CH uniforms

[Hendrik]

although what people do with condemmed housey uniforms is beyond me!

Launch a new wet 'n' sniff range? There's no smell quite like a wet housey coat!

though it is true the scent known as 'wet housey' appears to be unique to CH, i believe it has a close generic equivalent available in the wider world: the 'wet dog' range. the closest i've located so far is the 'old age labrador with an uplifting twist of swamp'. available from all good stockists:

http://www.whatsthatsmell.com/scent_sea ... cid_canine

apparently you can recreate the smell at home by pIssing on an old woollen jumper.

[englishangel]

Gosh I'm so glad I'm a girl.

Though we wore the same gymslip/tunic for an entire season.

Also no-one was allowed to wear deodorant until I was 12 or 13. We did though, well I did so I assume others did too.

[Spoonbill]

What I vividly remember is how when you opened your trunk to pack it at the end of the holidays, the CH stench would leap up out of the box and almost knock you over backwards. Probably that's still the case these days. (I also still get really depressed walking past stationers' and outfitters' shops in mid-August and seeing those dastardly 'Back to School' signs in the windows. Makes you feel like jumping under a bus.)

As for general mingingness at CH: how in blue blazes we wore dirty houseycoats year-round without getting chronic boils etc. around our necks, I can't imagine. All those much-farted-in pairs of breeches, worn for month after month without washing.... .....underwear intended to last 3 or 4 days....I remember kneeling in orange squash in my flannels at the start of summer term one year and having to wear 'em like that for the whole term......And yes, trying to get dried filth off my coat by sawing at it with my comb.....seriously minging.....

But I have to say I'm nevertheless appalled by this business of pupils no longer having to wear CH uniform at all times (except on sports pitches). For a start it was a very practical uniform; you could wade through shoulder-high stinging nettles in it without getting stung....

[Hendrik]

what?! you want clean lungs AND stinging-nettle immunity?! there's no pleasing some people. i remember if you tucked your bands inside the coat and swept the bottom of it over the yellow socks, it made good (and instant) bush camouflage in the dark. infact, with a uniform like that, they were asking for us to smoke really!

housey coats did tend to suck dust particles from blackboards from as far away as about 6 feet (coincidentally exactly half the range of DJOM's unique scent) which made them rubbish for tube-walking. though there aren't any stinging nettles down there, so you wouldn't need to wear a housey anyway (:roll: )

[helen]

fascinating revelations here - for someone who never wore the houseycoat and sometimes wanted to - at least it was distinctive in a lofty traditional way that those of us from Hertford could not claim as we slunk home for the holidays and tried to hide until we could throw the things off and put on our real clothes. Perhaps it was more unpleasant to wear than we imagined - but when we saw the boys occasionally at special joint functions they looked so appealing in their outfits. But we hardly saw boys at all so they could have been wearing anything I suppose and we would have thought they were wonderful. ANd we never got near enough to see/smell the interesting details you are all remembering so graphically.
As to what old uniforms could be used for - someone should write a book as they have done for dental floss and duct tape - 100 uses for the houseycoat. Good fundraiser??
How can I use thee? Let me count the ways . . .

[Great Plum]

By the time I left CH, it wasn't quite so skanky - we had our own clean underwear and socks every day - a clean shirt every couple of days and I think I had 2 or 3 pairs of breeches!

[FrogBoxed]

Well, Helen, as a girl who wore a housey coat, they were kind of fun, but as with all things, you soon got used to them. As I recall there are some minor design "issues":

1. The bottom of them got soaked and muddy when it rained. This meant that our socks got filthy - and these were the days of yellow (or grey) socks lasting two or sometimes three days.

2. The length meant having to adopt a sort of Monty Python-esque silly walk when going upstairs (particularly if you were taking the stairs more than one at a time).

3. They have two pocket holes because breeches have two pockets (as far as I know, not that I ever went near enough a boy to verify, you understand! ), while the girls' lovely pleated skirts have only one - on the right by the fastener. Thus the girls always had one cold hand!

3. They were heavy and ought to have been warm, but the blo0dy great split up the front (and that pesky extra pocket hole) meant any slight breeze felt arctic and an extra jumper was usually required - and in order for non-uniform tops not to show while you walked, that meant... *tucking them in* ... the shame, the shame!

I wonder whether wearing civvies a lot more has taken the fun out of the very gentle rebellion of wearing forbidden clothing under housey coats for those of us not inclined to wade through nettles?

[jtaylor]

Breeches only had 1 pocket - also on the right side....why, I never worked out.

Seem to recall also that Housey coats also only had one pocket, except for the button-coats which had two??

J

[graham]

Both housey coats and breeches had only onle pocket. However, housey coats had two strange holes (one either side) that gave the appearance of pockets. Those were useful for 2 things - 1: keeping books dry when it rained on the way to class and 2: placing arms through when resting hands down the front of breeches, as I recall having been discussed in another thread. and i still do that today!

[Great Plum]

Graham is correct with the number of holes...

The pocket in the housey coat is so large you could fit lots of stuff in it...

[Hendrik]

breeches pockets were pretty huge too, iirc. the two fake pockets on the housey weren't so bad. they were good for tieing the broadie to when you hung your coat up. there was also a sly way of dropping apple cores, banana skins etc on the way back from dining hall: put it in the fake pocket and keep walking, it would look like you just walked over it.

[Jeeves]

Both housey coats and breeches had only onle pocket.

In the term that I got through more than 3 pairs of breeches (due to wear) I managed to come across a rare find - a pair with two pockets! Unfortunately that pair didn't last too long and were replaced with the regular variety. In response to Hendrik's statement about the size of the pockets on breeches - my pockets were always small, then again I was (and still am) much smaller than Hendrik.

It was great when the best-coats were phased out as I managed to use my best coat as an ordinary, everyday one. Did anyone else have strange 'carpet-like' patterns in their housey-coats, one of mine had a strange pattern on the back, presumably where the blue/black dye didn't stain the coat properly.

[Great Plum]

Did they get rid of best coats?

I always loved the 'best coat' cupboard - that wierd smell!

[jtaylor]

The smells of CH always bring back memories for me.
Visited the Counting House earlier in the year, and that distinctive smell brought memories back.

The smell of fresh polish on the long wooden dormitory floors always said start-of-term to me.

Funny how smell brings back memories of feelings so much more effectively that images or stories.....if someone could bottle those smells!

J

[Spoonbill]

the two fake pockets on the housey weren't so bad. there was also a sly way of dropping apple cores, banana skins etc on the way back from dining hall: put it in the fake pocket and keep walking, it would look like you just walked over it.

They were also great for rapidly concealing a burning cigarette. I remember walking from Mid A to Lamb A one night, puffing merrily along the way, then encountering a member of staff. Through the fake pocket went hand and cig, while other hand waved a jolly hello to said member of staff. Probably that's why coats were designed like that.

Incidentally, one of my chums was so fat he had to have the crotch and inside legs of his breeches reinforced with leather because otherwise his gargantuan thighs rubbed together so much they wore the fabric through.