Wednesday 10 June 2009

U is for...


Uniform

I like uniforms. They make you part of a group. For some reason you earn a certain degree of respect without having done anything yet. A uniform seems to give people faith in what you do. In my current job as a coach driver, I wear dark blue woollen trousers (great in Southern France or Italy) or a skirt, a white shirt, a dark blue sweater (or jumper) and a tie. I especially like my tie. I could also wear one of those awful scarf-like things, but they annoy me no end.

The best uniform I ever wore was a bikini and flip-flops during my summer in Italy in 1991 (I'll post a photo some time soon). The worst one must have been the one in this photo. Mind you, it looked nice, but was awful. First of all, the black dress would turn dark grey quite quick and secondly the apron was always dirty. During the summer it would be extremely hot, since you were basically strapped in, during the winter it would be extremely cold, since we also had to do room-service to hotelrooms in the grounds. The apron had two long bands, that had to be crossed on the back and then be tied into a lovely bow.

This uniform was worn by both the waitresses (like me) and the chambermaids, which could be quite confusing. The big difference was, that the chambermaids were almost all above 45 and local, while the waitresses were mostly under 25 and from foreign stock.

For more U-words, please check out: ABC Wednesday and join in the fun

10 comments:

  1. Indeed, you did not look so bad in the photo. You photo in Italy must be lovely, I wonder what do you look like in your bus driver uniform. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. :)
    I also like uniforms - wish we had schooluniforms in Sweden :)
    Have a nice wednesday!

    http://foto.rudenius.se/post/2009/06/10/ABC-Wednesday.aspx

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  3. Interesting post...I love uniforms..especially military...and school uniforms, which you hardly see anymore...

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  4. Uniforms really help out the need to figure out what one will wear all the time.
    I have to say that you don't look too comfortable in that dress and apron. Its very cute on you though.

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  5. You look nice and neat in that uniform! I would have looked like a cross between a sack of potatoes and a wedding cake. ROFL!

    Uniforms can be good, when the right to wear them has to be earned - either by merit, or by landing a responsible job. They're useful to identlfy staff in a big company which is open to the public, like hospitals or shops.

    They can also be good to identify you as part of a group, but sadly most schoolchildren here seem to be very much against them.

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  6. I can't even imagine trying to keep an apron crisp and white! So nice to see a past picture of you!

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  7. @Grace and Bradley: my photo in Italy is stunning (she says). I will try to get a photo of me in full uniform (including tie) soon and post it.

    @foto CHIP: no schooluniforms in the Netherlands either. As long as you don't call jeans a uniform!

    @Carol: military uniforms... mmm

    @Photowannabe: I was actually quite comfy in this uniform. The one I had to wear as a receptionist in the same hotel was worse: it didn't fit properly!

    @Jay: I sometimes felt like a sack of potatoes wearing it.

    @Marie Reed: the photo at the top of my blog is a very old one of myself (when I was about 3 years old I guess). But you've given me a good idea. As to the whiteness of the aprons: net curtain whitener (or blue rinse or some such) works a treat...

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  8. You look VERY uncomfortable. will you be smiling when you wear the bikini?

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  9. @Roger Owen Green: oh yes!

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  10. I like uniform, save the hassle of deciding what to wear daily! unless of course one couldn't wear the uniform from home, like in my previous job as a guest relation officer in a hotel.
    It's a must to wear school uniforms here in Singapore school, each school decided on their colours and style so it's easy to identify which student belong to which school.

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!