Objects of Substance- White Blouse

The 1990s saw the blouse lengthen and maintain the looseness of the 80s. Girls expressed their individuality by purchasing different sizes resulting in a longer, roomier blouse or one with a fitted waistband sitting comfortably on the hips. The most significant change to the blouse came in 2007 when the then Principal, Dr Amanda Bell, was unimpressed with the fact that many schools had a similar white blouse and she felt we “needed to dress it up a little and also… (make the students) identifiable as Grammar girls around town.” Therefore, with these catalysts, and consultation with the Deputy Principals, Felicity Williams and Marise McConaghy, the crested pocket and the button on tie were introduced in 2008. Dr Bell “…much preferred the crested blouse – (it) just made them a bit more formal and special without being overt.” Aishlin Greig (2008) remembers the assembly when it was announced : “I do remember the announcement of the new blouse. I believe it was announced on assembly or at our year level assembly and the reason for the change was attributed to a number of incidents being reported of ‘Grammar Girls’ not behaving in the city after school… but with a number of similar uniforms from different schools with white blouses, it was hard to really determine whether it was a Grammar girl or not.” Coupled with the concept of taking the blouse up a notch was how to solve the look of the problematic tie. Sadly, girls were often unfamiliar with the “Windsor” knot and so, frequently, ties portrayed agony rather than ecstasy. Gabriella Avenia (2008) recalls “ it came in around when I started Grade 12 …, I remember this because one of the first times I remember wearing it was when I received my House Captain badge at the Induction Assembly! I remember this as I liked the badge detail on the pocket but also as (the … new) clip on tie felt just a bit too short proportionally for me, being taller. The buttons under the collar & the clip on tie were a good feature for me though - my dad had given up trying to teach me to knot my tie - he was still tying it for me until the new ties came in! ”