Best place for inexpensive school uniforms

[erinmomof2]

My daughter is attending a new school this year, and it it our first experience with school uniforms. The school does have a store they recommend but they seem pretty pricey. We are allowed to buy uniforms else where if they are the correct brand. They allow French Toast, Dickies, and Lands End. Does anyone have any tips on which stores to try for good deals? I've tried several consignment stores without any luck. Do uniforms ever go on sale before school starts?

Thanks for any tips you can give!
Erin

 

[TeaForTulips]

My nephew starts school this year so I have been doing pricing online. Right now KMart has French Toast uniforms on sale. The prices were prolly the lowest I was able to find online so far. Not sure if they have what you are looking for. We just need basic. Good luck!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

My daughter is attending a new school this year, and it it our first experience with school uniforms. The school does have a store they recommend but they seem pretty pricey. We are allowed to buy uniforms else where if they are the correct brand. They allow French Toast, Dickies, and Lands End. Does anyone have any tips on which stores to try for good deals? I've tried several consignment stores without any luck. Do uniforms ever go on sale before school starts?

Thanks for any tips you can give!
Erin

The best advice I can give you is to purchase from the uniform store or see if the school has a gently used sale/swap. They will last forever or until your child outgrows them...

French Toast - we may have gotten 3 months out of them
Dickies - pant maybe 6 months
Lands End - much better quality but up there in price with the uniform store.

Uniforms will go on sale at Target etc, Lands End I believe had a sale each year, the Uniform Store - never.

 

[pantherlj]

I am in the same boat.

Khol's has uniforms on sale this week and there is a 30% off code floating around. I think you have to be a card holder for the coupon. (NEVERMIND, just reread your post and you can only have certain brands)

Sign up for Land's End email. They emailed me a 30% off and free shipping on uniform polos a few weeks ago.

I am wondering how many tops and bottoms I need .....

 

[thebeesknees]

I just ordered from here and they had very good prices. Order shipped the next day and we had it 3 days later. The pants seem to run a little long, but they are adjustable waist, so it was an even better bargain. I will just hem them up a bit for my son.

Sorry, I just saw that you can only have certain brands, but for others looking, I recommend the aforementioned website. I know JCPenny online carries the French Toast stuff and there is frequently stuff from them in their clearance section.

 

[princessmom29]

We have to purchase only from the uniform store used by the school, but honestly, even if that wasn't the case I would get them there. They cost a little more, but really last. I agree with everyone else that buying French Toast is not worth it. The do not last at all. Dickies and Lands End are going to run you as much as the uniform store unless you really luck up and hit a close out in the right color, style, and size.

 

[Cynt]

JCPenny

 

[MSSANDRA]

Lands End may cost a little more but you will be so much happier with them. They wear and wash so well. They will last the whole year and be fine to hand down where the french toast will look worn after a very short time. I am not familiar with dickies. The school store may carry high quality as well, ask other parents.

 

[labdogs42]

I'm in the same boat. And our school has summer and winter uniforms. I have to get the shirts from the uniform store (BTW, are we all talking about Flynn & O'Hara, or are there other uniform stores in other areas?), but I could probably get the pants and shorts elsewhere. I already got 3 shirts and 3 shorts, the gym uniform, and one pair of pants. I'll get more pieces next month. I didn't want to buy that huge amount of stuff all at once! And, I'm not sure how many of each piece I really need. Do I really need 5 of everything? Thoughts?

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Another vote for Lands End. They have great quality, great customer service, great return policy and good sales and free shipping when you can get it. Also the uniform polos dont fade after many washes, I can only comment on chambray blue, white and the red/wine colored ones.

 

[Leajess99]

Not sure which brand they are but Target has the school uniform polos for $7.99.

 

[erinmomof2]

The polo type shirts must be purchased from the uniform store, because they need to have logo embroidered on them. I have 3 polos so far, not really sure how much I need.

Everything else can be purchased at other places. The store that sells the uniforms is over an hour away, although I think I can order online. The uniform store sells French Toast brand and than their own store brand.

I'm not really sure if I should get the cheaper stuff from French Toast, if I could find a good sale it would be A LOT cheaper than the uniform brand. I could probably get 3 jumpers for the cost of 1.

 

[sookie]

i wonder why they have to be brand specific and not color / style specific? i've never heard of that.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Is this a public school?

I'm shocked that they have brand specifics. What if parents can't afford those brands, Lands End is pricey IMO.

I just got 4 pairs of pants, 4 shortsleeve polo's and 1 long sleeve polo for less than $100 at Old Navy. Those lasted all year last year.

One year we bought Izod skirts from JcPenneys, those skirts are still going strong after 2 years of use.

 

[fronkfam]

I just ordered from here and they had very good prices. Order shipped the next day and we had it 3 days later. The pants seem to run a little long, but they are adjustable waist, so it was an even better bargain. I will just hem them up a bit for my son.

Sorry, I just saw that you can only have certain brands, but for others looking, I recommend the aforementioned website. I know JCPenny online carries the French Toast stuff and there is frequently stuff from them in their clearance section.

Those seem like great prices at the outlet website. How is the quality? Are they a certain brand?

Thanks!

 

[gatormom2tots]

They have dickies at wal-mart as well.

Get on the uniform store's email because you never know....I just ordered my daughter's uniform shorts for $5 each directly from their website.

 

[delmar411]

I have been able to snag $5 skirts from Land End as well as khakis. They have a clearance section and they should also be able to put the school logo on the polos if they are a participating school.

I ended up just going with gap uniforms this year since I got a 30% off code w/ free shipping. I outfitted 2 kids for summer/spring and fall/winter for less than $300 total. I still have to outfit my oldest but she needs to try the pants on first.

And unless you have time to do laundry all the time, I'd have 5 pants and 5 tops. Those 5 pants should last all year long though.

 

[erinmomof2]

Is this a public school?

I'm shocked that they have brand specifics. What if parents can't afford those brands, Lands End is pricey IMO.

I just got 4 pairs of pants, 4 shortsleeve polo's and 1 long sleeve polo for less than $100 at Old Navy. Those lasted all year last year.

One year we bought Izod skirts from JcPenneys, those skirts are still going strong after 2 years of use.

It's not a public school, it's a charter school that we're choosing to send our daughter to. So I suppose if parents didn't want to pay the extra money for the uniforms they could send their child to the local schools.

And to answer another question (don't know how to multi-quote, sorry), they are brand and color specific.

I guess this is the first year they are being so stringent with the uniform policies. Up until now solid color polos and any brand were fine. But apparently there were too many parents complaining about uniform violations that they made a much stricter policy.

I guess I'll have to keep looking for sales.

 

[thebeesknees]

Those seem like great prices at the outlet website. How is the quality? Are they a certain brand?

Thanks!

They are the Children's Wear Outlet brand. I can't comment on how well they hold up, because this was my first time ordering from them. I did wash them all and there was no shrinkage, and the navy blue shirt did not fade or bleed, even though it was washed in warm water with other clothes (even a white shirt I found in the wash afterward did not have any color transfer from the navy shirt). I did throw some vinegar in the rinse cycle to set the color when I washed them the first time. The knees on the pants are not reinforced like some uniforms are. I will iron on my own patches inside the pants' knees before DS wears them. He has worn through Lands End stuff before, though, so I just figured I'd start out buying the pants, then when he wears out the knees, I'll cut them off and hem them into uniform shorts for him. For $7.99 a pair, even if he only gets half a year out of them, it's still a decent deal.

I know Sears has a thing where if they wear out the pants before they outgrow them, Sears will replace them free of charge. That is another option for those of you who have boys that go through their pants knees quickly.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I have found the French Toast ones used in resale shops that I got a full season out of and still good shape only outgrown.

I've seen the Old Navy ones on sale before school but doesn't sound like those are on the list. So not much help here other than to say look around.