A new take on "underwear as outerwear"...

All the fashion magazines have been proclaiming for months now that “Underwear is the New outerwear”, what with the likes of Lady GaGa and Rihanna making it almost acceptable to wear crotch-bearing outfits in public.
The closest we seem to have gotten to this trend here at school is the occasional fluorescent pink bra showing through the mercilessly see-through games polo shirts, although some brave girls were rumoured to have ran past the building site in just their swimming costumes in a bid to capture one particularly dashing builder’s attention.
However, there are some safer ways to channel the trend during term time without shocking any teachers: these include little ‘slip dresses’ worn with tights (pretty silk versions can be bought from the likes of Urban Outfitters, but if you’re really desperate perhaps your mother has an old silky nightie lying around?!). The braver girls will also be donning bra-like crop tops (bralets, if you will) a veritable selection of which can be found, of course, at the ever-reliable Topshop.
Although I personally have to say that this trend is one of the hardest to channel as a teenage school girl without having a note sent home to your mother, having a hint of lacy bra peeking out from your top can add a little thrill of danger to a bleak week ahead full of exams.
However, it was undeniably the rebellious Upper Sixth who showed the school how underwear as outerwear is REALLY done with the ingenious leavers prank that left the school Revered speechless (for once) and baffled the maintenance men who had the unfortunate job of taking it down and didn’t know where to look. Stringing veritable array of rainbow coloured (and unfortunately, by the morning, rain-soaked) knickers and bras on a washing line from the school chapel truly is the ultimate convent-girl take on this high fashion trend.

“Red and green should never be seen” was clearly not a saying that our wise founder, Olive Willis, was familiar with when she designed the Downe House School uniform. Little did she know of the hurtful Christmas tree related jibes that generations of girls would have to endure as a result. I secretly gaze enviously at the faded photographs of the Downe House girls circa 1907 and despair that those stylish Hogwarts-style green capes were replaced by the more practical, yet infinitely more painful, pinstriped blazers (whose only apparent use to date are to make part of a very convincing, impromptu Jedward outfit). I wonder if those carefree Downe House girls of yore were pelted with carrots and tomatoes in the dining room for wearing red tights instead of green ones. I suspect not.

Although, with the distinct lack of male presence here, no-one feels the need to get up early to put on make-up (or if you do, I’d keep that on the DL), the world of Downe House school uniform is a minefield of subtle and complex unspoken rules.
As previously mentioned, sporting red tights in Remove is akin to slamming the door in an older girl’s face. Unless you want a dreaded ‘cocky’ reputation, you just don’t do it. There are, however, pieces of school uniform that are only acceptable to be seen in your first, naïve years (we will forgive you for not knowing better). Fleeces, for example: yes they may keep you cosy and warm, but just as you grow out of rushing to the Medical Centre every break time for a salt gargle, by Lower Fourth you will realise that the best place for your fleece is stuffed at the back of the wardrobe. There is a similarly subtle etiquette for backpack wearing: only the coolest girls let the straps of their bags hang so loosely that they swing dangerously from side to side, knocking unsuspecting passers-by, whilst they sprint to their next lessons.
Once you reach the main school it is only really regulations on hairstyle that remain strict if you want to keep your place on the cool radar. The rules are simple: your hair wants to be matted and messy in a way that says “I just rolled out of bed- FML”. This is best combined with a lingering of left-over smudged eyeliner, which hints at a weekend of wild parties and a life outside of school- maybe even involving boys.
We’ve all read many a prospectus emblazoned with that smug quote: “I left Downe House feeling there was nothing I couldn’t achieve” and it’s true, after pulling off a sickly combination of red and green for seven years whilst still managing to look too cool for school, anything seems possible.

Who needs real boys anyway?

Maybe the trend for androgynous dressing was sparked by the all-girls Halloween disco which some cited as the “hi-light” of their Mich term, as we are perhaps taking it upon ourselves to make up for the distinct lack of male presence, but one thing’s certain: the craze for flashing your Radley hoodie (and/ or pyjamas) is officially over, in favour of girl crushes and tomboy style.
A standout trend that has also emerged over the past few terms in the exciting world of Downe House-hairdressing is the boyish, elfin hairstyle that was popularised by Agyness Deyn in 2007. Although Agyness has now moved onto a rather questionable choir-boy bob, here the most confident girls in each year have risked being mistaken for their brothers by sporting this brave ‘Short Back And Sides’ and maybe even proving Valentine Fillol-Cordier’s theory that “dressing like a boy gets you way further with boys anyway”…
Also in light of the masculine trend, mannish shoes, such as brogues, have been replacing suede ‘Blue Velvet’ loafers as the school shoe of choice.
Perhaps by taking inspiration from Samantha Ronson (the current poster-girl for androgynous, grunge-chic), who buys all of her jeans from “Dior Homme”, we should start shopping in the men’s section of shops to perfect the ‘oversized’ style. Or for a more credit-crunch friendly approach to boyish dressing, go for the ‘boyfriend’ look. This supposedly involves sporting jackets, shirts, jeans etc. which were borrowed from your boyfriend, but don’t panic single ladies: the ‘boyfriend’ could easily be replaced by a brother…or Primark, where you can find a varying selection of boyfriend-style blazers without any need for a love life.
Although you have to be careful when combining your androgynous look with a lacrosse stick or shot-putt (we’re going for boyish, not butch), as Alexa Chung summed it up so perfectly: the revival of tomboy style could spell the end of “you look like a lesbian” being used as an insult.

Surviving Boarding School With Style

It would be easy to make a successful fashion blog if you had a wardrobe full of kooky vingtage-finds, this season’s runway looks, a job in fashion and enough time to go running around city streets stumbling across immaculately dressed models to photograph who happen to be standing posed in perfectly-lit cobbled streets.

I am not a glossy fashion-type with endless connections, or a sassy New Yorker with a finger on the pulse of every indie happening.

It’s quite hard to keep your finger on the pulse when you’re at a boarding school. An all-girl’s boarding school on the top of a hill in the middle of the barren English countryside, that is. This is a place where the nearest ‘Topshop’ in Reading is the closest we get to high fashion and “Vogue” magazine’s only use is for ripping out pages of hunky Dolce and Gabbanna models to stick on pinboards. Although the school halls are perhaps not akin to high fashion runways in many ways, the sartorial rules and regulations are about as strict as the school ones, and the convent girls certainly aren’t afraid to express themselves.