About Uniforms: When This Schoolgirl Boards

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[I began writing this early in the morning on July 3 planning to finish and post it before my flight to London on July 4th. In keeping with this UK trip having “nothing is easy” issues, when I called the airline at 7PM PDT to make sure that everything was set , I received the unhappy news from United that there was a whole other area of  needed documentation culminating with a permission letter from Heathrow Animal Control required for Sutti to travel with me. They were lovely and helpful. Twelve hours of sifting through medical files for needed paperwork and $70+ worth of international calls and Sutti and I were able to board. 

This, and the consequences of my procrastination/overpacking,¹More on this problem later. They’re related derailed my plan to write and post this to my blog before I left, however. London was a whirlwind, meeting up with Paul, making sure Sutti recovered well from the flight… on and on. Now in much quieter Wales (we’re in lovely, delightfully named Mumbles, sort of a coastal suburb of Swansea), I’ve not been able to post or do much of anything on the internet because there are lots of connectivity issues. The owner’s struggling to getting BT to turn the internet on, and there’s basically no cellular service either, even with my UK eSIM. Serves me right for wishing so hard for a digital detox. ]

The question isn’t “should I wear a school blazer for tomorrow’s flight?” but rather “which one?”

Blue, Green, Burgundy,or Navy?
Four blazers hang ready, each with its own story—and its own discreet Latin motto waiting to be sewn on with the patch. By the end of this post you may be able to help me decide which one I should wear tomorrow for my flight from Los Angeles to London.

What? Why does a Fifty‑Something Woman Wear Her School Blazer on Planes?
Short answer? Because school blazers are perfect traveling companions, especially when flying. You may think it’s my kink talking here, but come with me on this. My blazers have been the perfect addition to my wardrobe, in and out of scenes. Longer answer? Wearing a school blazer when I fly is the single smartest travel decision I’ve ever made. Doing so combines fashion, function, and playful rebellion against the tyranny of airplane pajamas. Frankly, they look smart!²As I’m writing this I’m remembering that Olympic athletes often have a travel uniform that includes something very like a school blazer. Indeed, the origins of uniform blazers connect to the history of rowing teams.

Origins in Role‑Play, Realised in Las Vegas
I owned the blazers already (we’ve already discussed my uniform thing here… oh and here too). Flying to see Paul for a quick overnight in Las Vegas in December 2023, I wanted to have my uniform with me, but, for maybe the only time in recent years, I wanted to only travel with carry-on bags. The kilt and shirt didn’t take up any significant space, but the blazer did, or at least it would have. The obvious answer was to wear it rather than packing it, an especially good choice because I was traveling late at night and early in the morning in December when both Los Angeles and Vegas are as cold as they ever are. The result? The easiest, breeziest flight of my life: warm, organised, and quirkily professorial. A travel epiphany in wool.

That takes us to my first and most practical point of why one should wear a blazer for travel:

Pockets: A Manifesto
Women’s clothing generally is notorious for fake pockets and false promises; school blazers are the opposite. My two newest (the green and bright blue ones) feature two interior breast pockets—one deep enough for a passport and an oversized phone, complete with ZIP. Add two exterior pockets for mints and lipstick and you have a wearable command centre. Suddenly I’m styling through the airport like Inspector Gadget.

*Mission control, but make it tailored.*

But Mija, you ask, why not just carry a purse? Isn’t that where women are supposed to keep their “going with them” stuff?
Ah, no.

Because a purse is a liability when you are already juggling a roll‑aboard and a backpack. Worst of all, digging for a boarding pass while inching through TSA turns even the steeliest traveler into Emily Litella muttering, “I know it’s in here somewhere…”

With a school blazer, everything essential lives at heart‑level. Hands free, chaos tamed. Add to this that I have ADHD (primarily inattentive) and lose stuff ALL THE TIME (see ADHD tax). This makes traveling a nightmare — expensive and stressful. I’ve spent thousands of dollars over the years and increased stressful situations for me and my traveling companions (mostly Paul) ten-fold by leaving purses, wallets, keys, and so on behind. Even when one gets them back, something AirTags have made far more likely, the process of realizing something vital is missing, retracing one’s steps, and then finding and reclaiming the item is stressful and time consuming.³I had a brief example this trip. I’d moved my passport from where it “belonged” – the zip-up breast pocket – to where it didn’t – the secret security pocket in my backpack. To make things worse, I’d left the breast pocket unzipped, meaning in theory the passport case could have fallen out. I went through five minutes of sheer terror, worried I’d either lost my passport, or left it on the coffee table at home. That five minutes likely took 6 months off my life as I tried to figure out how get a neighbor to go and check out my living room and, assuming it was there, courier it through Los Angeles rush hour to LAX in the not-quite-three-hours before my flight. This sort of mishap or near mishap makes me and anyone traveling with me crazy. Keeping all needed identification and my phone zipped in the blazer pocket makes everything easier. Assuming, of course, I remember to put things where they are supposed to be.

Climate Control with Character
Airports and plane cabins are too often refrigerated purgatories (or overheated to the point of sweating discomfort). My wool blazer, designed for a school in northern Scotland, laughs at chills. If the cabin warms up, I can roll it into an elegant ball (because it’s wrinkle‑proof!) to serve as pillow or lap rug. The garment is bulletproof in a way school uniforms have to be for their intended kid wearers.

Style: Prep Meets Punk
Mode 1 – Full Fantasy
Kilt, knee socks, shirt, tie (tucked in my blazer pocket, ready for a surprise inspection). School trip theatre in the terminal.

Mode 2 – Everyday Mischief  (this is the way I wear bits of my uniform on the regular)

My uniforms (kilts, blazers, shirts) worn with jeans or black trousers, enamel pins from the **Doodles by Ben’s Pin Badge Club** are coupled with the right attitude. Think 1980s prep school meets middle-aged‑punk professor. In Los Angeles, Gen Z approves; I have even lectured in it.

In a lot of ways the school blazer is a **reverse jean jacket**: it goes with everything and makes shabby things look intentional and pulled together.

In her exhaustively researched cultural history, School Uniforms, AUTHOR NAME writes about the many ways, especially in the 1950s and then going forward, school uniforms in the USA, UK (plus all respective former colonies), and Japan have had significant influence over women’s fashion.

Cross‑Cultural Decoding
Dressed in a UK-style or US Catholic school-style uniforms in Los Angeles,⁴Note: Anyone can pretty much wear anything in Los Angeles without eliciting much (or any) comment. Between the film and television industry and photographers looking for ever-more edgy or unusual shots, the most one can reasonably expect is a quick look up and down followed by an amused nod or smile. I pass as what I am –  an eccentric academic; however, on a Heathrow‑bound flight I elicit puzzled respect. A favourite moment: wearing the green blazer at Shadow Lane party some 15 years ago, I received a double‑take from someone who mentored pupils from *that very school*. His face said, “Did she mug a sixth‑former?” Delicious.

How and Where to Acquire Your Own⁵This really deserves a longer and more detailed post. Someday, I promise.
Official suppliers:⁶(or “theatrical costumers” like Albert Prendergast)  will gladly outfit you—at a price, and sometimes only with proof of enrollment.⁷Note, I’m not listing any “official” UK uniform suppliers because I suspect being linked from this site might make getting uniforms from them even harder. For the US, on the other hand, I suspect Dennis Uniforms (ooo, currently having a sale even!) is pretty safe to list.
Thrifting: however, is sport and far more frugal⁸Though only if you don’t put any monetary value on your time.
eBay searches: try “school uniform blazer,” “prep school jacket,” and so on.
Charity shops across the former Empire: UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada, any of their former colonies.
This is an especially good time for thrift finds as pandemic growth spurts left racks full of barely‑worn blazers. Measure carefully (they were made for teenaged bodies and are generally in centimeters rather than inches) and pounce.

Yes, its price may be dear and the finding elusive, but once purchased an official school blazer is likely outlive everything else you own and probably you too. Built for playgrounds, a school blazer is the indestructible opposite of fast fashion.

My Four Blazers & Their Secret Mottos⁹Note, these blazers are all from actual schools. However, given that I don’t want them to make uniforms any harder to get hold of, I’ve made stuff up.

(Photographs forthcoming: imagine enamel pins, tartan trims, and the faint scent of chalk dust.)

Final Boarding Call
My blazer is pressed, its pockets are stocked, and the gate is calling. One question remains:

Which blazer did I wear? Blue, Green, Burgundy, or Navy? Place your bets in the comments, and I’ll (eventually) reply with the answer. May your own holiday travels be as warm, pocket‑rich, and stylishly subversive.

Coming Soon in *About Uniforms*:

More on: When the Boarding School Girl Boards
A love letter to the gymslip—part nostalgia, part quiet insurrection. Pleats, posture, and the audacity of showing up comfortably overdressed.

And to everyone traveling this summer, safe travels wherever you may go.

Oh, and if you’re anywhere near Mumbles/Swansea, Wales, reach out via the comments or on Twitter or Bluesky, keeping in mind I’m not able to access much most of the day so it may take me a bit to write back.

• 1
  More on this problem later. They’re related
• 2
  As I’m writing this I’m remembering that Olympic athletes often have a travel uniform that includes something very like a school blazer. Indeed, the origins of uniform blazers connect to the history of rowing teams.
• 3
  I had a brief example this trip. I’d moved my passport from where it “belonged” – the zip-up breast pocket – to where it didn’t – the secret security pocket in my backpack. To make things worse, I’d left the breast pocket unzipped, meaning in theory the passport case could have fallen out. I went through five minutes of sheer terror, worried I’d either lost my passport, or left it on the coffee table at home. That five minutes likely took 6 months off my life as I tried to figure out how get a neighbor to go and check out my living room and, assuming it was there, courier it through Los Angeles rush hour to LAX in the not-quite-three-hours before my flight.
• 4
  Note: Anyone can pretty much wear anything in Los Angeles without eliciting much (or any) comment. Between the film and television industry and photographers looking for ever-more edgy or unusual shots, the most one can reasonably expect is a quick look up and down followed by an amused nod or smile.
• 5
  This really deserves a longer and more detailed post. Someday, I promise.
• 6
  (or “theatrical costumers” like Albert Prendergast)
• 7
  Note, I’m not listing any “official” UK uniform suppliers because I suspect being linked from this site might make getting uniforms from them even harder. For the US, on the other hand, I suspect Dennis Uniforms (ooo, currently having a sale even!) is pretty safe to list.
• 8
  Though only if you don’t put any monetary value on your time.
• 9
  Note, these blazers are all from actual schools. However, given that I don’t want them to make uniforms any harder to get hold of, I’ve made stuff up.