Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

i love the CH uniform, is there any way i can get one for myself? (i'm a 21 year old college student from the US).

The uniform is great, but unfortunately it's a jealously-guarded tradition, and unavailable outside the school.
It's part of the tradition that pupils wear the uniform, and nobody else.

Some of us have been looking for the supplier of the shirts (there's a topic about them on here somewhere), but they're not really that unique, The housey-coats are certainly something which can be bought.

Sorry to dissapoint - and welcome to the forum!

Julian

i figured that would be the case!! i guess the only thing i can do is to try to piece it together myself!

I would love to have a uniform today - imagine school night discos!

hobbit, who is usually right when it comes to random CH trivia, told me the 'condemned' uniforms were sold at market in a town near the school, though i can't remember which one. it wasn't horsham.

plum, next time you're housy-side, ask at the wardrobe where they send all the condemned stuff.

I will Hendrik - although what people do with condemmed housey uniforms is beyond me!

Great Plum wrote:although what people do with condemmed housey uniforms is beyond me!

Launch a new wet 'n' sniff range? There's no smell quite like a wet housey coat!

Play 'guess the stain'?

I remember the (as rare as possible) trips to the wardrobe. They used to use Sprim to clean the coats. What in God's name is Sprim!!!?!

Matron used to keep two bowls of the strong smelling sprim with really viscious wire brushes to clean the coats. God knows what it did to the fabric but it seemed to work. Smelt revolting ... as did wet housey coats (all the dry cleaning stuff coming out?).

One housey coat/uniform unwashed for 6 weeks/term, that was grim!

eloisec wrote:Matron used to keep two bowls of the strong smelling sprim

Ahh, Matron. Happy memories! Coleridge's Matron (Miss Sarstedt - sp?) had an accent that many tried (and failed) to copy - it usually came out as Welsh or Russian, though I believe she was actaully German.

She was a little scary when you were a junior, but good fun when you got a little older and got to know her better. She had a wicked sense of humour when you weren't bugging her for a pass to get off sports or some simple linctus for a "cough". I guess it was the same in all houses, though?

Did other houses have an assistant Matron who was always on duty on cleanliness night? Ours was addicted to puzzle magazines and could wield a nit comb like it was a deadly weapon...

SPRIM !!!

Wow ! That has bought memories flooding back.

Mrs Ritches was Coleridge matron in my day, long before the advent of the softer more rounded pupil. She used to have house coat inspections on a regular basis, to locate stains of dubious nature on Housey coats. A large bowl of suitably diluted Sprim and cloths were provided for the immediate removal of said stains. (I do not intend to explore this any further !!)

I googled Sprim and can't find any info on it... I don't remember it but it must be the stuff that was used to clean the coats at the wardrobe I guess...

I remember it smelt strongly of ammonia. And we all know where that used to come from...