbaum, Elena Kiper and Valeriy Polienko, while produced by Horn...
  
  ").