United in uniforms

1980s: Here come the sport suits.

School uniforms didn't return until the 1980s, but for most Shanghai citizens born in the 1980s, they didn't have their first school uniforms until the 1990s.

Zhou Mingzhi remembers getting her first ensemble when she was a fourth year student at primary school in 1993. The uniform was green and white. The colors went well with the green scarves they wore. Students were required to purchase two or three school uniforms: one for summer, one for spring and autumn, and one for winter.

The unification of school uniforms in Shanghai was implemented gradually from school to school. The styles of school uniforms mainly included a sports suit and Western-styled three-piece clothes: a jacket, a shirt with a tie or bowknot, and trousers or a skirt. Some schools decided their uniforms should be different from others, mainly in terms of the colors.

In the 2000s and 2010s, sport suits remain the most common type of school uniform, though they are constantly changing color.