S/O Uniforms - why button-down shirts for HS girls?

Wolfsbane ↓

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:12 am

Why are button-downs standard for high school girl uniforms? I rarely wear button-downs by choice - between the gapping between buttons and the difficulty of finding a shirt that fits normally throughout the torso, it seems like a poor choice young women.

amother

Apple

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:14 am

I agree. I wonder if it’s the formality . like, even polo shirts appear much more casual.

I personally also hate how they look untucked

I don’t wear pleated skirts or button downs. to me both scream uniform

amother

Cognac ↓

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:20 am

Uniforms are so unflattering, I feel so bad for any girl who’s not a size zero.

Chayalle

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:21 am

Oh boy do I agree. There is so much room for non-tznius with button down shirts, too (girls often have to wear another layer because of the gaps between the buttons).

bigsis144

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:27 am

Pros:
(1) formality, timelessness
(2) stiff, rather than clingy fabric
(3) standing collar for neck coverage

But I agree, as someone who was a DD by age 14, button down blouses were always an unflattering hassle. If it didn’t gap in the chest, the shoulders or sleeves would be baggy.

amother

Smokey

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:34 am

amother Cognac wrote:

Uniforms are so unflattering, I feel so bad for any girl who’s not a size zero.

How else would you appropriately fat shame the girls? Don’t you want them to be really for shudduchim by the time they finish HS?🤦🏻‍♀️

amother

↑ Cognac

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 11:45 am

In my daughter’s school it’s considered weird to wear a shirt without the school sweater. So that’s a bit more flattering. But so uncomfortable in the warmer months. Even though the girls cut their shirts so it’s basically just a collar.

amother

Razzmatazz

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 12:27 pm

To be honest, I really don’t get it. My school just changed that the older girls can only wear button-down and not polos and they used to be button-down or polo and I don’t get how that’s more refined look.
In high school we used to wear a shirt under and a sweater over our shirts

amother

Wine

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 12:58 pm

I always wore a sweater.

I would cut the shirt into a dicky and wear a lightweight sweater.

I actually think I looked halfway decent.

amother

Steelblue

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 12:59 pm

They want collars, because it helps with the neckline, and I guess gives a more "dressed up"/dignified look. Button downs are also less likely to be clingy. I think polos are fine, definitely for the younger girls.

In practice, most schools I know have sweaters that the girls wear, or sweatshirts, with dickies for the older ones. The companies are making lighter weight sweaters and selling dickies so you don't have to make your own.

chanatron1000 ↓

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 1:05 pm

Button downs need a really precise fit to look good and not gape. IMO this style should be left to the men. For tznius, the old fashioned styles that get pleated/gathered at the waist, so that they're structured but at the same time intentionally loose fitting, might work, except they look really weird to the modern eye.

amother

Kiwi

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 1:48 pm

I'm amazed. I live in button-front shirts. I either sew in snaps or use safety pins between buttons. Knits highlight everything I don't want highlighted, and blouses that button up the back went out with the beehive hairdo, thank goodness. To my mind, it's knit tops, not button-front shirts, that flatter only flat-chested fourteen-year-olds.

↑ chanatron1000

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 1:50 pm

High opacity woven fabric with a slight stretch, polo shirt style is ideal for most figures.

↑ Wolfsbane

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 2:12 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

I hear, but you would get a lot of the same advantages with a long-sleeved polo.