That ‘Hideous’ Former DLSL Coeds’ Uniform

The coeds' uniform was introduced in the seventies but continued be worn till the nineties.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting two of my former female students from the eighties; and inevitably most of the conversation was nostalgic in nature. There was one topic that made both ladies almost cringe comically: the old coeds’ cream and apple green uniform.

It was not the first time that the very mention of the uniform brought the same cringing reaction; and invariably the thought was repugnant to coeds from the eighties and later. I do not really know how alumnae of the seventies remember that uniform.

Probably with more fondness than those of the eighties; albeit, I do not have statistical basis to back this up. The uniform, after all, was first introduced in school year 1974-75, when DLSL first opened its doors to female students.

Coeds in the eighties pose with other members of a club for the yearbook.

Those large angel’s wings collar? Seventies! Even I involuntarily smirk at the very thought of the large collars of the polo shirts that I used to wear, some reaching all the way to the edges of my arms.

It was just the fashion of the day.

By the eighties, of course, those had gone out of fashion. I was hearing complaints about the old coeds’ uniform’s design as far back as the eighties when I was still teaching in the high school; but the uniform continued to be used all the way to the late nineties.

I do not remember the exact year when the new uniform was introduced; but there was a period of time when the coeds were given the option of using their old uniforms or having the new design made.

The new design, by the way, was similar to that worn by coeds of De La Salle Santiago Zobel School in Alabang.

Personally, I did not see much wrong with the old uniform; albeit, I of course did have to wear it. The coeds did; and girls have always been fussier with what they wear than the guys.

The old design, by the way, was patterned after the De La Salle University-Manila uniform for coeds in the early seventies when the university first went coeducational. By the time I was a freshman at the university in 1975, the coeds were no longer required to wear the uniform.

There were a few, however, who wanted to and did wear it to school. That is why I know that the old DLSL coeds’ uniform was patterned after it.

I do not recall exactly where the two designs varied – and the differences were minimal – but what I do recall is that the DLSU-Manila coeds looked quite chic in their uniforms as a matter of fact.

The problem, in my humble opinion, was that the basic design was intended to be worn by college coeds who were allowed to wear high-heeled ladies shoes. Worn with flat, boyish-looking high school girls’ shoes, well, that was basically where the problem was.

I cannot really claim to know an awful lot about fashion; but the new DLSL uniform, the one patterned after Zobel’s, for one reason or the other does not look hideous worn with flat shoes at all.

Oh well, I will leave it the girls who chance upon this article to talk about it more.

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