School Uniform - bee in my bonnet about girls' uniforms

[BlueberryPancake]

DS school has pretty standard uniform - grey trousers or shorts, black shoes, white polo and navy jumper with school logo. That's it basically for the boys.

But girls' uniforms have all sorts of fancy trims on polo shirts, you can get about ten different types of shirts with fancy buttons, pinned at the waist or with a little waist belt, fancy collars, etc, and about 20 different styles of skirts and trousers, not to mention the summer dresses in many different lenghts, styles and colors.

They even get plimsoles with pink flower designs inside!!

Am I the only one thinking that it's just not right?

[lovecheese]

Do you want your boy to be in frills??

[BlueberryPancake]

No but I want the girls to have the same restrictions as boys!

[SauvignonBlanche]

What do you want?

[BlueberryPancake]

I care mostly because girls can still express themselves through their clothing at school and boys can't. All the boys wear exactly the same clothing, and girls are not. I personally think that's unfair on boys.

[frogs]

You can get boys' trousers with or without cargo pockets on the legs, for example?

[Gigantaur]

that's probably because if you offered a boy a pair of trousers with a slight embelishment on them they would turn their nose up and plump for the plain ones anyway.
shops want to make as much money as possible. if they could charge more for a trouser that had a skull on it they would provide it.

[Blu]

Do the boys care or find it unfair?

Personally I am exasperated that someone has decided that little girls must have all sorts of frills and colours and accessories - treating them like little fashionistas!

Although my real feeling is that primary schools can dowithout uniforms completely!

[thisisyesterday]

i kind of agree, i thbink all this fannying about with poncy uniform is unnecessary

[thisisyesterday]

the other thing is, with so much room for variation it's barely a uniform anyway

i fail to see why the girls can't just have one sort of skirt, or one style of summer dress

[BlueberryPancake]

Blu I agree, and that's what started my thoughts on this. I heard one mum this morning saying 'I HAD to buy those plimsolls with flowers otherwise there is NO WAY that MY little girl would ever wear a plain pair of black shoes'.

But having said that my DS was very upset about wearing a uniform. He wants to wear his own cloths and choose them, he wants to wear his Ben 10 t shirt and his Hot Wheels socks!! He is OK now but first day at reception I had to bribe him to wear the uniform.

And also, other point, I am from a country where there are no school uniforms and I find it also a bit poncy. But a) it's a good school and close to our house and b) there are no primary schools in our area that doesn't have a uniform.

[MumInBeds]

my ds is at a strict secondary now so no adaptation of uniform but in primary he wore socks, boxers, hats and coats with patterns he liked and also was allowed to hang a keyring on his trouser belt-loop to fiddle with as his aspie traits make him pull on and fiddle with things when in an anxious situation so it's not without some individuality.

[ramonaquimby]

i saw frilly plimsolls for the first time at M&S on the weekend, they had an embroidered flower with pink stitching.......whatever for?!?!?!

I have 3 girls and think there is no need for flower buttons, butterfly motifs, frilly collars, bootleg trousers, scalloped hems......and on and on. you're not the only one.

[BlueHair]

Sounds like you are annoyed about boys uniform rather than girls.
We had a pair of plimsoles with a pretty flower - they were the only pair, out of about 10 shops that fitted and tbh after that pair, she wore Doodles as I wasn't going through the searching again. Plimsoles should be banned - bloody cheap rubbishy things to put on a child's foot.

My dd wears shirts with a frilly collar - she takes great pride in her appearance. Ds couldn't give a hoot what he wears to school.

I'm not a big fan of school uniform - fine if it's vague but at primary level once it starts getting strict, it completely loses its appeal.

[ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave]

Is there a rule saying that boys can't wear fancy buttons on their shirts/different styles of waistband on their trousers, different lengths of shorts or have patterned linings in their shoes?

It strikes me that your gripe isn't so much with the restrictions/lack of restrictions as with what use has been made by parents and manufacturers of the implied latitude within the rules -- so the rules presumably allow for plain black shoes with, say, a Ben 10 patterned lining, but parents of boys haven't demanded them so shoe manufacturers don't make them.

If I were you I'd be glad to belong to a sub-group of parents who don't make such stupid comments as "there is NO WAY that MY child would ever wear a plain pair of black shoes"...

[Raahh]

I like having the different collars on the polo shirts- otherwise Ds would probably go to school in his sister's tops (even though she is 3 years younger-he is such a skinny bean they would probably fit!.

I like school uniform- far less stressful than having to battle dd on what mismatched outfit she wants to wear each morning. It also makes her feel(just started reception) like one of the 'big girls' and part of something. Ds would go in his pj's and not care...

[colapips]

My ds uniform is traditional knee high socks, formal shorts, shirt, tie, blazer. And I love it - and considering the comments I get from strangers in the street so do they.

And the cost of the uniform is under £10 excluding the blazer, I know the blazer is expensive but I can't stand polo shirts as uniform IMO they are the pe kit.

[HuckingFell]

tbh i have two girls and i find it ridiculous. our school has one jumper style/one cardigan, grey trousers for boys and school kilt for girls. everyone to wear plain smart black shoes. the shirts have to be std issue with pointy collars and long sleeves.

i do think the girlification of basics like gym shoes, shirts, polos totally unnecesary.

[BlueHair]

But why does what other kids wear bother you so much? Keep your kids in plain polos - no one is stopping you!

[emkana]

I love it that my girls can express their individuality while still wearing the prescribed colours. Would be happy for boys to have the same option - maybe manufacturers will get onto that?

[DontCallMeBaby]

There are no more restrictions on boys' uniform than on girls' at DD's school - the restrictions are imposed by the manufacturers, who make one style of ugly school shoe for boys and 27,000 for girls. And so on. Despite all the girlification, three of the girls in her class wear boys' shorts - brilliant!

[BlueberryPancake]

OK I'm off to buy the greenest mostest Ben 10 waterproof coat in the world for DS!!!

[Northernlurker]

I think all uniform is absurd and should be abolished!

[Sexonlegs]

Ikwym.

DD1 is 7 but so so aware of fashion. She comes home saying she no longer likes her dress/skirt etc because it is not the same as x, y and z's whose has flowers, hearts etc on it and then refuses to wear it. If there was one standard style it would be fab.