I hated my uniform at Therfield Comprehensive School in the
1970s.
It was one of the reasons I couldn’t wait to leave. There was a thick
blazer with pockets that weren’t deep enough, and a school tie. What idiot
invented ties? There was even a school cap that nobody in their right senses
would choose to wear- I stopped wearing mine on the first day, after realising
I was the only person on the playground with a hat. So when it came to
A-levels, I was off down to the road to the local technical college where I
could study English, Sociology and Geography with a lot of other
non-conformists, and somehow manage to scrape together enough ability to go to
Newcastle University, two years later. At Ewell Technical College I was allowed
to wear Levi jeans and a Capital Radio T-shirt, and no-one in authority minded
or cared. Bliss. Jeans were so magnificently 1970s and rebellious- so we all
wore them like a uniform, when we could, as you do, when you’re 16 or 17.
