Burnley Grammar School

Hi Amy,

What age were you when you had to do PE naked? You mentioned removing vest and pants, so was it a Primary School(up to age 11, or do the age ranges differ in private schools?

Claire,
It does sound odd being allowed a skirt but no top. My secondary School uniform for indoor PE was gym knickers (without a skirt) and a white aertex shirt. Outdoors we were allowed to wear a skirt or culottes over our gym knickers.

It seems in the past we all had it bad but a lot of girls had it even worse than the boys. I went to a fairly small independent girls only junior school in North Yorkshire in the 80s. We had an old gym that was in pretty poor condition but we still used it several times a week. We all walked from our classroom over to the corner of the school where the gym stood. The changing rooms were locked out of use because they were old and leaking, so we all went straight into the gym itself. Once we were in there we were all expected to undress in silence, in a strict order. First our shoes, them our cardigans, our dresses, blouses, our shoes and socks, our vests and finally our pants. We were then ready to start our lessons. When we look back now it's amazing that we had to do PE wearing absolutely nothing at all!

Hi Claire

How odd that your school wouldn't let you wear a top, even a bra, but insisted on skirts - I assume with gym knickers beneath?

Don, yes it was mixed. The girls knew we swam naked and di PE shirtless but these classes were single sex. Double standards as usual! Boys got CP but girls got detention...

When I attended a naturist swim club,all facilities were mixed gender and we were not allowed to wear swimming trunks.

Archie, was it a mixed school and did you ever have females present during your nude swims?

Willy, it was an independent day school - very traditional

Gerald, was it uncomfortable to wear these slips? Were they sold widely at the time or resort tend to schools? Were they common to wear at the time?

Hi Louise,

We wore a PE skirt, always black, but footwear depended on what we were doing. Outside it was always black plimsoles unless it was athletics then bare feet were allowed. Gym sessions varied between bare feet or white plimsoles for gym including indoor netball and the dreaded fitness sessions which were always during a double lesson.

Hi Claire

What else did you wear for PE? Did you have kit in the bottom half or just knickers? What about footwear?

Hi Andrea,

I was left with little choice, either wear a vest and get laughed at, or go topless. I was relieved when I finally started to show and was able to wear a bra. The PE teachers said they preferred minimal kit and were quite brutal about it too. As far as they were concerned skins ruled.

Claire

That seems very harsh. I imagine you were relieved when you finally able to wear a sports bra?

Hi Louise,

No, she didn't relent. I didn't have much of a choice other than to remain topless until late on in yr 9. It wasn't much fun but it did stop me being picked on as much which was good.

Claire

Archie, what kind of school was this where you had to swim naked?

Willy, I have absolutely no idea why we had to wear them instead of swim briefs. The reason can't have been cost or availability since briefs weren't expensive and were available in most shops and were much more comfortable. I think it was mainly because it was a tradition that the school wanted to keep. The slips were provided by the school. It's just something that was part of the required kit. They covered everything that briefs cover.

The problem with these slips was that in order to avoid any risk of them falling off we tied them quite tight, which made them hard to take off after a lesson if they became knotted.

Our teachers wore the sort of Slips that are being talked about - basically a g string made from cotton- whilst we boys were naked.

My father also had one he wore when he took me swimming to a private swimming baths that he was a member of. Suspect the design was linked to post war rationing!

Hi Geraald and Turner, I never heard of these swimming slips, looks like something from the Victorian era.
What was the sense in wearing these slips which had to be tied with strings and not just wear plain briefs?
Were they supplied by the school or were they part of the school kit?
I imagine they just barely covered the front part and back.

I remember wearing the slips that Turner mentioned.

They were essentially a briefs-like garment that you had to tie at the side. They weren't very comfortable and were either uncomfortably tight or dangerously loose depending on how you tied them.

Boys' boarding school in the 1960s. Twice daily showers in a communal shower room with 60 other kids supervised by a teacher; twice weekly swimming lessons no trunks until 5th form (now year 11). At scouts we were permitted to use the pool and gym in a local army base. Afterwards we all showered together while the scoutmaster "supervised".
Our teachers and parents had all gone through the war you weren't about to complain to them about it and as for the scout master we knew what was going on but he only looked and we regarded it as a quid pro quo for using the facilities. We kids were fairly hard nosed in those days.

Hi Claire

So did you continue doing your PE lessons without a top until tr9 or did your teacher relent before then?

What else did you wear for PE: shorts, gym knickers etc?

Louise

Andy,
It was an all boys school and all the boys wore slips for swimming from 11 to 16.
It was considered a normal practice to wear slips,so it was not too embarrassing or humiliating when teachers or other school staff attended our swim classes,but could be when visitors attended and we could be seen through the viewing window.

Hi Jim,
Our secondary school was all girls, so all our PE teachers were female.

At primary school PE wasn't topless or in underwear but boys and girls did have to change in the same classroom. Mostly this was supervised by our class teacher, who was female but occasionally it was done by a male teacher.

James,
Was it a boys only or mixed school?
When you say it was for all ages throughout the school, what were the actual ages, since it obviously depended on the type of school.
Were there any particular times when it was especially more embarrassing and humiliating, such if you had other teachers or school staff or visitors present during your swim classes?

Willy,sorry about the spelling error,I meant cords and we were made to wear them.

Hi Willy,we used to wear slips for swimming at all ages through school.
The slip that I wore was a sliver of nylon attached to chords
to keep it in place.
No,we were not given a reason why we were made to them instead of normal swimming trunks,it was a requisite for swimming lessons.
Yes,I did feel embarrassed and humiliated when having to those flimsy slips,while other boys were quite brazen and arrogant.

Sorry Gerald for the late response.
1) I did not know of any schools at the time that swam without trunks. The school I went to was quite isolated and I didn't know anyone who went to other schools nearby. Our school was one of the last to have done nude swimming.
2) Our teacher was indifferent. He didn't seem to like or dislike the policy but he did his job as he was told to by the headteacher and heads of department, who only later ruled that we should do swimming with trunks.
3) eventually the school banned it because it just became very outdated. No one saw any reason to continue the policy. I think they should have stopped it earlier.

Hi James, at what ages were the boys in your school made to wear these flimsy slips?

Were they made of nylon or cotton?

Did they ever give a reason why the boys were made to wear these slips instead of normal swim trunks?

Did you or the other boys feel embarrassed or humiliated by being made to wear these slips for swimming lessons?

Hi Jim, We never had a male teacher it was an all girls school. It was hard enough going topless with just female groups. Girls can tease just as much as boys.

Willy,
I remember wearing the slips that were mentioned and they were also tied at the hip to keep them in place.
I don't recall any'malfunctions'and they were quite comfortable to wear,albeit they were very minuscule.

Willy

It was boys only. I did not attend this school but came across the kit list so wondered whether anyone had experience of these slips that tie at the side. What did they feel like? Did they malfunction e.g. come untied or become knotted so you couldn't get them off?