Gymslip

{{Short description|Part of a school uniform for girls}}

Image:Hyde Grammar School netball 1949 (cropped).jpg

File:Dunfermline College of Physical Education Uniform Pinafore.jpg

A gymslip is a sleeveless tunic with a pleated skirt most commonly seen as part of a school uniform for girls. The term "gymslip" primarily refers to the school uniform; otherwise the term pinafore dress (British English) or jumper dress (American English) is usually preferred.

The introduction of the gymslip as female athletic wear is credited to Mary Tait, a student of Martina Bergman-Österberg, a pioneer of women's physical education in Britain.Aldrich, Richard (1998), "Teacher training in London", in Floud, Roderick; Glynn, Sean, London Higher: The Establishment of Higher Education in London (3rd ed.), Continuum International Publishing Group, {{ISBN|0-485-11524-7}}, p. 233 Gymslips were worn by gymnasts and track and field athletes from the 1880s to the 1920s, as they were more mobile than traditional female attire, but still modest enough to keep the underwear hidden during sporting activity. Even in this modest attire, gymslips as athletic wear were still worn strictly out of public view.{{cite book |title=Uniforms Exposed |first=Jennifer |last=Craik |publisher=Berg Publishers |date=August 6, 2005|isbn=978-1-85973-898-6|page=153}}{{cite book |title=The Victorian cult of the family and the early years of female sport, published in Gender and Sport |first=Jennifer |last=Hargreaves |publisher=Routledge |date=December 1, 2001|isbn=978-0-415-25953-8|page=58}}

When not worn as athletic wear, gymslips or pinafore dresses are generally worn over a blouse and replace a skirt. A blazer may be worn over the top, or gym knickers underneath. First emerging in the 1900s, by the 1920s it had become compulsory in many private, convent and high schools, and thus became commonly worn by girls as part of their school uniform,{{cite book|title=Fashion Source Book|first=Kathryn|last=McKelvey|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|date=May 1, 2006|isbn=978-1-4051-2693-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/fashionsourceboo0002mcke/page/188 188]|url=https://archive.org/details/fashionsourceboo0002mcke/page/188}} together with a blouse.{{cite web|url=http://www.album1900.com/uk/0005_ukschooluniform/0005_ukschooluniforms_girls.php|title=School uniforms in the UK|publisher=Album 1900|language=en|access-date=3 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021151611/http://www.album1900.com/uk/0005_ukschooluniform/0005_ukschooluniforms_girls.php|archive-date=21 October 2016|url-status=dead}}

Although now largely replaced by modern-style uniforms, gymslips are still synonymous in Britain with schoolgirls, leading to the slang term "gymslip mum" to describe a teenage pregnancy.{{cite book|title=Abortion in the USA and the UK|first=Colin|last=Francome|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-0-7546-3015-9|date=March 1, 2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/abortioninusauk0000fran/page/45 45]|url=https://archive.org/details/abortioninusauk0000fran/page/45}} Well-known modern depictions of gymslips include the St Trinian's films, and less traditionally, schoolgirl uniform pornography, a use given more public recognition when in 1991 politician Clare Short condemned the fetish, saying that "the Page 3 girl in a gymslip may be over 16, but the imagery is clearly intended to present schoolgirls as sexual objects".{{cite book|url=http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Clare+Short/a989e96d-5e05-4043-99a9-d3f8a5b7cb9b.htm|title=Dear Clare...This Is What Women Feel About Page 3|first=Clare|last=Short|date=April 1991|publisher=Radius|isbn=978-0-09-174915-6}}