Girl power behind uniform

Comfort, affordability and a range of choice have made the new Napier Girls' High School uniform popular with students.

The first change to the school's dress code in a decade kept traditional white and blue school colours, but swapped separate summer and winter uniforms for a range of year-round garments - a shorter and lightweight kilt, a new blouse, cardigan, sleeveless vest, tie and blazer.

Year 9 student Emily McLaren, 13, is one of the first students to wear the new uniform that will become compulsory by 2014.

"The old one is nice but this one shows a lot more of the traditions and stuff seeing as it is the Napier tartan," she said.

Principal Mary Nixon said despite only being compulsory for Year 9 students this year, the uniform shop had already sold out of some garments.

"The girls are already dying to get the new uniform as quickly as they can, they love it," she said.

A group of students worked alongside designers from New Zealand Uniforms to come up with the new kit.

"We haven't had a change in some time and we felt the uniform needed to be refreshed and for the girls to have considerable input into what they wear to school each day," she said.

"The group of girls involved in the design took the information back to their form classes so that a really wide range and large number of girls had input. It was sort of designed by the girls for the girls."

Mrs Nixon said students were keen to keep traditions but included modern elements.

"The girls really kept with supporting the school's colours and for the blazer the emblem reflects our crest and also our aspects of Maori, so in the emblem there is design reflecting Ngati Kahungunu.

"We used to have a summer and winter uniform, so now we just have the range.

"They loved the kilt so the new uniform has a more modern kilt, and they liked the idea of wearing pieces so the girls can now mix and match."

Mrs Nixon said the new selection was cheaper than before.

Year 13 students would still wear mufti, but were asked to dress in uniform for formal occasions.