Uniform for secondary school - do you buy just one size bigger or two?

My sons measures 28 inches on his chest . What size school blazer should I get. 30 or 31 or 32? We have to buy online from website . Also pe tops I know bigger probably better so 32/33? Any advice thank you

I buy clothes that are generous but fit. The blazer was £28 so not too expensive anyway. DS wears it all the time and it is now, nearly at the end of yr 7 looking a bit small but it will do to the end of term. But regardless, it is really quite worn out too, with a few small mends and the elbows going. I don't think there's any point buying massive if it wears out before he grows into it! He does play lots of kick about football in it at break and lunch, perhaps this is the problem.

Why buy 3 pairs of trousers Electrolux? Seems a lot! Though I got 6 shirts (3 packs of 2) as I try to wash whites once a week. The total uniform, including the things you mentioned and trainers, football boots, new shoes, was £320. It won't be quite so much next year as the pe kit ( which was pricy) won't need replacing, and last year I purchased a jumper and track suit bottoms, neither of which were worn so will not be replaced, though everything else will need to be bought again. If he can squeeze into the football boots I won't replace them!

Ds wears sweatshirt so never experienced buying blazers

A £35 blazer costs less than a pound a week if it lasts a year, 50p if they get two years out of it.

Why would you NOT get one that fits reasonably well?

Mind you, DC3's new (state) school blazer is in excess of £80 so I may be eating my words after the fitting next week!

DS is the only one of mine who wears a blazer. Each year (he is just finishing y9) I've bought one that looks like it has a reasonable amount of room, but doesn't look ridiculous, and then each summer I've had to buy a new one, and will need to again before this September. His school has a well-stocked secondhand uniform shop, so I'm not buying new any more.

Glad to see I'm not the only person who doesn't buy excessively big blazers, I was beginning to think I was unusual / wasteful after I posted yesterday.
There are some children at my DS school whose parents have bought blazers which are much too big and some of them look quite ridiculous. The blazers are far too long in the body and sleeves and far too wide in the chest.
My husband wouldn't buy a work suit which is 2 sizes too big as he would look silly. Obviously DH isn't growing and DC are but if you buy a blazer with what seems to be just the right amount of room it should last at least a year (by which time it might need replacing anyway due to wear and tear).

I have three DCs fairly close in age, so I don't need to buy oversized because they just get handed down. Three blazers in total will see them all through secondary.

If someone knows how to tell when their child will have a growth spurt

When it is most expensive or inconvenient.

My children usually have two a year: one in September when I've already bought everything, and another half-way through the school year when the shops stock hardly any uniform.

The school supplier suggested actually they insisted that I buy DS a blazer that was too big for him when we went shopping in the summer before he joined year 7.

Two years on, and the blazer fits him at long last, but its worn out, so needs replaced.

I think the answer about how big to buy is best answered with hindsight because it depends on when the puberty growth spurts are going to come. Some children shoot up when they start secondary, whilst others haven't had the big growth spurts by the end of year 8.

If someone knows how to tell when their child will have a growth spurt, I'd be grateful if they could lend me their crystal ball!

I buy a uniform that fits. If that means a bit of growing room great.. I do not wish my children to look like Charles Chaplin in a overgrown suit.

ds has needed a blazer for year 7 and for year 8 but this time going into year9 he wont need a new one. I don't think overall I will end up spending more than others.

DD1 and 2 wear sweatshirts I simply bought when needed.

DD3 will need a blazer. For September again we will get one that fits.

I do not tend to go for the " one size to big" I find it hugely frustrating to wear to big clothing or ill fitting clothing and I don't feel my children should have to either.

I buy what fits too, I hate ill fitting clothes. Ours are about £30 and I think that's fine for a years wear. I have the next size ready in everything for when it's needed.

DS is very annoyed at me for buying too big which only started to fit him just before he left, don't make my mistake.

DD has barely grown in last 2 yrs, which is handy!

Just one size too big.....school uniforms are nowhere near as expensive as they used to be,so don't fret.
They are good quality too,so last ages.
Now shoes,that's a different,more expensive story.

I tend to buy what fits with a bit of room and, if it's year 7, a spare in the next size up. Sports kit should be huge though - it's the rule lol. The dd1 s kit fitted her from year 7-11 and then dd2 joined the school and used the same kit year years 7-11too :). Mind you I still don't believe the " compulsory crested sweatshirt" was ever worn, by either of them.

Remember , with teenagers they do wear stuff out too - Blazers last 2yrs for the girls but only ever about 2.5 terms for DS ! The shirts are very good but get stiff under the arms so no point in buying too big!

I buy what fits.

I would say that it is common for new y7s to have blazer sleeves that reach to the knuckles. So I think that long 'fits in' rather than stands out. And you can't stop y7s looking small, they just are compared with y11s or even y13s.

I bought PE kit as big as I thought I could get away with, especially as there was no way DD1 was ever going to wear it to matches or anything.

DD1 pretty much stopped growing by y8, and I've only needed 1 blazer and 1 set of PE kit - result! PE kit still in fine nick, good enough for DD2 when she goes.

I bought dd the size that fits her now because I don't expect that she will grow much. Dd1 went up 1 size in the seven years she was there, I bought two lots of uniform and 1 PE kit in all that time. Dd2 is even smaller than dd1 was so expect the smallest size to fit until she is y10 or thereabouts

My DD's school have the logo embroidered onto the PE kit. Best uniform hack I was told was that most local dry cleaners have the logo on their machines and yes they do! Rather than pay £32 for ill fitting black PE trousers with logo, I now get £7 sports direct plus £6 logo fee and they even include in that fee DD's name prettily underneath so looks hugely fab and no one can get away with wearing her trousers AND I don't have to see in a name tape. win, win, win. If only so many other aspects of uniform were as simple...Careful with girls as they spurt out in all directions, I remember my mother lamenting the arrival of 'hips' that despite generous length of skirt entailed buying three skirts in one year and taking the skirt up on each one and the waist in on each one to allow for, erm, lateral growth and to stop them looking like a bag on me. If you don't sew, find a good dry cleaners who does simple alterations as it can save your sanity as well as your pocket.

Thankfully mine are at a school where the everyday uniform (apart from blazer & tie) can be purchased from anywhere.

The games kit and the PE kit are much trickier as all embroidered with logo. The tops are OK as it doesn't matter if they are a bit big, and I altered the waistband of the shorts to make them smaller. The tracksuit trousers are the kind with zips, which makes altering them beyond my sewing skills. I asked the school what to do about the tracksuit trousers (smallest size will fit DS2 and DS3 when they are in Y10!) and they sensibly allow plain tracksuit trousers in the same style.

It's hirrendous.

Ds is in age 7-8 trousers at the moment. The uniform is a suit though so he has to have a school specific pair (like the girls do) I can't just go to m & s like I do at the moment.

Trying to find secondary uniform in a chest size 24 must be awkward. The problem we have for DS2 and DS3 is the trousers. DS2 started Y7 in age 9 uniform trousers.

Ds needs a size 24!!

I buy uniform with a bit of growing room but not huge as I don't want them to look ridiculous.

In terms of blazer sizes, DS1 started Y7 in a size 32 blazer and even now (end of Y10) he is still only a 36.

DS2 started Y7 in a size 30 blazer as 32 looked ridiculous on him. It still fits now (end of Y8).