school dress code/ uniform question

[HelenePA]

Our public school just went to a pretty strict dress code. I understand the reasoning behind it after seeing how some of the kids went to school. Full out Pj's and slippers (I would died before going to school in slippers...) etc etc... We are allowed Polo's (blue and white only) and shorts that have to be a certain length (must find paper before buying ) and dress pants. Shoes must be mostly black or white.. no name brands are allowed to be shown on ANY of the clothes.(ie No Nike swoosh) Sweats are allowed on gym days ONLY... no designs on them at all.. grey and blue only... Realistically how much of what should I buy? I tend to go overboard when buying kids clothes... How many shirts do you buy? is 3-5 enough or too little? I'm thinking old navy and the childrens place is my best bet for shirts. Does anyone else have a store they think hold up better? My dd9 (almost 10) is very hard to dress with shirts. I need them to be longer because they need to be tucked in I need to start looking soon. Any input is appreciated. I'm still up in the air if I like this or not...

 

[PlaneJoy1]

My youngest daughter is still in uniforms. We usually have 7-8 shirts and a mixture of shorts/skorts and pants to go along with them. Generally she won't weat pants until it starts getting cold. It is a little much since there are only 5 school days, but things do wear out or get stained along the way and it keeps me from having to do laundry every other day.

As for places to buy uniform pieces check out shopjustice.com (having a 40% off sale right now), jcp.com, aeropostale.com and even gymboree. The two places you mention are also good - although I didn't like the stuff I bought from the Children's Place last year. I assumed (I know I shouldn't do that) that their stuff is wrinkle free, but it wasn't.

I really like that her school has a standard dress policy and really wish other schools would do the same. But, that's only my opinion and I realize that others disagree.

 

[EdiePA]

Lands End was my "got to" for polo shirts when my son was in uniforms. I had 5 shirts and 3 pants and 3 shorts. He once got into a fight on the playground and the buttons on the shirt ripped off. I called Lands End and they replaced the buttons (offered to replace the shirt, too!) They also sent a note saying that they hoped my son fared better than the short did. He's all boy and very hard on his clothes, but the Lands End clothing really went the distance.

HTH
Edie

 

[smschex]

Lands End was my "got to" for polo shirts when my son was in uniforms. I had 5 shirts and 3 pants and 3 shorts. He once got into a fight on the playground and the buttons on the shirt ripped off. I called Lands End and they replaced the buttons (offered to replace the shirt, too!) They also sent a note saying that they hoped my son fared better than the short did. He's all boy and very hard on his clothes, but the Lands End clothing really went the distance.

HTH
Edie

ITA! Lands End has great quality polos. No logos in sight (a lot of the ones at Justice I have seen have a logo of some sort). They look brand new even after many washings. The number to buy depends on how often you want to do laundry. With a houseful of kids I do laundry almost every day. Since you are limited to only navy and white my kids could get by nicely with only two of each. If you do laundry less often of course they need more. LE also has nice sweats, shorts, and uniform pants.

My girls like the fit of the uniform pants and shorts from Gap. These also wear very well.

 

[princessmom29]

My DD is in private school, so it is plaid jumpers for us and we have 5 of everything. I teach high school, and we do at least 4-5 hours a week of dance and tumbling. I don't have time to wash during the week. All of our public schools have had uniforms for 10 years so everyone in town wears a uniform of some sort to school. I think the general consensus in to have 5 of everything if you don't want to have to wash. I also would suggest 5 of the same shirt, 5 of the same pants ect. It limits the "I don't want that polo, I want that one" bit. I love the fact that there is only one chioce at DD's school. I have seen kids get stuck on one particular shirt and bottom when that have too many choices.

 

[nmmom95]

My DS's are in Catholic school, so we are used to uniforms. I do 4 shirts/4 shorts/4 pants/1 gym uniform. This covers me for a week. In the winter, they have to wear a dress shirt (4) and sweater vest (2).

 

[ilovejack02]

I don't buy Children's Place or Old Navy anymore. The polos look a disaster pretty fast I found.

I buy from Dillards or Land's end. I have been happier with Dillards, but Land's end has held up pretty good, especially the shorts. I get at least 4 short sleeve shirts, 2 or 3 long sleeve and 4 pairs of shorts , 2 pair of pants.

 

[Phlip]

Hi-Lands End and 5 - 7 of everything.
I wish we had uniforms here-
Phlip

 

[mom of princess]

Our school just went to uniforms this past school year. My DD was in 1/2 day kindergarten and I didn't agree with the uniforms for them - she's there for 3 hours and even the Catholic schools in the area don't require Kindergarten students to be in uniforms. As the year went on, I realized it was easier to get her dressed in the morning. The elementary kids were also allowed to "dress down" on their gym day since there isn't any changing rooms for them - and who wants to help 20 kids get back in their uniforms after being hyper from gym?!
Anyways, I ordered her jumpers, dresses, and skirts from Target online (our local Target stores didn't carry the uniforms then but might start if they are smart...) I did get golf-style shirts, short sleeved only, at Walmart though since they were only $5. We were lucky that the kids were allowed to wear long sleeved tees under the shirts since the schools were cold during the winter. So I had 2 each of khaki skirts & long pants; 1 navy jumper (looked like a tank top style dress); 1 navy & 1 red dress; 2 navy & 1 red golf shirt; 1 white blouse; a navy zip-up sweater & a red pullover sweater. If you didn't guess, our kids were to wear red, white, or blue on top, and navy or khaki on bottom. When the weather got warmer, I hit the consignment shops and got her another blue shirt and 4-5 pair of khaki capris.
Luckily, she hasn't grown that much since last year so I shouldn't have to replace much for this coming year. Our PTO also has 2 clothing swaps a year - for every item you bring, you get a ticket to get a replacement.
So basically it is up to you...how often do you like to do laundry? but I'd suggest enough pieces that you can get through 5 school days without having to wash clothes. And if you have a girl, you get to say "You have to wear this dress because I didn't have time to do the wash since I was running you around town with all of your activities!!"

 

[kristilew]

This is going to sound crazy, but the Lily Pulitzer polos are the best. DH got a white one for DD when her school went to uniforms b/c he thought it was "cool". I rolled my eyes. Who spends that much on a kid's polo? Well, the Old Navy, Gap, and even the Land's End polos all bit the dust, and the Lily went all year that year, part of the next year until she outgrew it, and is now on its third hand-me-down girl and still going strong. And that's being worn & washed twice a week every week.

Also, if your school allows l/s polos, plan on one or two of those as well for later in the year. So maybe 4 s/s, 2 l/s.

 

[HelenePA]

Very cute stuff on landsend! I wish I would have known sooner about it last year they told us with 2 weeks to go that we'd be switching. They have some really cute one piece dresses but I'm not sure if they fall with in the rules... I'm not sure if cordory is with in the rules either.. no cargo's allowed for boys I'm not even sure about long sleeve stuff! There was nothing on the paper about it. I do know I will NOT send them in short sleves in the middle of winter.. I went to that same school they dont keep it warm enough for short sleves no way no how!

 

[ilovejack02]

http://www.dillards.com/endeca/EndecaStartServlet?N=1003098

 

[Aristomommy]

When DD had uniforms, I had 5 different combinations of shirts, pants and jumpers. When it got colder, I had long sleeve shirts and one cardigan. It made getting dressed in the morning so easy, I wish we still had a dress code!

We had a particular uniform shop for the school cardiga, but I used Land's End and Children's Place for pants and polos.

 

[cybrkitn]

I envy those of you who are able to buy uniforms at several different places. DS8 attends the Lutheran school attached to our church. Granted, most of his clothes I can get at Target (for the pants) and Vanity Fare for his button down shirts. That helps us keep the cost down tremendously.

Unfortunately, we only have one place (yep, one place) that we have to order anything with the school logo on it. There is only one uniform store on Long Island that does ALL the private schools here . Parents have complained about it b/c the employees have horrible attitudes and their alterations are very shotty. Plus it's in the next county over which is a drive to get to. We used to have a second uniform store that was much closer and was run by an old friend of mine and her DH. The school parents fought hard to get a store closer than the other one. However, my friend had to close down the store. Don't know the reason behind it, but she is now working as the Middle school English teacher for our school.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

Just my 2 cents. I would start with 3 shirts and replace them as the year goes. DD started last year wearing an adult small but by the end of the year her shirts were getting pretty small. I also only got her one pair of long pants thinking that she would not wear them much, but the crowd she hung out with all mainly wore pants so the 2 skorts I got her hung in the closet. I suggest you start small and then see what she wants to wear. Also the uniforms all start going on clearance a couple of weeks after school starts.

 

[golfgal]

I am trying to figure out how you are going to find tennis shoes without a logo . Did they give suggestions?

 

[HelenePA]

I am trying to figure out how you are going to find tennis shoes without a logo . Did they give suggestions?

no. It was like it was put together at the last moment. Which is NOT a surprise. I can get the girls crocs (mary janes) to wear on non gym days and cover the logo with marker if I have to but I have NO idea what kind of shoes to put on Aidan.. Landsend does have some but they are 30 and well they dont look worth 30$ http://www.landsend.com/pp/SliponSh...N&CM_MERCH=IDX_00013__0000000681&origin=index I might pay 15 but 30 for those?

 

[Christine]

Both my kids wore uniform (my youngest is now 15); however, they went to a Catholic school and we were very limited on where we could get stuff.

I have found that THE nicest polos came from our uniform store. Yes, they were pricey but they washed up so well, held their color and still looked great at the end of the year. Stains readily came out. I often thought of buying a few non-logo ones for myself because I could never find any in the department stores that even came close to their quality. So, I would go to Land's End at a minimum and, if you can find a school uniform store in your area (the one the parochial/private schools use), you might trying getting some non-monagrammed clothing there.

As for the shoes, my son was allowed to wear plain white sneakers (no logos) for the summer uniform. We found that the school didn't overly mind if a brand was listed on the side or there was a tag, they just didn't want a white shoe, with a hot pink or bright blue Nike Swoop or something of that nature. I do believe that Target or Walmart sells some plain white Champion sneakers that don't have much of a design or logo on them.

 

[powellrj]

no. It was like it was put together at the last moment. Which is NOT a surprise. I can get the girls crocs (mary janes) to wear on non gym days and cover the logo with marker if I have to but I have NO idea what kind of shoes to put on Aidan.. Landsend does have some but they are 30 and well they dont look worth 30$ http://www.landsend.com/pp/SliponSh...N&CM_MERCH=IDX_00013__0000000681&origin=index I might pay 15 but 30 for those?

Our school didn't allow mary jane crocs, they were considered beach shoes. They did relax that requirement at our school and allowed branded shoes because it was so hard. We ended up getting plain cheap shoes at Wal-Mart before they relaxed the code.

 

[HelenePA]

Our school didn't allow mary jane crocs, they were considered beach shoes. They did relax that requirement at our school and allowed branded shoes because it was so hard. We ended up getting plain cheap shoes at Wal-Mart before they relaxed the code.

are you kidding? All I remember the paper saying it they had to have back in them and be mostly one color... this is getting more expensive than normal school shopping! Its supposed to save us time and money my

Christine I'll have to look for a uniform shop. I didn't even know they had them. I do know we can order school logo stuff thru the school but they didn't have the papers ready for the end of the year. We CAN go pick them up during the summer. Guess I'll be doing that next week to see how much those are.. Like I said we got all this "info" 2 weeks before school ended and even then most people weren't sure of the specifics.. if my kids get sent home for being out of uniform I'll flip out.