Gymslip

A gymslip is a sleeveless tunic with a pleated skirt most commonly seen as part of a school uniform for girls.

The introduction of the gymslip as female athletic wear is credited to Mary Tait, a student of Martina Bergman-Österberg, a pioneer of women's physical education in Britain.

[1] Gymslips were worn by gymnasts and track and field athletes from the 1880s to the 1920s, as they were more mobile than traditional female attire, but still modest enough to keep the underwear hidden during sporting activity.

Even in this modest attire, gymslips as athletic wear were still worn strictly out of public view.

[6] Well-known modern depictions of gymslips include the St Trinian's films, and less traditionally, schoolgirl uniform pornography, a use given more public recognition when in 1991 politician Clare Short condemned the fetish, saying that "the Page 3 girl in a gymslip may be over 16, but the imagery is clearly intended to present schoolgirls as sexual objects".