School uniforms through the ages

1931: Hugh Middleton schoolboys, complete with jackets, shorts, grazed knees and the occasional hat, rush from their classrooms after their final media studies module Photograph: A. Hudson/Hulton Archive

1940s: The girls from Roedean School bring their loose Brighton values to sleepy Keswick – their evacuation town – by unbuttoning their jackets and marauding through the streets Photograph: Associated Newspapers/ Daily Ma/Rex Features

1953: When schoolgirls were allowed to join Staffordshire's Rugeley Grammar, awkward pan-gender exchanges such as this were commonplace. Note the caps, satchel and shiny shoes combo, designed to dazzle the poor lass while one young scamp nicks her bike Photograph: Daily Mail/Rex Features

1964: Two schoolchildren in ice white shirts and impeccable neckwear look on as a wedgie is administered to a classmate Photograph: Jamie Hodgson/Hulton Archive

1966: Mod-ish looking schoolboys struggle to see the worth in the ill-conceived 'practical geography lesson' experiment Photograph: Central Press/Hulton Archive

1978: Think 70s, think girth. The pupils of Sir William Collin's school demonstrate how hair, cuffs, collars and tie can all be widened for sartorial impact in the playground. Also worth noting are the chap on the right's smashing shiny buttons and the big boy top left who's about to steal their burgers Photograph: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive

1980s: According to Grange Hill, pupils strutted around school like they were in a Smash Hits shoot. Lee MacDonald, aka Samuel 'Zammo' Maguire, right, is pitching for louche but stalls at scruffy, largely due to that tie Photograph: BBC/PA

1988: Forest of Dean schoolchildren at different stages of realisation that wearing casual wear to class is carte blanche to muck about more Photograph: Steve Eason/Hulton Archive

2004: Pupils at Mossbourne Community city academy, east London, wear oversized uniforms bought by prudent mothers for them 'to grow into'. Money-saving tip in tough times Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

2006: School uniform retailers Aitken & Niven of Edinburgh have had to introduce supersizes to accommodate the growing waistlines of children, after pupils resorted to increasingly extreme measures to avoid wearing a kilt to school Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Europe

The traditional uniform of Eton College – perfect preparation for a lifetime of mockery from the rest of society Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

2008: An eco-blazer by North Yorkshire firm School Colours, who make school uniforms out of recycled plastic bottles. See? If you'd paid attention during science that could've been you Photograph: Christopher Thomond

2008: While pupils at Bexley business academy gain vital playground kudos by flaunting brightly-coloured designer bags, teachers opt for zombie impressions. There's only one winner Photograph: Sarah Lee