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(Them): why do you always wear the same type of clothes?
(Me): why do you always wear the same type of clothes?
(Them): Because it’s my uniform and I have to…
(Me): Well, it’s not my uniform and I want to. How great we both look anyway!”.

This I wrote especially, to my younger self at age 6-9. The girl in primary school who was too bullied for whatever she did, and too scared to wear non uniform clothes in the instance she would be bullied for that too. So on non school uniform days I would go to school wearing my uniform because I felt safest and most comfortable in my uniform. Then I would have almost every child on the playground laugh, and approach me to tease me… “why do you wear your uniform?!? Are you too poor?!? It makes sense… you are on benefits”. I’m glad I didn’t wear my clothes to school! I’m also glad my mum had no idea it was non school uniform day, because I’d never seen kids bully one another more than on those days… they’d paid to wear their own clothes to school. I didn’t want my clothes to become something I hated outside of school. So I protected myself by wearing my uniform as it helped me to protect that part of myself.

— Lois Christina