Uniforms
By Eunice Farmer
Improvised
Other kinds of uniform embrace other kinds of satisfaction. Improvised uniforms - my second category - may call for a little imagination, but there is a great deal of satisfaction to be had from using one's imagination.
Such outfits use garments not originally intended as a uniform by either manufacturer or retailer. Amongst the easir to improvise is the schoolgirl outfit. Combine a drab coloured pleated skirt, a striped tie (preferably matching) and a plain white blouse, and you have a reasonably effective school uniform. A matching cardigan adds an extra authentic touch.
I think that my first attempt at a uniform was to improvise a schoolgirl outfit. Looking back, it bore very little resemblance to the real thing. The short brown skirt might just have passed for schoolwear, although it was entirely without pleats. The dark blue blouse neither went with the skirt nor, to the unbiased eye, would have suggested school. Yet for some time I was deeply satisfied with it.
Sooner or later of course, we feel the need to move on to better things, and my final improvised schoolwear was much closer to authenticity. I gained a definite sense of achievement in the improvements but ultimately these meant that the uniform could hardly still be descibed as 'improvised'.
Another possibility for improvisation is a womens' army uniform. In 1995 I put together what seemed to me to be an adequate approximation to an army girl for an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of VE day, It comprised a fawn skirt of fairly severe design, a drab green blouse and a plain green tie. The tie seems an essential part of quite a few female uniforms. It's the sort of thing which even the most timid trannie can purchase without embarrassment.
Improvising uniforms is easier for smaller trannies than it is for the larger ones among us. The range of womens' clothing available above size 16 is restrictive. For a school uniform, for example, the plain white blouse should not be impossible to find in larger sizes, but the pleated skirt may be more difficult. Larger size pleated skirts can often be too long for school - the schoolgirl skirt should be on the knee, or better still above it.
The process of improvisation is creative, and there's a lot of pleasure to be gained in that. But it also calls for effort in finding suitable items to use, and effort is not always what we want. When it comes down to it, there's no need to sweat too much over assembling an improvised schoolgirl outfit. Schoolwear makes up easily the most frequently found type of authentic uniform. These are uniforms made and sold for fantasy wear, but which might pass muster as the real thing.
Authentic
An authentic uniform has many of the attractions of a fantasy one. It is made-to-measure for our fantasy but has the edge over a pure fantasy uniform in at least two respects. For one thing, when we look in the mirror while wearing and authentic uniform, what we see looks very much like a genuine uniform-wearer.
Another consideration is that the fabric feels more like the real thing. The material of an authentic schoolgirl outfit may not have the luxurious feel of a satin maid's uniform, but being a schoolgirl should not feel luxurious. This is doubly so if the school uniform is part of a spanking fantasy (as it so often is).
The gymslips sold by Transformation are a good example of authentic items of uniform. Although not resembling any genuine schoolwear that I've seen on the streets today, they are a very close approximation to garments which were still being worn by girls as late as the 1950s.
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