To be pleasantly surprised (Girlguiding uniform)

My daughter would hate the pink on the rainbows uniform. Other option would be to swelter in the long sleeve stripey top.

Good job she's not in rainbows.

I'm surprised her leader didn’t mention it when you joined. I'm a leader and we've been telling new starters since September so they can decide whether to buy new/less or to search out preloved/the already reduced items.

They look great! I’m surprised too.

There is a lot of research into change management. One common reaction is negativity. Apparently by ignoring the negatives and focusing on those who are positive you actually help people to adapt to change more quickly.

There is a female design of the Scout shirt, they are listed as a Scout 'blouse'. As the mother of Scouts/Explorers I do wish the would change them for something more practical/modern. Mine haven't had the opportunity to buy a unit polo since they were in Beavers/Cubs so they are long outgrown. An official scouting polo that I could replace as they sized out would be far more useful.

We only have one or two parades a year. We need a uniform that's practical and can actually be worn. DS is a Scout. They wear their shirts for the start and end of the meeting only as it's restrictive. It is possible to dress our mix and match uniforms to look smart. Like many units we asked foe black leggings or school trousers/skirts and tied back hair. We also add our unit neckers to tie everyone together.

I like it, the Guide's outfit is so much better. I was a brown dress Brownies and shirt and skirt Guide. I particularly hated the little airhostess hat Guides had at the time.

Surely a polo/jumper combination same as cubs and beavers would cover it?
Badges on the jumper and practical polo shirt for summer
I always feel for the girls in scouts/explorers wearing a shirt. I would have hated it the guide shirts were bad enough but at least designed for girls.

I love the new uniform. I think the more muted colours for the older sections are definitely more what they want than the bright red, and I think everyone will look more "uniform" together for the events that are often Guide plus age. I've had radio silence from my Rangers since I shared it with them, but to be fair that doesn't mean they don't like it.

I absolutely adore the Rainbow update! I'm definitely not a pink person, but the long sleeved top and zipped hoodie with the trim are so cute. I wish I could fit into it! I think the Brownies look really lovely too and it instantly says Brownies.

I love that they've used 100% natural fibres in most of the pieces too, so much more breathable and sustainable for the planet😊

We were too busy hitting each other with the hats to be fair.

You could make a corking split up your Brownie dress climbing on the railings outside our meeting hall - I found that one out.

I despised my Brownie uniform dress. It wasn’t comfortable and wasn’t especially practical for most of the activities we did. It just felt like putting another school uniform.

Guide uniforms were absurd at that time. How were you supposed to hike through woods and build fires and play rounders in a stiff collared shirt and a smart skirt? Utter shite.

I grew up in a particularly cold part of Scotland and we all wore our Brownie dresses over our school uniform!

Girlguiding's newest identity crisis. Dreading looking into a room of Rainbows and being blinded by all the colours

Agreed. My son is an explorer and his scout group only make the kids wear uniform once a month or for public events, because it's so impractical for actually doing scout stuff! They are sea scouts so spend the entire summer in wetsuits anyway!

What Scouts need is a smart outer layer, like a fleece.

Disagree with the achievability of the Scout badges whole heartedly! Yes some are specialist (the equestrian springs to mind) but the majority of the others are quite achievable, especially with a well run troop.

Edit to add:
The challenge removing Scouts shirts, are what do you do with their badges? Most 14 yr boys (and many younger!) are not going to wear a sash!

A t-shirt won't cover it - and will look a bit crap on parade (4 or 6 times a year).

Although most Troops have their own group t-shirt for some activities which covers the need. We don't - we cover a deprived area, and do our best to reduce costs and expectations wherever we can. Like others, the kids wear their school trousers/skirts for parades which work well wit their shirts.

I’ve ordered some bits for DDs this morning. Look forward to it arriving! I’ll definitely get a leader t-shirt - I like that it has leader on the back for events etc. I usually wear my PGL hoodie with my name on at events but having a lighterweight option with ‘leader’ on is great. I like that there’s a T-shirt and polo shirt option. Cargo trousers look interesting too.

The previous red and blue Guide one made them look like they were moonlighting for Dominoes delivery so I'm glad that got binned. I was the era of the transition over to the Jeff Banks one as a Guide, but I do miss those lovely cabin crew type hats you could really have cracking fights hitting your friend with.

In the end, disappointingly since I got so much out of Guiding as a kid (I'm still in touch with my old Guide and Brownie leaders) - my kids didn't gel with Rainbows (our local one couldn't deal with DD1 not being the type of girl to sit and colour in quietly) and ended up going all the way up through Scouting - not an issue with the organisation as a whole - it's just very luck of the draw about how groups are in your neck of the woods.

If you don't mind spending out on a new uniform and your only objection is moving badges then stitch ripper to get them off the old uniform and fabric glue to put them on the new one.

Or buy the warmer layer in the new design for her to wear over her polo.

I am a bit annoyed in a selfish way 🤣 I know my rainbow will want the new uniform and I won’t begrudge getting her it. But I have spent ages sewing her bloody badges onto her polo shirt (I’m now the best at sewing!) and she will be moving up to brownies in March so it doesn’t feel worthwhile to take them off the polo shirt and sew them onto something else again but I know she would want them on her new uniform! If only they’d waited a year 🤣

Brownies do much more outdoor & adventure stuff now.
Would you want to do orienteering, climbing, abseiling and football in a dress?

There's lots of evidence that shows that girls wearing skirts & 'girl' shoes do a lot less physical activities & games than those wearing joggers & trainers

Yes I loved my brownies dress and the little pouch but this is the 2020s people! These are girls are active, brave and adventurous individuals and they need clothes to match.

i love the new look, i especially like the way you only really need the T shirt to know that you are part of the group - it makes it accessible to everyone. I think the whole look is really sustainable.

Re Scouts.

Apparently they are updating the uniform.

They've been saying this for about five years though!

The necker is the distinctive thing but a change to polo shirts for all sections really wouldn't go amiss tbh. It's not like the badges when you get to scout level are reasonably achievable (if you do them properly and don't just fudge them) apart from nights away due to lunacy by someone who wrote the criteria.

I’ve still got my brownie dress and bobble hat etc. I don’t know why I kept it. It was very impractical really. The straightness of the skirt was rubbish when playing games that needed you to run and jump. The worst uniform though was the jumpers with massive writing on.

I'd never have got DD to Rainbows (had I wanted to) if the uniform was pink and rainbows. Bit twee. Everything else looks fine