How much school uniform?

[Carolwithane]

DS 4 starts P1 in August (we're in Scotland)

Started thinking about buying his uniform but I'm not sure what I need. How many pairs of trs, jumpers, shirts etc.....

Also he is tall but slim, any recommendations for trousers? Is it worth buying more expensive brands or better with Asda etc....

I feel as if I don't know where to start so thus far I haven't started at all 😂

M and S do trousers in long leg, slim fit and a lot of other options.

how much depends how often you want to be washing!

also label everything!

He is likely to need a clean set everyday. So depending how often you do laundry depends on how much is needed. 3 minimum.

Do schools in Scotland do the PE kit on PE days thing? My DD currently wears PE kit three days, uniform two days...

Labels are the only I've purchased so far!

Oh I forgot about PE, I'll need to check that

They grow so fast I use Tu at Sainsburys which seem to fit and wash well work - early years i remember needing more as lunch down them but nowadays we have 2x jumpers 2x shorts 2x long trousers and one of the 4/5 pack of shirts or polos as they grown there is sometimes an over lap where they can use old and new sizes - buy a bit big and maybe in Scotland you won't need shorts in September so wait until summer. How much you want to wash does come into it and also getting them straight out of uniform as soon as home so no extra spills 😊

I hate washing so we have 6 sets, one for each day and one for the days he can’t get through breakfast without wearing it. One single wash and iron at the weekend and it’s all done.

I’d got for M&S or John Lewis uniform if you can, I found the quality to be much better than Asda or Tesco and it’s only a little more expensive. Asda trousers looked bobbly after a few washes.

M&S for tall and slim definitely. I have girls but it's the only uniform shop I can get skirts that stay up or trousers that aren't ridiculous.

Have to order the slim fit online.

And I'm probably OTT but I buy enough uniform for if any reason I couldn't do a wash in the week. And they have clean each day.

If it’s non branded and can be bought in the supermarkets, I’d probably get 5 sets unless you know you can wash more regularly.

M&S is good quality and washes well, and they usually have 20% off at some point in the summer which is a good time to stock up (I think maybe for a couple of weeks in July?). I love their non iron shirts! I'd get 5 or 6 shirts. For my DD, I have 3 school dresses and 3 cardigans. DS is starting school this year but is generally a bit more messy, so I think I'll get 4 pairs of trousers and 4 jumpers for him.

M&S uniforms are better than the supermarket and they have 20% off through the sparks card at the moment which makes them cheaper.

My ds has got a very narrow waist but is very tall. I like the adjustable fit trousers inside the waistband to make them fit nicely. I buy them from Tesco but most places sell them.

For primary I found sainsburys really good quality and long lasting. I have tall skinny kids. I usually wait for the 25%off to happen.
I've always done 5 shirts/polo's, 3 trousers/skirts and 3 jumpers. I've been able to afford those but could reduce trousers and jumpers to 2.

P1 (such a long time ago!) we managed with 2-3 pairs of trousers, 1 polo shirt for each day - 2 x packs of 3 from M&S (didn't want to wash mid week) and 3-4 sweatshirts would last the week. We only bought logo'd sweatshirts, just went for plain polo shirts.

Primary is a bit of a pain with uniform. Lots get lost and then there is the phase where they come home nearly every week with something marked with white board marker that just wont come off - so don't go too expensive.

After spending a fortune on labels that didnt stay stuck, stamps that washed out etc we found writing name in sharpie on the tags was the easiest and most robust way to label things.

Don’t expect them to be in the same size clothes for a school year.

I have 6 pairs of trousers for DS. One for each day and a spare in the bag as he started YR with some issues so still had accidents regularly. He can't get through a day without smearing his lunch all down his trousers so getting to ear a pair twice is a rare miracle.

I have 15 polo shirts but that's because they are the only white items in the whole house so I need to let them build up to justify a whites load!

3 jumpers but again they usually need a wash after every day.

When mine went into P1 I got enough for 5 days. M&S were good for my tall slim DD. I started with shirts but quickly swapped for polo shirts and at our school they can wear unbranded jumpers. The school logo jumpers are really expensive and take ages to be delivered so if your school is the same I'd order a logo one now. Its nice to have a shirt and logo jumper for their first day and for school photo day.

Our school also allows them to wear PE kit for the whole day on gym days. Its usually joggers and trainers instead of trousers and shoes, with a plain white polo.

You'll probably want a waterproof jacket as well. Our school play outside in all weathers and the school blazers are useless to keep warm or dry!

Our school also has "indoor shoes" which are the canvas plimsoll gym shoes. They live in a dooket in the P1 classroom so on days when its raining or snowing they play outside in wellies and change before going in/out the classroom.

Stikin labels are good. Definitely label everything including water bottle, backpack, any winter hats, gloves etc.

Three trousers
three jumpers
five polos
one pair of school shoes

this is plenty to get you through the year, one wash, one wear and one spare.

We get 5 pairs of everything as it usually gets dirty and can only be worn once. Depends how often you do the washing. We get everything from TU apart from branded school jumpers from the school.

Take into consideration about getting uniform washed/dried etc in winter. I don't have a tumble dryer so DD I think had around 6/7 sets of cardigans and skirts/pinafores as in winter it can take a couple of days for my washing to dry on an airer. Shirts she probably had 10, they're cheap enough plus always getting stained etc. If your child has to wear a tie also get a spare. I have a very messy child and she's always coming home with dinner and pen on her tie.
I also recommend M+S uniform, it doesn't get outworn. They have 20% off from Tuesday, works out around the same price as supermarket. I sold 2 of DDs pinafores on vinted this week, I got £4 for 2 of them. She's worn them all year (outgrown) but still look brand new. They will cost me just under £10 to replace so the new set are only costing me £6 really. Shirts I'd just get from anywhere though.

We had 4 sets. Ours wanted a set left in school in case of toilet accidents or getting drenched. That left three sets for daily wear with a midweek wash so the clothes worn on Monday and Tuesday could be worn again Thursday and Friday.

20%off M&S starts 5th July

These days you can get things delivered in a day. If you over buy you're stuck having wasted money. If you need more then you can simply pick some more up. My friend spends an absolute fortune on uniforms, having enough shirts, trousers, jumpers etc for a fresh one 5 days a week despite her doing daily laundry. She also gets rid of everything on the last day of school and buys all new before the school goes back.

I just buy a 5 pack of polo shirts, a twin pack of trousers (from George at Asda as they're great for tall slim kids if you get the adjustable waist ones) and a large school logo jumper. A twin pack of shorts too if last years no longer fit. I also get a couple of smart school shirts for photo day. (Waste of money there tbh)
The polo shirts never get passed the first two in the pile in his drawer because they're washed and put back then re-worn so by the summer holidays he has 3 pristine, unused tops left . We keep them and do not need to buy the whole lot again the next year if they still fit. If not, they're handed into the school swap shop and we buy new again.

As for labelling? I highly recommend ditching the sew in or stick on ones. They sometimes fall off in the wash or get removed by a thieving swine parent (had kids in schools for 13 years now so seen it all) and get yourself a stamptastic stamp set. I had a stamp made of my family surname as we're the only ones in the area and it did for all my 3 weans. It also meant I could pass down items that were in good nick. The stamped ink never faded even after 4 years despite almost daily washing of that particular school jumper. (Hella good quality jumper to last that long and 3 kids!)

I get trousers from m and s. Found Asda ones really baggy. Three jumpers. Cheapest polo shirts you can find as they get stained all the time.

DD1 I could get away with 3 cardigans for the week - DD2 views yoghurt as a clothing accessory so no chance. I tend to buy enough not to need to wash all week - and our school don't really care about logo cardigans much (we have them as part of the "encouraged" uniform) so I tend to buy 1-2 of those huge sized for photos and "smart" occasions and then the bulk of the time they're in plain ones from Asda.

Labelling wise - I have tried everything - sew in labels but they got cut out and nicked, sharpie doesn't work amazingly as our uniform's navy so you've got to sharpie the labels and hope the labels get looked at. Best solution I found last year was that I have a cricut machine and used the offcut scraps of heat transfer vinyl to cut out names and ironed them in - they've lasted all year and they're really clearly visible in necks of cardigans etc but aren't itchy or anything (DD2 is autistic with loads of sensory issues).

I keep a couple of polo shirts back for days later in the term where you need them to look smart but theirs have lost fights with whiteboard pens.

If possible, don't be sucked into paying the outrageous prices for school logo polos from the school. We did that and the shirts stained so badly just from mud alone that they were unusable after the first uses. I tried all the tricks to clean them but the stains were awful. The cheaper Asda, Matalan and M&S ones always washed great.