I'm sure this has become worse. It seems to have happened with the change in many places to "academy" schools, where appearance reigns and they're run like bus

I'm sure this has become worse. It seems to have happened with the change in many places to "academy" schools, where appearance reigns and they're run like businesses. In the 1990s-2000s, when my parents were both teachers and I was at school, "uniform" meant wearing the correct colours (e.g. dark trousers or skirt, white shirt/t-shirt, blue jumper/sweater). It was still ridiculous, but being punished for it would require repeatedly breaking those rules. The usual response was the teacher saying "tuck your shirt in, William".