Another vote for NOT buying cheap stuff. Uniform items are used constantly, so it's much better to go with Lands End and know that it's going to last-last-last. Cheap stuff I bought looked bad very quickly, whereas Lands End stuff often was handed down to my second daughter -- and that's real economy. Also, if you buy kids' sizes from the Sears store and save the receipts, they'll replace the same-sized identical item FOR FREE if they wear out.
Next year, after your grandkids are established students, they'lll probably bring home information about a uniform consignment sale. Most uniform schools offer these near the end of the year.
Several ways to economize on uniforms that aren't obvious from the start:
1. If you have a
girl, a jumper is your
best buy. She can wear it with a short-sleeved shirt and sandals in the fall, then with a turtleneck and tights in the winter. Also, buy it as big as she can manage it; at first it'll be down below her knee, but she can keep wearing it probably 2-3 years. Our jumpers were a red-white-blue plaid, and they cost just over $50, but they were -- by far -- the single item that was worn most out of all the uniform gear I ever bought. Skirts are #2 because they're also great with the short sleeved shirts, and then later a shirt/sweater combo -- but my girls liked the jumper better.
2. If you have a choice of shirt colors (we had white, navy, red), put the bulk of your money into the
colors instead of white. White will start to look "old" faster, and stains won't show as much.
3. We live in a temperate climate, so I bought my girls lots of short-sleeved shirts,
one cardigan and
two pull-over sweatshirts. Most of the year they wore the short-sleeved shirts, but in the winter months they layered the other items over short-sleeves. In a classroom, it was more comfortable for them than two long-sleeved shirts . . . and on those days that start out cold and then turn hot (we have LOTS of those), they could push up the sleeves.
4. While your long pants are brand new, turn them INSIDE OUT and place iron-on patches (buy them in the sewing department -- costs about $1 per pair of pants) over the knees. This'll prevent your kids from getting holes in the knees of their school pants, and the iron-on patches won't show from the outside. If you don't do this when they're brand-new, suddenly you'll find that they have holes in them, and it'll be too late. Some brands -- and I think Lands End is one -- sell double-kneed pants, but it's super-simple to make them yourself with
Walmart-purchased iron-ons.
Good luck with your uniforms. They seemed expensive when my girls first started wearing them, but in the long run they were a real money-saver. I hardly ever bought extra school clothes mid-year, and it was just SO EASY.
I've also been picking lots of stuff up on ebay. I got my ds 7 pairs of khaki's for 12.50 new with out tags. All lands end and old navy. Polos I'll get some at 
