Girls' athletic bloomers, as worn in British Paradise Islands

from The Essential Paradise.

Doc. 4,09,1.

British Paradise Islands Territorial Ministry of Education

Since 1979, Paradise secondary schools have prescribed dress codes for school students, including the costume to be worn for PE exercises. Typically, PE participants are to wear a cotton t-shirt, sufficiently loose to permit movement, in a colour to represent the theme of the school’s identity. With this, girls shall wear loose-fitting bloomers, of cotton-blend fleece with elasticised waist and legs, modelled upon the similar-looking but closer-fitting PE uniform pants of Japanese schoolgirls (buruma; which briefies resemble). Boys shall wear slightly longer boxing shorts of the same colour without elastic at the legs. The student shall supply white socks and white or mostly-white trainers. All this gear is maintained by the student and may be kept in an assigned locker.

The illustration represents Governor Headley High School’s specification of navy-blue bloomers and pale-grey polo shirt (being the only school in the territory to specify a collared shirt for PE).

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