school dress code/ uniform question

[Christine]

Try this place:

http://flynnohara.com/mStores.asp?nav=0402

This is who we use and they have excellent quality pants and polos. They are based out of Philly and have many locations on the east coast. I'm thinking there must be one near you, but they also do on-line ordering.

this is getting more expensive than normal school shopping! Its supposed to save us time and money my

I know they tout this as a major advantage of uniforms but I don't know if it is true. For my son (who is really an adult for size purposes), I spend close to $500 per year on his uniforms. I still have to buy him casual clothes, although, not as much. I've never really figured out if it was cheaper but it certainly doesn't feel cheaper.

I know everyone is different and all kids wear out their clothes at different rates but after a few years of trying to get away cheap, I am ALL about the quality now. I was tired of those misshapen Target/Walmart polo shirts. They always looked worn out after a few washings and I had a tough time getting stains out. I know a lot of people have better luck but I just wouldn't waste my money. For every one $26.00 polo from the uniform store, I know I had to purchase two from the cheaper stores to have them get through the school year. So, it really didn't save me any money to go that route.

 

[golfgal]

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.

Uniforms, contrary to popular belief, do NOT save money-you now have to buy 2 sets of clothes for your kids, school clothes and play clothes.

 

[HelenePA]

Uniforms, contrary to popular belief, do NOT save money-you now have to buy 2 sets of clothes for your kids, school clothes and play clothes.

My school is not a rich well to do district. I wonder if they know this will be a hardship for some. Our unemployment rate is at 11%. Most kids could get away with hand me downs for school. A lot of churches have free clothing closets (its where I send my kids clothes) that people can go to.. With this being new where are people going to find this stuff? Do I think we needed a dress code yes.. but this is a tad strict. Jeans with no holes would work. Along with any type of polo not just 2 colors.

 

[golfgal]

My school is not a rich well to do district. I wonder if they know this will be a hardship for some. Our unemployment rate is at 11%. Most kids could get away with hand me downs for school. A lot of churches have free clothing closets (its where I send my kids clothes) that people can go to.. With this being new where are people going to find this stuff? Do I think we needed a dress code yes.. but this is a tad strict. Jeans with no holes would work. Along with any type of polo not just 2 colors.

I agree with you. When our kids were in about 2nd and 5th grades a bunch of parents got together and wanted to instill a "dress code" but it was really more of a uniform like your school has. They wanted khaki pants and a gold or light blue polo. Well, the first issue with that was, NONE of these would hide stains and getting stains out of these colors is difficult . Then the issue came of "what color gold and light blue" would be acceptable-they just wanted the teachers to police that-nope, not their job. Then came the question of what style khaki pants? My son had some athletic pants that were khaki were those ok or not. Turns out the real issue was their kids wanted all these "designer" clothes and they didn't want to buck up and say no. It got voted down pretty handily-like 90% against and the parent association tabled the issue for 10 years The school had a very reasonable dress code that was enforced so it wasn't even an issue of kids dressing inappropriately. This was for a Catholic school too.

 

[Avery&Todd]

My oldest son is starting 6th grade at a Charter School this year and they have a dress code - its not as strict as some (I think) - he's allowed to wear ONLY polo-type shirts in either navy blue, red, black or white - and he must wear a khaki-style pant/shorts in either khaki, navy or black - the girls can wear jumpers/skorts/shorts but in the same color pallet..

Someone mentioned LandsEnd - and I just went on their website and TODAY ONLY (isnt there ALWAYS a sale for "just today"??) but their "knit" clothing is an additional 20% off the already sale price.

if you use the code: "SaveOnKnits" and PIN #1108.

The boys polo shirts were $15.50 on "sale" for $13.00 (if I bought 3 or more) and then an additional 20% off...

they had some cute hoodie jackets on sale - like 50% off too!

so, my "let me go look and see what they have" ended up being a "$102 order"!! but, with the extra discount, I got my $12.95 s&h for FREE..

(that counts, right??)

Happy Shopping!!

 

[powellrj]

My DD is leaving her uniform district and I am THRILLED!!! I HATED the uniforms. We live in a poor area and it was suppose to level the playing field. Right, all it did was point out who could afford the nice uniforms and after school clothes and who wore cheap uniforms and wore them all day.

We spent several hours the other day at American Eagle just buying regular clothes! We had a great time!

 

[mamacatnv]

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

My DD attends a charter school - shoes must be 100% black, no logo, no white/gray stitching etc. We found that Payless has a nice all black almost skater style shoe. They are around $25, are comfortable, durable and DD likes them.

As for uniforms we too must buy all tops from our school due to the logo being on everything.
We have
3 polo shirts
2 sweatshirts
2 pants
1 bermuda short
1 skort

This year she moves to the middle school and I have to invest in all new tops since the color for the middle school is different from the elementary school.
I buy all the bottoms at JC Pennys

I love love love uniforms and the basic black shoe. Life is simple on school days

 

[NotUrsula]

Uniforms, contrary to popular belief, do NOT save money-you now have to buy 2 sets of clothes for your kids, school clothes and play clothes.

Ah, not really. DS has been wearing uniforms for years, and he plays in them. (These being American-style uniforms of the khakis and polo shirt variety, not the UK version with a blazer and tie.) A $10 large can of ScotchGard is a good friend to have. His clothes stay in excellent condition unless he somehow falls on concrete and rips something, which has only happened twice in the 9 years he's been wearing uniforms.

BTW, OP: Reebok makes plain leather sneakers that only have a small logo that is easy to marker out. I buy fabric paint in the dominant color and obscure it. I normally buy trousers at Old Navy and shirts at Sam's Club (the Sam's shirts here tend to be from Claiborne and are cut nice and long. They stay tucked and don't shrink, and they cost all of $8 each.)

 

[LiberalPrincess]

We bought uniform shirts at L.L. Bean and Landsend and they were great and lasted well. I think we started with about 7. Keds has a whole line of sneakers where the label is fabric and can be snipped right off. And, the converse all stars have a label on the tongue that can be removed as well.

 

[HelenePA]

Thanks for all the suggestions! JcPenny has some nice pants.. with out pleats! or are they back in?

 

[samandryanmom]

My kids have been wearing uniforms for years. Several of those were spent in a Catholic school where everything HAD to be purchased from a local store and it was expensive although the quality of the jumpers/shirts/shorts/pants were incredible. There were many Monday mornings when we woke up and I realized that I forgot to take uniforms out of the dryer but even with staying in the dryer over the weekend...there wasn't a wrinkle to be found. I think the pants/shorts brand was A+ and the shirts were Tulane.

My DS 14 is back in Catholic school for next year and we are back at the local store for everything because it has a logo. My DD 9 is going into fifth grade and I bought all of her shirts from Land's End and all of her plaid skorts from French Toast. The Land's End shirts hold up well, hers are Navy Blue and I usually buy four short sleeve shirts for the year. Friday is spirit day and they can wear a school t-shirt. I don't buy long sleeve shirts, we just layer her school sweatshirt in the fall and she may wear a heavy coat some. We live in the South though and usually don't have much winter.

I've only bought plaid skorts from French Toast but they have held up well and are relatively inexpensive....14.99 I think.

Oh and I don't buy many "after school" clothes. My kids usually wear their uniform all day unless they have soccer practice or something.
Good luck

 

[princessmom29]

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.

We do it this way too, but EVERYTHING the kids wear except socks and leggings must come from the uniform store and be exactly the same style. I think it is GREAT because everyone has the same thing, so there is no "I want the brand of shirts SHE has, ect" All the private schools in town do it this way and use one of 2 uniform shops in town. From teacher's perspective, it also makes policing uniforms a lot easier. It is clear what is acceptable or not. Of course, public schools cannot get away with doing it that way.

My school is not a rich well to do district. I wonder if they know this will be a hardship for some. Our unemployment rate is at 11%. Most kids could get away with hand me downs for school. A lot of churches have free clothing closets (its where I send my kids clothes) that people can go to.. With this being new where are people going to find this stuff? Do I think we needed a dress code yes.. but this is a tad strict. Jeans with no holes would work. Along with any type of polo not just 2 colors.

One word. Wal-mart. Uniform peices are $5 each. You can order them from walmart.com if your local store is not stocking them yet.I would also suggest getting in touch with other districts that have instituted unifroms already. Most will collection drives already in place for those in need and may be able to share some things. For us, having a specific color allows us to more readily identify students who do not belong on our campus, and are there to start fights, cause trouble ect. We have a lot of cross town rivalry ect. A jeans and a polo dress code would do us no good.

My DD is leaving her uniform district and I am THRILLED!!! I HATED the uniforms. We live in a poor area and it was suppose to level the playing field. Right, all it did was point out who could afford the nice uniforms and after school clothes and who wore cheap uniforms and wore them all day.

We spent several hours the other day at American Eagle just buying regular clothes! We had a great time!

This is why I the idea of no visible logos and standard style peices (no fitted polos or bootcut pants,ect) needs to be enforced for dress code to work. We went to button down oxford shirts tucked in, no logos, and only standard uniform style pants this year and nothing else. Plain black dress style or tennis shoes only. Black belt. The handout is very specific about not allowing bootcut, flare ect. Only standard uniform style pants. We have found that giving too many options and not limiting the styles purchased leads to exactly what you are talking about. Uniforms from Abercrombie are not uniforms.

 

[sturdypeasantstock]

Uniforms, contrary to popular belief, do NOT save money-you now have to buy 2 sets of clothes for your kids, school clothes and play clothes.

What makes you an expert? You may not like the idea of uniforms (I think they look MUCH nicer than "playclothes", which are way too informal and often not age-appropriate) but in the long run they are much cheaper. You obviously don't like the idea of private schools either.

 

[teacherforhi]

Uniforms, contrary to popular belief, do NOT save money-you now have to buy 2 sets of clothes for your kids, school clothes and play clothes.

First of all, if your school's uniform is a polo and dress pants, there's no reason you can't wear that after school as well. You don't HAVE to change.

Secondly, am I the only person on Earth whose mother made them change after school even though I didn't have a uniform? Someone always tries to bring this up and it makes me wonder. When I was little, if I was going outside to play, I was not allowed to wear my good school clothes. Heck, if we were going somewhere later in the evening, I would change to play clothes, and then change back to good clothes. It's not a new concept.

 

[ksjayhawks]

I would get 6 shirts, 6 shorts, 6 pants. That way you can go all week and not have to wash school clothes and you have an extra in case something gets ruined.

You also do not need to buy a lot of play clothes either--8 outifts would get you through a week as well.

I wish we had uniforms (with the no logo) at our schools here.

 

[golfgal]

What makes you an expert? You may not like the idea of uniforms (I think they look MUCH nicer than "playclothes", which are way too informal and often not age-appropriate) but in the long run they are much cheaper. You obviously don't like the idea of private schools either.

Ok, whatever--not that our kids went to a PRIVATE Catholic school or anything .

I guess it is up to you if you let your kids play in their uniforms or not. Personally, I wanted to change out of my uniform as fast as possible when I got home. They just aren't all that comfortable and not suited for real play. Now, if you are sitting on the couch playing video games, it doesn't matter.

 

[Christine]

Ok, whatever--not that our kids went to a PRIVATE Catholic school or anything .

I guess it is up to you if you let your kids play in their uniforms or not. Personally, I wanted to change out of my uniform as fast as possible when I got home. They just aren't all that comfortable and not suited for real play. Now, if you are sitting on the couch playing video games, it doesn't matter.

My kids are the same way. Now when they were very young, came home, and just did homework they didn't necessarily change. Once the weather got warm and they were more active, they definitely changed when they got home. My son is now almost 16 and as soon as he gets home, he rips off the uniform. He's not putting on a whole new outfit but he does throw on a pair of shorts and shirt. All which needs to washed.

 

[Mimi1965]

My kids have uniforms
They rotate 3 pants and 4 shirts-because they have a fun shirt on Fridays

how on earth will you find shoes with no logo?

 

[cybrkitn]

We do it this way too, but EVERYTHING the kids wear except socks and leggings must come from the uniform store and be exactly the same style. I think it is GREAT because everyone has the same thing, so there is no "I want the brand of shirts SHE has, ect" All the private schools in town do it this way and use one of 2 uniform shops in town. From teacher's perspective, it also makes policing uniforms a lot easier. It is clear what is acceptable or not. Of course, public schools cannot get away with doing it that way.

We can get DS8's pants, socks, shoes and button down shirts from outside the uniform store without a problem. And I like that b/c it's much cheaper . His polo shirts, gym uniform, sweatshirts and sweaters (if we get) all have to have the school logo on it. His ties also have to come from the uniform store as well.

I just wish our uniform store was a bit more polite to their customers, not just during the busy period like now, but all the time. I also wish their seamstress would do a better job tailoring .

Although, I am happy about one thing. DS's school has a Uniform Exchange program available. Clothes in good condition are donated by the parents when their child out grows it (I've donated his old uniforms as well). It has made it easier and cheaper for parents to obtain the uniform for their child(ren). Most of his clothes have come from that program. The rest DH and I had to get from the uniform store b/c the exchange program didn't have his size.

 

[ilovejack02]

Ok, whatever--not that our kids went to a PRIVATE Catholic school or anything .

I guess it is up to you if you let your kids play in their uniforms or not. Personally, I wanted to change out of my uniform as fast as possible when I got home. They just aren't all that comfortable and not suited for real play. Now, if you are sitting on the couch playing video games, it doesn't matter.

I have saved tons with uniforms. I buy 4 sets of shorts and short sleeve for about 80.00, 2 pair of pants and 2 long sleeve. Dont spend more than 140.00 ish and I don't have to buy winter until almost Nov. Play clothes, aren't really needed, he can still wear his summer stuff all year unless we have a freak cold snap then I only buy a cpl of pairs of jeans and a warm up suit . 1 or 2 sets of nice church clothes and we are done. For year.

Ds 7 plays just fine in his uniforms , never complains about being uncomfortable.

My oldest is 21, he was introduced to uniforms at 6th grade. Best decision ever!!