Have you seen a pinafore lately?



A pinafore (colloquially pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron.

History
The pinafore was a type of apron that was pinned over the dress and easily removed for washing. Buttons were frequently damaged with lye cleaning products, which was one reason why dresses were not laundered very often. The pinafore had no buttons, was simply "pinned on the front" which led to the term "pinafore."


So now for my big question, “Where have all the pinafores gone?”
Hey, it’s not that I’m crazy but look around you. When in school we noticed our sisters, friends, sisters of friends and whatever you have studying in their schools (usually convents) wearing pretty pinafores in various colours. The uniform was unvarying till they finished school. However over the years the seniors have a change of uniform where they have to wear often yucky salwars. This I’m told is modest.


It is a commentary of our times that as years go on our modesty has increased. I know some grandmothers who passed out of convents wearing pinafores or short skirts during their school days now seeing their grand daughters go modestly dressed. So were the grandmothers immodest then? Or conversely have few men become more lecherous with the times assuming that the dress code was conceived to protect the girls from such men?


The dress code in colleges today is just an extension of the salwar rule. Frankly we are not very far from the radical mullahs who issue fatwas for immodesty in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Why do we condemn those people when our moral high grounds are as skewed as them? It is purely a matter of a few degrees, in Afghanistan women may not bare their faces, here they may not bare their legs.

Fanaticism and fundamentalism are baring their heads across the length and breadth of our country and the fact that the fundamentalists and terrorists are well educated, even doctors give so much room for worry.

Next time you look at this post and laugh remember the fanatics in the terrorist lands did start from the veil……………….

Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. When I was in the 8th standard, my geography teacher (in delhi) told us that the transition from pinafores to salwar was part of a really huge 'Indianisation of the youth' process. Though it always made me wonder - why did have to be the girls who were sacrificed on the altars of culture and tradition??

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  3. wow... really? id love to see girls just wearing a peice of cloth merely pinned to their fronts!!! :-)

    ps: isnt it painful to pass the pin through the skin to hold clothes in palce?

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  4. thankfully i passed out my entire schooling with skirts and shirts and a badge! my sis could nt afford it!
    My friend when in school during childrens day or christmas celebrations (these days we were allowed 'colour dress')would always wear short skirts when we wore salwars or jeans, i used to ask her why she always wore skirts(when our uniforms are also skirts)? and she used o answer saying this is the time you can wear these things when you grow up we wont be able to wear mini skirts! how true her words!
    when we are working we will be forced to formals so why do you have to have salwars in Uniforms and formals in engg college and dress code in other arts and science coll and Uni's

    coming to Oxy's comment:
    when i was in loyola we used to dread any celebration or conferences as we were asked to wear sarees all the time as they thot that was FORMALS and one day in my anger i actually back answered one fo my teachers and asked what abt the boys ask them to wear dhotis if we were to wear sarees to which she cursed me under her breath and walked off!

    Justice, have we(men?) fallen short of thy hand....

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  5. I too have worn pinafores but in the KG n primary classes n then it was half skirts n full skirts. But is it that all the pinafores are gone?I thought schools still ve these.
    Btw most of your posts are thought provoking and thanks for visiting my blog :)

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  6. @ Oxy: The salwars r so yucky 2!!! The nuns might as well hand over their habits to the gals.

    @ Mark: The pinafore is pinned to the inner garment

    @ Danya: I havent seen a pinafore in high school in Chennai, tell me if u have.

    PS. Michaels allows the girls to wear pants and they do look smart

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  7. Anonymous4:37 pm

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    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:51 pm

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    ReplyDelete
  9. Ah, tell me. This post seems a bit outdated today given the strict dress code in many places. I was lucky to wear the pinafore till my VII std and after that it was the salwar. It was a good piece to wear - the pinafore. Even I miss seeing girls wearing them.

    After five years, even the salwar will disappear and all schools will have saris as their dress-code. Regressive, aren't we?

    Joy always,
    Susan

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  10. @Susan Deborah: A very old post and there will be a day when my daughter will be bundled up in the name of dress code in primary school. Big Sigh. Our earlier generation was better off.

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  11. Totally agree with this post! I miss the pinafore too. Having lived in them for my entire school life. Good memories indeed :)

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