Did you wear a school uniform?

Or do you, now? If your school was particularly strict, did it have an affect on what your style is like now?

I know that for years after high school I couldnt wear nail polish for more than about 5 minutes before feeling compelled to remove it before i had to go anywhere, a definite hangover from high school where it was banned. When I was at school I knew I was into fashion, but I had neither the money or the opportunity to do much about it. Living in the country where surf shops and having the latest Billabong skirt/hoodie/jumper was the golden ticket to being popular there was not a lot of room for high fashion. Instead I went the opposite direction- I never bothered. I even wore my uniform on out-of-uniform days, claiming to have forgotten (yet clearly leaving the house with my very un-uniformed brother) but really just not game to wear my other clothes out. My parents are very big on looking "smart" which has stood me well, but its not much chop on the playground.

When I finished school I almost literally had nothing to wear. I really only owned tracksuits, white school socks, and a couple of rather dressy things that were useless for day wear. It has taken years to build up a wardrobe of basics and yummy things starting from scratch. Add to that trying to find some style and there were plenty of mistake purchases (still are). My wardrobe at my parents house is full of this sort of stuff. Dresses with sheer overlays (heehehee), hilarious pun tshirts, bad jeans, old bathers, all sorts of awful items I would never wear in real life but somehow think I might regress to if I needed to go out for dinner in my hometown. I have actually done this a couple of times, and then wondered why I felt so dowdy, dated and ugly.....

Nowadays I would love to have a week back in high school, with all the others, to see whats what now. Will the popular kids still be popular? Will the slim beautiful girls still be slim and enviable? Will the cute boys still stir your heart? Better (or is that worse?) yet, how will I fit in?

Do you have any post-school uniform tales? Have you had a reunion where everything has changed? Are you still at school- whats your story?!