Ridiculous uniform policy for secondary

@Outd00rs most schools I know seem to sell uniforms via the school themselves then also at one specific shop.
I suppose that's how they get round the "no single supplier" thing.

Is it illegal to have a single supplier? Don’t think it can be as all the schools in our area have to use the same on supplier in town (queues out the door at this time of year). Secondary school uniform is expensive and not suited to learning.. our primary school has great uniform - polo short, sweater and anything grey on the bottom. Kids are comfy and learn well and it’s washes a treat - I’m all for it. Cut to year seven and it’s a white shirt which gets stained and has to be ironed, plastic blazer (logo £50), tie (really even my hubby hasn’t worn a tie for twenty years), trousers or skirt (skirt with logo and only comes in waist sizes so on my tiny girl comes down to her ankles, on her tall friends it’s above the knee and they risk detention) logo jumper, logo PE t shirt and shorts, stud boots, school PE socks the list goes on and on. It costs hundreds to kit out my kids each year and it is uncomfortable and frankly my very petite daughter looks ridiculous in a blazer and tie - like she’s dressed up as a 1920s banker! Plus the ties are dangerous in DT and science. And don’t get me started on skirt lengths, shoe types, hairstyle restrictions… aaaah! It’s not getting them ready for real life at all. They even have a rule that sixth formers have to wear business wear now! What? We wore ripped jeans by that age - so oppressive!

Oh, but they did get out free uniforms to their first batch of students when they reopened as an academy. That's quite nice at least.

My secondary school actually had a hoodie as part of the uniform, as an alternative to the uniform jumper. Weirdly I was the only person who wore it, everyone else opted for the jumper.
Then it got taken over by an academy trust some years after I left and went down the blazer and shirt and tie route.

@Parker231 exactly.
One hoodie + one decent coat can be worn anytime. School or not school.
A blazer can only be worn to school so parents would still need to buy a coat and hoodie.
Why buy 3 things when 2 does the job.

The big advantage of a hoodie is that in non uniform schools it can be worn during the school day, evenings, weekends and holidays whereas no one is going to be seen out of school in any item of school uniform.

St Paul’s, which regularly tops the lists for the best girls school in the country, is non-uniform. Doesn’t seem to affect employability. The focus is on learning.
If you have a look at their website you can see that it’s not a fashion parade.

@TizerorFizz most parents would prefer to buy a hoodie (less than a tenner from Primark) and a basic winter coat than a stupid blazer regardless of whether it's polyester or wool.

I’m also not in a bubble. I just understand fashion economics and marketing.

My DDs didn’t have ties. V neck shirts and jumpers. I don’t think school is linked to work attire. 6th form yes. Y7, no. Of course they don’t need ties and blazers but I don’t think parents want to buy school uniform coats so blazers are substituted. My DDs had wool blazers so like mini coats. Most parents don’t want the expense so polyester blazers it is. I agree they are awful.

This was one of the reasons I chose my DD's school as they don't wear ties or blazers. They wear open neck shirts and jumpers. DD has as a reasonable adjustment that she can wear trainers.

No one has said that, though. Everyone has consistently said that yes, many teens like brands. But not all.

I think you must be in a bubble if you think all teens are exactly the same and they all like brands.

Yanbu. Most secondary uniform isn't fit for purpose.
Smart shoes, when most offices are smart casual and we all wear fresh clean trainers. Shoes aren't fit for walking distances in either.
Blazers, barely see a suit in our business park these days. Those people stand out like a sore thumb.
Ties, nope, barely a thing anymore.

Teens need to be able to wear comfortable clothes and uniform polo shirts. Would take away the sensory issues straight away too.

All these companies are wasting their money then? I don’t think so. I think some of you live in your own bubbles of similar people. Not my world.

My 12yo, though she loves brands and has a few bits.

It still doesn't change the fact not all teens like brands. Yes, many do. And tend to keep those things for socialising. Some don't.

My DS like many autistic DC couldn't give a damn what the fashion is or what anyone else is wearing. He wears what he likes.

This is hilarious. How many times do we have to say it - we know many teens like brands, all we have said is our personal experience of non-uniform schools is they tend to leave their branded clothes for the weekend.

We have a low income, my DS's friend was from a wealthy family - I had no idea they both just wore similar jeans and hoodies.

No, they didn't. What we said was our DC who go to non-uniform schools tend to just wear jeans and hoodies to school and wear their best gear after school/weekends/holidays.

Then you and Smoothie just went on and on about how people like fashion and teens like fashion etc. No one was disagreeing with you. You were just arguing with yourselves! 😂

I was the teen buying my clothes from charity shops. Loved it in 6th form and I didn't have to wear uniform any more and went to school in my charity shop hippy clothes*. I remember actually one of the 6th formers used to write a column in the local newspaper, and she wrote a column at the beginning of 6th form about the wide variety of styles worn, so it wasn't just me, many had their own style.

*not long after that ponchos came back into style but I was way ahead with my mum's crocheted poncho she made in the late 60s

Come on, 11-year-olds understand that the discussion is about trends and not about minorities thinking otherwise.
Some research organisations earn a lot of money by researching teens' choices. I bet that mother standing next to the kid in Nike trainers says: oh, my son doesn't care.
Companies are very careful what a footballer or basketballer or Kayane West or other teen idol wears. The next day the shops are prepared to sell thousands of these

@TizerorFizz @Smoothie23
SOME teens care about brands.
SOME care but their parents simply can't afford it so they don't have it.
SOME buy all their clothes from charity shops and create their own look.
SOME aren't interested in clothes at all so just wear plain t-shirts and trackies from Primark.
All teens are different....that's not exactly complicated to understand.

I can only base my comments on my DT’s, their classmates and cousins across several countries. They were glad to wear their shorts/tshirts or jeans/hoodie each day - as was I as it saved me a fortune.

Exactly @TizerorFizz.
All discussions with those here who claim that teens don't care for brands I see as pointless. Yeah, kids don't wear Nike and prefer Tesco's own brand of trainers- laughing stock. Simply, they don't know the data on what sells well among teens and base their opinions on their assumptions.

@SummerDays2020 Er? No they didn’t. They claimed not to know about fashion designers and said frequently dc don’t either . @Smoothie23 and me thought differently and trends would be seen without a uniform. That doesn’t mean I want expensive uniforms but at expensive schools you just cannot recognise the very rich from looking at dc. In state schools you can look at hair, shoes, nails, make up, coats etc. Non uniform would make it fairly obvious who has money.

I don't think there is a point. Other than to say people like fashion which everyone has agreed on pages ago!