(An abandoned baseball jacket found in a classroom in Hanyoung Foreign Language High School)

Hanyoung’s official uniforms include jackets, shirts, vests, pants, and skirts. Students tend to find their stiff jackets and shirts too uncomfortable for fourteen hours of schoolwork every day. Seven years ago, teachers at Hanyoung Foreign Language High School decided to make “unofficial uniforms” to make the students’ more comfortable. Cardigans, which students wore inside their jackets in winter, were the first unofficial uniform components. Soon, zip-up hoodies and sweatshirts replaced the stiff jacket, and polo shirts were added for students who found their shirts too tight and sweaty, especially in summer.

Later, students began to produce more unofficial uniform items for specific reasons and occasions. They designed department t-shirts for the annual PE day, in which students from the six language departments compete against each other. Two years ago, the student council recognized the level of unhappiness with the school jackets, which most students contemptuously referred to as “pigeon wings”, implying they are dull and boring. A baseball jacket was designed ”to increase ‘Hanyoung pride’ with a better sense of ‘fashion’ than pigeon wings.”

However, the question here is, “Are these “‘unofficial uniforms’” necessary?” Although Hanyoung students have forked over a lot of cash to purchase these “unofficial uniforms,” which are not mandatory, many ended up NOT wearing them.

In a survey of nineteen students randomly chosen from all departments and grades, baseball jackets and department t-shirts, both of which were designed by students, were the most un-worn unofficial uniform items.

The reasons the students did not wear these items varied. Seong Jin Cho (18) said she had worn her baseball jacket only twice since she purchased it, because “its white sleeves get dirty too easily.” HyunjungKo (19) said she does not wear her department t-shirt, because “the t-shirt was designed only for the PE day, so I do not have any other occasion to wear it.” Sookyung Oh (19) from the Chinese department lamented that her department t-shirt is “so red that I’m embarrassed to wear it again.”

Students also had complaints about uniforms more regularly worn than baseball jackets and department t-shirts. Jiun Kim (18) complained that he “hates the color of the polo shirt,” because it reminds him of “yogurt that has gone bad.” Seongmin Chung (18) said students need to wear sweatshirts with vests according to the school rules, but “sweatshirts are too tight to wear with vests, unlike zip-up hoodies, which are roomier”.

Meanwhile, students preferred to wear zip-up hoodies and cardigans to other unofficial uniform items. At least 80% of the students who bought zip-up hoodies and cardigans wore them often. Chan Hyeok Kim (19) stated that “hoodies are warmer than jackets, because they have layers of fleece in them.” Eun-ah Choi (17) added that the cardigans are “pretty with summer uniforms” and are “comfortable enough to be worn in zip-up hoodies during the winter.”

Hanyoung has added six unofficial uniform items over the past seven years. Students want more comfortable uniforms and to remember special events in their high school lives through clothes they have designed themselves. Although students occasionally wear these unofficial uniforms, many of them turn out to be “‘money wasters’” that students later regret spending money on. Whether students should sacrifice necessity and efficiency for comfort and the ability to remember important times remains debatable.
 

Hojung Kwon
12th grade
Hanyoung Foreign Language High School