School trousers in natural fabrics that fit skinny minnies- Holy grail?

[SirVixofVixHall]

DD is starting a new school in September. It has only just been confirmed so I haven't got all the uniform details, but ideally they like you to buy from a selection of school approved styles in a local shop. However my dd is particularly slender framed, and she also has really sensitive skin which doesn't do well with synthetics and anti-stain coatings. I am also concerned about Eco issues and don't like buying anything coated in teflon or made of polyester etc. So this will be really tricky. At her current school the uniform is navy and this hasn't been too tricky, as she could wear cords. So the brief for the new school is black trousers, not too narrow in the leg or boot cut. The only skirt is maroon and comes in one style which is so annoying as she likes to wear skirts but getting one in maroon will be a nightmare (the regulation one is synthetic and also vast). Any ideas for black slim-child fit trousers in a natural fibre that aren't skinny legged? She is 10.

[bishboschone]

Don't know about the materials but next do slim fit which I always buy my slim dd

[plentyofshoes]

Next again.

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

Hi, not sure if the fit is right but these are pure cotton: www.marksandspencer.com/pure-cotton-girls-skin-kind-trousers-2-16-years-/p/p22406277

[SirVixofVixHall]

I've ordered the M+S ones, but I expect they will be too big around her waist. Maybe they will be alterable. Am off to look at next online.

[SirVixofVixHall]

The standard school ones in Next are the right style but they are polyester and also they are Teflon coated. They do have some called "formal trousers" that seem to be mainly cotton with a bit of lycra, but they look as though they would be too narrow in the leg for the school rules. They also have a turn up. I might get some though and see how they look on, but from the pictures they will be frowned upon. I don't understand why the school skirts aren't also black, that would give more of a chance to get an alternative, but the fact they are maroon makes it very tricky. I haven't seen a single maroon skirt that isn't coated poly as no-one makes maroon skirts for anything but school uniform and there is this bizarre idea that uniform has to be covered in teflon to avoid stains. Even though everyone has a washing machine.

[SirVixofVixHall]

The Marks and Spencer skin kind ones arrived an hour ago. They are huge around the waist. They have elastic adjusters but the elastic would need to be pulled in so far that it would look terrible. She also only had them on for two minutes and they somehow attracted fluff like iron filings to a magnet. I am taking them to an alterations lady to see if she can take them in. I'd also ordered some knit fabric ones and they are massive too, they will have to go back. I actually had tears in my eyes seeing her in the uniform, as it looked so terrible! The shirt collar is too wide (skin kind shirts) and gapes, there is a clip on tie which looks dreadful as it makes the collar mis-shapen and you can see the metal clip. This combined with the gaping collar looks ghastly. There is a reason why men's shirts come in collar sizes, and this is it. Ties look terrible on collars that are too big. I hate ties on girls anyway. The shirt is ok but even in a 9-10 rather than 10-11 it is massive in the body. They do a slim fit shirt but not in cotton. Then she will have an unspeakably ugly maroon jumper over the top. WHY on God's earth can't schools make uniforms even passably attractive, and uniform vendors make uniforms in a decent range of sizes and fabrics? It looks like a bus conductor's uniform from the mid 80s.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

omg that sounds ghastly.

is your dd under a Dr for the sensitive skin (does she have eczema/allergies) would it be worth a shot getting a note explaining her medical issues in the hope may be exempt from the restrictions making it impossible to kit her out?

[SirVixofVixHall]

No she's not under the GP's care for her skin. She doesn't have full on eczema, just a tendency towards rashy irritated skin (we are a very fair skinned and allergy prone family), so I am careful with washing powders and avoid anything unnecessary like coatings on fabric. She also gets rashy easily if she gets hot and sticky, so I stick to cotton for school tops and dresses, which has been fine so far.
I've just seen a plain 100% cotton white shirt on the John Lewis website so I will order that to see if it is a better fit than the M&S one. She is hard to buy trousers for anyway as she is very slight but tall, so wears a lot of dresses out of school. I assumed they could wear a black skirt which would be a bit easier to get, I could even make one without too much trouble, but the skirt is maroon.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

That's just purely ridiculous.

[burnishedsilver]

Why not make a maroon skirt?

[SirVixofVixHall]

I think it will be a lot harder to get the right colour fabric for the skirt than if it was black, but I have been googling, so maybe I will get lucky. They complained that some girls had been wearing skirts that were too tight, so they've banned the black skirts and brought in the one regulation skirt, which is a fairly strange shape (straightish, but with shaped hips that will bag out on all the littler girls) and a really vile fabric/colour. I think if I can find fabric I will be able to make a simple skirt that will fit dd and pass muster, but black would have been much easier. And grey easier still. Maroon looks better with grey anyway. The school is in a chilly bleak place and the black and maroon uniform is so dismal and depressing. Never mind the horror that is a clip on tie.

[TulipsAndSwifts]

Do you have a tailor/ess service in your area? If you were able to buy some organic cotton material, pre shrink it and ask the tailor/ess to make up some trousers to fit your dd.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I am going to ask the seamstress in town if she will do it, she does do alterations. I could make a skirt but I haven't ever made trousers and would rather someone else did them really. Perhaps she could also tweak the shirts so they aren't so wide- although it is the collar that looks the most unflattering and that would be a nightmare to alter.

[SirVixofVixHall]

The next slim ones have arrived and they are still huge around the waist. I bought the 11 as that was the right size according to the guide (she is 146cm tall, possibly slightly more). They have a little bit of room length wise but I think the age 10 would be too short, maybe should try it just in case. She is really tiny for her height. We have very narrow ribs in my family, which means her waist and chest are particularly small (22" chest). The John Lewis shirts in an age 9 are a really good fit though, as they are slim and tailored, so they don't look hugely wide like the others. They are more expensive than the M&S ones but look good quality so I'm going to buy more, I just hope the school won't complain that they are fitted shirts. I think trousers are going to be bloody impossible. I've been looking at non-uniform black trousers too, but haven't found anything appropriate. I don't care what they cost. She is going to high school a year early so I just want her to feel good in her uniform and not to add to any stress she may have on the first day.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

sooo ridiculous

[SirVixofVixHall]

I haven't spoken to the seamstress in town yet, maybe the skin kind ones will be easy to take in. I found some good ones online on a website that sells Eco uniforms but they aren't the right colour. Great for my smaller dd as they do navy skirts etc, but not for DD1. Out of school she has some French trousers as they come up smaller, but they are on the big side round the waist. I've looked on all the French websites (La Redoute, Verbaudet, Cyrillus etc) but couldn't find anything black. At this rate I'm going to have to get a pattern and get them made to fit. It would be much easier if she was a more average size.