school uniform was a little more relaxed it was also strictly controlled. In common with
the majority of LEA schools, Petersfield had taken the decision to wear ‘colours’ rather
than a ‘uniform’, although it was it still a uniform in everything but name. This situation
was diametrically different at Westmoor Abbey, where a loose enforcement of school
uniform created a space for pupils to use clothing as a means of gaining recognition and
status, of generating common bonds, and of sharing interests and intimacy within the
peer-group cultures. Indeed, clothing and footwear were used as an important
constitutive component in the construction and performance of the boys’ masculinity.
Certain items and brand-names acquired a specific, symbolic value, acting as a powerful
signifier of the pupils worth as people, and pupils who attempted to dress and conform to
the school rules and regulations ran a high risk of being stigmatised and subordinated.
Enforcement of school uniform also depends on the level of parental corroboration, and
what made this situation so difficult for Westmoor Abbey to confront was that the pupils’
style of clothing was worn in collusion with their parents. Perhaps the preoccupation
with clothing was so highly valued because the boys and girls had fewer alternatives of
demonstrating material status compared to pupils from a different social class, or having
their value (as people) legitimised by other means, such as working hard and achieving
academically.
Within the context of clothing there was an inextricable link to sport with its associations
of athleticism, strength, power and cultural status (Parker, 1996a); nearly all the pupils in
the class that I studied wore tracksuit bottoms (in varying colours), and only 3 girls
usually wore skirts. One of the most controversial parts of school uniform often concerns
the type of footwear, and whereas training shoes were banned at Highwoods, and
restricted at Petersfield, they were de rigueur at Westmoor Abbey. Indeed it was the
training shoe that had the greatest currency in terms of status, with their signifiers of
wealth, choice, freedom, equality, sportiness, casualness, anti-school, and of collective
belonging (Maguire, 1999). As with the tracksuit tops, T-shirts and jackets, there was a
hierarchy of brand names. Two of the lowest ranking were ‘Ascot’ and ‘Gola’, and
during one interview two pupils highlighted its aesthetic style, but also the associated
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