School Uniforms?

Ginny Favers

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
DD6 has to wear a uniform to school this year (Catholic School), and it's all new to me.

She has to wear a jumper. I thought 2 would be sufficient, but now I am wondering if I need more (she's kind of messy). I bought her several blouses to wear under, pairs of socks, etc. Did I buy the right socks? Do they wear knee highs or crew socks with jumpers? And will she be too hot in the jumper? Should I have bought her those funny walking shorts?

She also has a gym uniform. So on days she has gym, she wears the gym clothes the entire day?

Agggghhh! Can you tell I'm :confused3 ???
 
My daughter wears a school uniform too. Two jumpers aren't enough for her. I would have to wash them constantly. We have 6 or 7 jumpers plus several scooters. She is wearing short socks right now but we will switch to knee highs or tights when it's colder. She wears polos or blouses under the jumpers and with the scooters. I buy mainly short sleeve polos and she can either wear a cardigan over them or a long sleeve plain tee underneath them for warmth in the fall and winter. At our school, they can wear khaki, navy blue or the school plaid in jumpers and scooters. If they wear jumpers, they are required to wear bicycle shorts underneath. The scooters are maybe a little cooler than the jumpers but not by much. My daughter is so skinny, the jumpers fit her better than the scooters (I had the scooters altered to fit) so she wears the jumpers most of the time.

HTH!
 
At my school, they do wear gym clothes all day when they have gym, but that varies from school to school.

I only bought 3 complete outfits (they are 70 bucks each) for each child, so they will wear those 3 days a week, the other 2 days they are wearing gym clothes.

Yes, I will be doing some extra laundry, but I would be doing laundry anyway. I can always buy more, but I would hate to buy an extra.
 
Thank you! My aunt told me all I needed was one jumper she could wear every day, and I thought that sounded really strange, so I ordered a few more. According to the website, it looks like the only thing they are allowed to wear is either the jumper or the walking shorts with a polo, but DD made a face when she saw the walking shorts because they make her look like a boy! I will definitely get her some bicycle shorts, too. I appreciate your advice!
 


My kids could wear a jumper or pants, shorts, or skorts. I always liked them to have 4-5 bottoms at any one time. They usually wore them twice before washing.

The jumper was absolutely the best buy for a girl. They could wear it in the fall/spring with a short sleeved white blouse and sandals. Then they could wear it in the winter with a turtleneck and tights. And those uniform jumpers wear like iron. They last forever.

Small things to stretch the uniform dollar:

If you have the choice, khaki pants show less dirt than navy blue pants.
Colored shirts last much longer than white shirts.
For those in the South, it's easy to get by with all short sleeved shirts -- just stretch them with cardigans and sweatshirts.

Uniforms are so much cheaper than street clothes because you don't need a large wardrobe. I miss them.
 
I try to buy enough so that if something happens, I don't have to do laundry for 2 weeks. So DD has 4-5 jumpers, 2 pairs of shorts, 2-3 scooters, and a few polo dresses. Bike shorts for under the dresses and jumpers in the fall/spring and leggings in the winter. DD won't wear tights or turtlenecks; I bought 8-10 polos in short and long sleeves.

It was a lot of $$ for the initial outlay, but I really like it now. This year she only needed shoes and underwear, everything else from last spring still fit. I did find a great deal on polos at Land's End in the next size up on clearance, only $4 each! We're lucky, no rules on socks and we can buy uniforms anywhere as long as they meet the dress code. I'm spending less money overall too, as I no longer buy stuff just because it's cute and on clearance.
 


I suggest that you check with your particular school and/or some of the parents there. When my DD attended catholic school the uniform requirments were very strict. Everything had to be purchased from the specific suppliers. Other brand of the same colors were not permitted, and the school did send make kids change into loaner clothes if that did not have the correct stuff.

At our school the gym shorts were required under the jumper. At PE time the girls should take off the jumpers. Full PE clothing (and changing for PE) wasn't required until 4th or 5th grade.
 
I bought my DD 2 jumpers (now 2 skirts). She wears each one 2x a week and one day she wears her gym uniform all day. her school is pretty strict as to what she can wear. I did buy multiple shirts (white button up, peter pan collar) because the long sleeves get so dirty at the cuff. When she was youger and in the jumper she had the option of wearing a cardigan.

now that shes older she had to wear a blazer and tie daily. she only has one blazer because it was $85:scared1: she has been able to wear it for 3 years so far, im hoping she can wear it until she graduates 8th grade (shes in 7th). i dryell the blazer and then send it to the dry cleaner when there is a long break.

anyway, the jumpers are tough! if she did get something on it during the week i was usually able to wipe it off with a baby wipe or a shout wipe. hers are fairly dark too, navy and red plaid, so maybe that helped. i would say buy 2 and see if you can get away with it. if she is especially hard then buy more.

and check to see if the school does a used uniform sale or swap, ive been able to get a couple that way too.
 
Khaki shows less dirt than navy blue? Did you get the colors mixed up?

She probably means real dirt: earth. Unless your area has really loamy black soil, brown dirt shows less on khaki; it shows up brightly against navy blue. Oily-type marks also show worse on navy, for some reason. (This assumes that your khaki is the deeper true Khaki shade, not "stone" or some other almost-white variation.)

OP, fwiw, go buy a large can of Scotchgard and treat everything, but especially the fronts of the jumpers. Once that is done, you can usually get two days' wear out of a jumper by just dabbing with a damp washcloth at any small spills. DS got by with only 2 plaids this way last year, and she was in preschool at the time. This year we got lucky and got 2 used plaids from an older friend, so she has four in the rotation. We still try to get 2 days' wear, and to do that, it's usually best if they change to play clothes when they get home.

DD's plaids are mostly navy with some red and white. As to socks, length depends on the weather most of the time. It is in the 90's here so DD is wearing white ankle socks at the moment. When the weather turns crisp she will switch to navy knee socks, and when it begins to get truly cold will go to either navy tights or a combination of navy leggings plus red or navy ankle socks (some younger girls prefer the thicker leggings to tights, as they are not as difficult to pull up and down for bathroom breaks and changing for gym.) They are allowed to wear white tights but no one at our school does, because they get so filthy if they sit on the ground. (At DS' high school, OTOH, the plaids are grey with some black and red, and the standard tights color is black. However, most girls prefer to go bare-legged with ankle socks even in the winter -- it's a teen thing.)
 
Thanks everyone! I just bought her another jumper. Now she has a week's worth of outfits.

I do think my school is very strict-- there are only a couple companies they allow ordering from.

Going to invest in some Scotchgard and check into socks. The socks I have for her are all knee-highs and I can imagine them being really HOT, but the uniform company didn't offer any alternative. Going to see if ankle socks are acceptable.

Luckily, having another younger daughter, I know everything I buy will get twice the wear, even if it only lasts her one year. :)
 
DD wears a traditional Catholic school uniform.
I bought 4 short sleeve shirts, 4 long sleeve shorts, 4 jumpers, 4 scooter skirts, 2 pairs of pants, and 2 sweaters.
I also bought 4 ties, those seem to get messy the most.
She wears the knee high socks but they are thin so they really aren't that hot.

I also went to target and bought compression shorts (like bicycle shorts) and playground shorts to wear under the jumpers.
The scooter skirts have shorts attached already.

On gym days they wear gym clothes all day.

Our uniforms are burgundy and burgundy tights were hard to find so the diocese relented and will let us wear white tights this winter, although I think grey would have looked better.

I buy all my uniforms from French Toast. But some parents order from Donnelley's too. Donnelley's does come in at the end of the school year and measures the kids.
http://www.donnellysclothing.com/index.php

I'll have to ask DH where he found the tights. I'll post the site when I find it.
 
Skorts work much better for younger girls than jumpers as most don't know how to sit ladylike.. so often I go into kindergarten or first grade and they are on the carpet all sprawled out. They usually have just elastic waist(unlike shorts/pants) which makes it easy for bathroom. My girls wear uniforms and they each have about 7 bottoms(mostly skorts).... this way if I don't wash when I usually do, there is still something clean. Our school has uniform exchange which really helps... and right now is a great time to buy on clearance... once schools start in your area, they drastically reduce prices(esp kohls, jcp in the past). I usually buy the next size up then.
 
My son has been in Catholic School since Kindergarten. Now that he is in Middle School their uniform dress code has changed a bit. But for the younger years I would purhcase 3 pairs of navy dress pants and 5 - 7 polos in the correct colors (white,yellow,pale blue). This year a bit different he can wear khakis so it was 3 pairs of khakis and one pair of navy dress pants (for mass day) and 5 polos and two white dress shirts (mass) that way if I don't do laundry every minute he should be set.
 
DD wears a traditional Catholic school uniform.
I bought 4 short sleeve shirts, 4 long sleeve shorts, 4 jumpers, 4 scooter skirts, 2 pairs of pants, and 2 sweaters.
I also bought 4 ties, those seem to get messy the most.
She wears the knee high socks but they are thin so they really aren't that hot.

I also went to target and bought compression shorts (like bicycle shorts) and playground shorts to wear under the jumpers.
The scooter skirts have shorts attached already.

On gym days they wear gym clothes all day.

Our uniforms are burgundy and burgundy tights were hard to find so the diocese relented and will let us wear white tights this winter, although I think grey would have looked better.

...

You're right, grey would look better, and stay cleaner, too.

As to the tights, Trimfit makes burgundy, in both heavy cable and the thinner microfiber kind. You can get them online at www.everythingtights.com

My youngest's school also uses the skorts, and I hate them. I would much rather she had a regular skirt with bike shorts underneath. This school mandates uniforms from age 2, and that skort with the buttoned waist is a disaster for the little ones when it comes to toileting. It also feels bulky in winter with tights/leggings under it.
 
That's the link I was looking for! Just found it too.
They are great tights and I think they will last her one more year.

I'm buying Grey tights first, the white will look horrible with the burgundy plaid jumpers.
 
don't buy all those uniforms new! Hand me down uniforms are the best, they are all broken in. Our school had a used uniform exchange day from time to time, then they convinced a local consignment store to carry the uniforms.

Our kids wore the gym uniform on gym day, so really you could survive with 2 jumpers and the gym uniforms. At our school it was not cool to wear the shorts, the girls wore the skorts or their spring jumpers during day light savings time, and the boys just prefered to sweat in the long pants.
 
Khaki shows less dirt than navy blue? Did you get the colors mixed up?
Nope. Maybe it depends upon the type of dirt you have on your playground.

And an unrelated way to make your kids' pants last longer:

When the pants are still brand-new, mark where the knee falls with a pin.
Turn the pants inside out and iron on knee patches to the inside of the pants.
This gives you a double-strength knee that'll never wear out.

My mom used to do this to my brothers' pants all the time. Boys are so hard on knees.
 
This is my second year with uniforms for school and I think it's cheaper. For my DD7. For my DS11, possibly more expensive because he was happy with 5 pairs of sweatpants and 5 t shirts, just wash every week.

The jumpers we have do wear like iron but last year there was a bad batch and I spent most Sunday night hand-stiching the hem back in. But Blackwatch plaid (green/navy) shows NO dirt.

Land's End polos are the best...a year later, the interlock (soft) ones show no fading, no pilling, nothing. Ours have to be embroidered with the school name so I waited for a 1 cent embroidery sale. For DD, I just got plain since she wears her jumper every day (hates pants).

Boy's pants....wow. Old Navy is our standby. Got them on sale for $10 each and after last year, I bought --- seriously --- 15 pairs. Because he goes through the knees so fast. I tried a pair of Gymbo, a pair of Kohl's, a pair of Target, a pair of Nautica, and they all went through the knee so fast. So the Old Navy ones are the cheapest and if they are going to rip at the knee anyway, I don't want to pay $20 to start.

We can wear navy or white socks or tights; Old Navy had a great deal on knee socks and tights (thick, for winter) so I stocked up on those also. They have worn great and I think I added maybe one pair of each for this year but last year's still look great.

Interestingly, DD can wear any headband and shoes she likes, so picture dark green polo, dark plaid jumper, navy tights, and hot pink glitter ballet flats and a hot pink HUGE flower headband. I did buy her the coordinating plaid headband and scrunchie but she wanted nothing to do with them....this uniform thing is truly saving me $$$$ for her wardrobe....
 

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