I wore a uniform

The Shri Ram School, New Delhi, India

1990-2001

What was your school uniform? The school asked us “how would you feel about denim?” It was a new age-y place.

Jeans? Right. Girls wore denim skirts and the guys wore denim shorts. And the winter, because it gets cold, everybody wore jeans. But you couldn’t just wear any jeans. The school designed them and sold school regulation jeans. 

Did you like them? I was very happy in my uniform; I kind of appreciated the idea and never understood why people didn’t. But as we got into middle school and high school, students would say: “I’m too cool to wear these jeans, they don’t flatter my figure.” So the guys would buy jeans that would too big for them, they would be falling off, and that wasn’t acceptable. And the girls wanted stuff that would fit them tighter. The jeans were trouser-y and they really weren’t flattering. 

When did you stop wearing your uniform? 12^th grade. I was 17. 

How’d that go? I hated it. I had no idea what to wear.

So how’d you figure it out? Well, after Delhi University I moved to London for college. I didn’t know anybody and I was starting completely clean. I was just trying out stuff that I didn’t have access to and I was exploring clothes for the first time. All these things to play with, it was exciting. By the end of my time in London, I dress like I dress now.

How’s that? Often a dress, tights, and a skirt, basically not casual like shorts and a t-shirt. I don’t just pull stuff together, I think about what I’m going to wear pretty much every single day, quite seriously. Which is not something I ever would have done back home and I still get confused when I go back to Delhi.  

So how do you dress when you’re in Delhi? People don’t wear dresses in India during the day, it’s not common to go out in a dress in the afternoon, say to go to the market. So I just end up wearing jeans every day.