Girl Guides Are Modernising Their Uniforms. And They Now Teach About Safe Sex, Too

The Girl Guides are evidently over being viewed of something of a pre-internet relic and are dragging themselves into the 21st century with the first uniform redesign in 14 years. The new outfit has been updated to be more formfitting and ‘feminine’, with a formal dress, skirt and slim-line top. Previously, Girl Guides had an official top and jumper and were allowed to wear whatever they wanted on their bottom half.

The redesign comes after girls aged 10-14 were asked what they actually wanted from a Guides uniform, with most respondents interestingly replying that they wanted something less ‘boyish’ and that was more fitted to their body shapes. ‘We asked them if they were going on a more official outing, whether they’d want something a bit more formal – rather than leggings or jeans. That was something they were quite conscious of,’ explained Jessica Gray, 22, one of the Arts University Bournemouth students who designed the new uniform. ‘They also wanted a less boyish silhouette. They wanted to have more of a girlie feel. When you’re going through puberty, you want to feel feminine if you’re in a group of girls. They said they didn’t want to hide under an oversized thing. They thought it made them look a bit bigger.’

**READ MORE: The Girl Guides Are Now Awarding Body Confidence Badges **

While it would be tempting to despair that girls as young as ten are worrying about fat their Girl Guides uniform makes them look it’s, at least, pretty encouraging that the Girl Guides – who are thriving at the moment with 538,000 young women currently guiding in the UK – are attempting to modernise and reflect the needs of young girls, especially as their Chief Executive Julie Bentley called the Guides the ‘ultimate feminism organisation’.

But has it always been so? We (full disclosure) never actually made it to Girl Guides, so we’re intrigued to know if we can learn anything from their extensive back catalogue. Is there any badges we’d still be up getting today, or any we’re glad are left way back in the history books for good?

That’s probably why they’ve made some other changes, too – namely dropping some of the badges that seemed designed to teach little girls how to grow into little housewives. The homemaking, hostess and laundress badges probably won’t be missed (although, if any of those who did take a laundress badge could tell us how to get red wine and wax out of silk, we’d appreciate a holler, ta). Likewise badges like dairymaid, handbell ringer, lace maker, backwoodsman and poultry farmer don’t SCREAM useless in a modern context, do they? I mean, does anyone even know what a backwoodsman actually is? (FYI, Google seems to think it’s some kind of hiker, but it also might be ‘an inhabitant of backwoods, especially one regarded as uncouth or backward’.)

Still, it wasn’t all bad. In fact, we actually really like the sound of the early revolutionary days of the Guides (Girl Guides worked for MI5 during the First World War as messengers passing on classified information). Badges on offer during this period were things like air mechanic, cyclist, sailor and, most usefully, electrician. Things that would still come in handy today. See also handywoman, crime prevention, fitness and health and thrift. (Any look at our bank balance at the end of the month will show you just how unskilled our school education left us with the skill of thriftiness.)

The modern day badges are pretty right-on, too. Not only are the Girl Guides committed to teaching girls about safe sex, they’re also championing independent living, tolerance of other people’s faith and world issues. It all sounds pretty healthy, and is likely a sign that the modern Guiding programme has been as considered as the new uniforms seem to be. As Jessica Gray put it, ‘It’s about adapting to the times, as well as what the girls want.’

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Pictures: Girlguiding, Getty, Rex

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.