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Girl scout uniforms - did it ever strike you


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how weird that is? That we all dressed up in uniforms to show what club we were in, essentially? What were we supposed to be, an army of little girls?

 

I'm not really reading anything into it - I just never even considered it before. I get wearing uniforms to soccer games so each team can easily identify its players and so can the refs, but wearing a uniform to go do crafts and hike in the woods - that's a little stranger.

 

I guess it just hearkens back to a time when uniforms were considered fun and fashionable?

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I was in a troop that didn't wear uniforms. My mom thought it went against the first ammendment. She thought we should have freedom of speech, and that should include what we wore to make a statement. I know not many people hold that opinion, but our troop loved it.

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I liked the uniforms. I liked wearing my uniform. It made me feel like I was a part of something special. I actually still have my uniform:001_smile:

 

But, we never wore them to hike in the woods, either. We wore them to meetings (sometimes to school, if the meeting happened after school), and we wore them on outings (which helped adults track everyone a bit easier). We didn't wear them for anything messy or dirty (other than perhaps the sash).

 

So, no... don't have a problem with uniforms at all (but that's me).

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I'm guessing the GS's modeled on Boy Scouts. And Lord Baden-Powell started them after he developed a troop of young men as scouts when in the field in battle somewhere - Africa? India? I think he had uniforms for his scouts and carried that over to Boy Scouts. So I guess it was originally militarily related. And I think the kids saw the uniform as something cool that set them apart and so all wanted to join (like the Hitler Youth, unfortunately)....

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In 2nd grade we wore our uniforms to school, since the meetings were right after. I loved it.

 

I remember sitting in the first meeting for 3rd grade Brownies, in my uniform, and hearing her say that she couldn't understand why anyone would want to wear a Brownie uniform.

 

In hindsight, I realize that the family had some financial issues, but at the time I was just sad that I couldn't wear my uniform anymore. I actually quit after that. I guess it was all about the clothes for me back then.

 

I don't want to be harsh on the leader, though. The money struggles her family endured through the years were far worse than my temporary sadness about not wearing a Brownie uniform to school.

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I like uniforms too. A lot of people still think uniforms are fun and fashionable. Many schools still have them. Some public schools are even bringing them back. Dressing alike enhances unit cohesion and make everyone feel like they belong. Many choirs, orchestras, bands, companies (ie. McDonald's) have uniforms. Even the acrobat troupe at the circus wears a uniform.

 

A side benefit is that they prevent the "style wars," in some areas where kids think their entire self-worth is tied up in which designer brand they wear and cut down on "gang colors," which we certainly don't want in GS troops.

 

 

Years ago, I was in a mothers' group that invited a guest speaker to discuss organizing closets. She actually focused on getting rid of what you never wore by figuring out your style. According to her, the "Naturals," who selected their clothing for comfort not style and never accessorized, had a tendency to pick jobs with uniforms (ie.Nurses, police, etc).

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I wanted so badly to go the local Catholic school and wear their cutesy uniforms, but we weren't Catholic. That didn't keep me from spending many summer days there helping the nuns clean and organize their classrooms:D.

 

I'm sure the uniform was a big factor in me deciding to become a brownie. I remember being so proud the first day I wore it. I think the idea is to build esprit des corps.

 

Come to think of it, that was also the main reason I wanted to be a cheerleader, too. Pretty dumb, huh? But those pleats were so adorable.:)

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Think about the history of Girl Scouts and then it isn't so strange. Juliette Gordon Lowe got her idea for Girl Scouts from Boy Scouts which was started by Lord Baden Powell who was a former military officer. Until the 1970s when that sort of thing became unpopular, there was a pretty heavy military influence on Boy Scouts.

 

It really is too bad that they did away with that so much because it was mostly a good influence. Those skills and traditions borrowed from the military were good things to teach growing boys how to be good citizens and good men and just good human beings.

 

I've read about some of the things the Girl Scouts used to do, and I think in some ways it was better back in the day. Girl Scouts was not as wimpy. Now, I love Girl Scouts and I think some of the changes are good (adding badges for science and technology and a changing world and changing uniforms/not requiring them), but both organizations have lost in the area of outdoor skills and expectations. You would not believe how many G.S. troop leaders think that a motel is camping or how much Safteywise guidelines can hinder outdoor opportunities by going overboard in the name of saftey.

 

When I was a troop leader, we did not require uniforms. There was a discussion among our group of leaders (homeschool group of troops) and I came out strongly against requiring it. I quit Brownies when I was a kid in large part because the other girls made fun of me not having the full uniform. I wouldn't tolerate that among my girls and I always tried to help stock the uniform closet with garage sale and thrift store finds so any girl who wanted some uniform pieces could have them. At least a vest or sash was encouraged so they could have a place to display their awards and something to help pick them out of a crowd on trips, but no girl was turned away for not having one. If a girl's parents couldn't afford it, the troop would have helped pay for it.

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I actually liked my uniform, too, when I was little. Plus, my best friend was in my troop and on days we wore our uniforms we sometimes got mistaken for identical twins. That was pretty cool when I was in third grade, LOL.

 

But, the coolest thing about scouts for me was the camping. I loved it. In fact, in fifth or sixth grade I joined a troop that did nothing except camp. Our only meetings were to plan trips. That was awesome.

 

I was just reading about how safety regulations are killing camps of all kinds. That is so sad. We had such a blast out in the woods.

 

One crazy time at a summer sleep-away girl scout camp we went "primitive" camping about a mile from the regular site. We all slept in a big huddle under a lean-to that was nothing but a roof made of skinny logs with spaces in between them. We woke up in the middle of the night when it started raining. Our leader sent the littlest girl up on the roof to tie on the tarp. As she clambered around up there, one of the logs broke and beaned me in the head.

 

Then it started to thunder. Camp rules said everyone had to return to camp in a thunderstorm so we gathered our stuff and walked back to camp basically dragging our sleeping-bags through the rain. Our leader got lost on the way. Luckily, I'd been paying attention on the way out and I found our trail again. We got back to camp soaked and shivered all night since all our bedding was soaked, too. Our leaders spent the night running all our stuff through dryers. It was a wet and somewhat scary night (plus I got a nice bump on my head), but I felt very confident when I led our group back to the trail in the pitch dark during a storm and I thought it was all great. I hope everything doesn't get too safe.

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The uniform is why I quit Brownies when I was little. I remember the awful orange shorts, the silly shirt that had the goofy tie. As if that wasn't bad enough, tube socks were a required part of the uniform.

 

I liked the meetings, but use to cry when it was time to don the uniform.

 

I don't know how old you are, but I cannot believe you left that hideous brown beanie out of that list of uniform horrors! :eek: But maybe Brownies were beanie-less during your Brownie years?

 

Astrid

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On the list of reasons that we don't do Girl Scouts is because they have essentially done away with uniforms. I was looking for the counterpart to Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts and had hoped to find it in Girl Scouts. I was sorely disappointed. I was actually looking for an activity that included, among other things, a uniform requirement.

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I'm starting National Girls' Ministries (formerly Missionettes) clubs at my church this fall, and yup, we'll be doing uniforms. Eventually, once all the girls have their dress uniforms, we'll get club t-shirts to wear when we go out on "adventures," but the girls will wear the dress uniforms to all club meetings and to awards ceremonies and whatnot.

 

:D

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The uniform is why I quit Brownies when I was little. I remember the awful orange shorts, the silly shirt that had the goofy tie. As if that wasn't bad enough, tube socks were a required part of the uniform.

 

I liked the meetings, but use to cry when it was time to don the uniform.

 

I feel sad for you! When I was in Brownies we wore brown dresses with orange neckties and our beanies (of course), and some lucky few among us even had genuine imitation leather Brownies shoulder bags with the Brownie emblem on the front. (Think hard, formed purses of the late 60s.) I loved it all. In fact, even though we moved and I wasn't able to continue with Girl Scouts, I still have my brownie uniform. I just can't quite let it go even though I can see that it's rather hideous. At 6 I thought it was beautiful!

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