My love of mustard dates back to the mid-80s when as an eight year old child I used to sit in the bay window of my school watching children spill out from the school across the road in mustard cable knit jumpers and rust coloured knickerbockers wishing my uniform was anything as cool. You could spot a Hill House kid from a mile away. Other schools dressed girls in grey flannel skirts and navy pinafores; knickerbockers just seemed like the epitome of fun. Who knows if the kids across the road were having as much fun as I thought they were but their uniform communicated that they were a fun loving bunch. In British slang, “mustard” refers to someone excellent and/or enthusiastic. “She’s mustard!” is how a part Geordie friend describes her ebullient teenage daughter. I wonder whether the school’s founder, Liberal Party politician, Stuart Townend had that in mind when designing the Hill House uniform back in the late 40s. I read that he and his wife, Beatrice wanted a uniform that was vibrant and versatile so that their students could be spotted all over London, as comfortable in the classroom as on the playing field. “Grey uniforms produce grey minds,” said Mrs. Townend. I updated my profile photo last week, and no surprise, I’m wearing a mustard linen jumpsuit from one of my favourite British brands, Toast. Forty years on, and the colour still represents fun and play, warmth and nostalgia.
