to wonder why people care what they look like on the school run?

[headinclouds101]

Just what it says really. I have gleaned from other forums that some do care very much. I would make an effort dressing for work, or a night out - but beyond being clean could truly not give a toss what I look like at pick up time.
So why? Who are you dressing up for? Not a judgement - just genuine bemusement...

Dont forget the rule that 4 x 4 drivers on a school run must look and dress like their out for an evening :o

I prefer to go out looking decent wherever I'm going. Doesn't always happen of course!

I never leave the house without make up (unless going to gym/running) and making an effort with what I wear as after the school run I will be going to the supermarket, meeting a friend for coffee or something else. I just like to make an effort for me, to make me feel good and look better than I do without make up.

Some people don't wear make up anyway, some people will just be popping to school and nowhere else all day so it might not matter to them what they wear. Some people don't get out of the car to drop the kids off. It's all personal taste and what your daily routine is like.

I always wore make up and made an effort for work but everyone is different.

I was accused of dressing up today when I did the school run, but the reality was that I wore a skirt and boots because I hate having wet trousers that cling to my legs and leave slug trails over the carpet when I get home. And it was chucking it down when I left the house.

I don't do a school run but do always try to make an effort.

If I don't wear make up, people will ask me if I'm ill and I have wildly curly hair which I have to tame just to look ok-ish.

I try and look half decent most of the time but it is not for other peoples benefit I just feel manky if I don't. Saying that the mornings are such a rush I often turn up looking skanky and don't really care but I doubt I would spend the rest of the day looking like that. At DCs school most people seem to be just wearing normal sorts of outfits (jeans and jumper etc). The ones who are dressy are often on their way to work. Some just always dress up. People can dress however they like IMO. I pay very little attention to it. I only ever at women in really high heels who seem to be struggling to walk properly. But I always think that, nothing to do with the school run.

I try to look decent...bt of makeup and tidy clothing. Just because it's early there's no need to look a mess.

I wear what I wear.
Sometimes I undertake the school run with hair still wet from shower, sometimes in top work-important-meeting get up. My school gate friends can be in anything from gym kit to paint splashed decorating overalls to something so ordinary I don't notice or something I covet.

Who cares? No-one I am interested in having more than a passing hello with does!

I get up and ready before the school run so just wear whatever I'm wearing that day, don't most people?

Though I am a bit about the mum who always turns up wearing a full face of make up but is in her pyjamas, surely if she has the time to apply full make up she has time to exchange her pj bottoms for a pair of jeans.

I have actually dropped off in nightie with coat and boots to cover it up! Have worn same in car but without the boots

SheWillBeLoved Thu 11-Nov-10 15:07:58
All of this bitching about mums who make an effort just reeks of jealousy. "Oh look at her, where the hell does she think she is, Fashion Week in Paris?" - feck orf. Some people prefer the more casual look, some people are more comfortable dressed nicely and so are bound to look dressed up in a school yard full of mums in their husbands tracksuit bottoms and Uggs. How do you know they make an effort just for the school run? You don't, so peel off your judgey pants and put on a nice frock for once [runs

i agree i don't have a job that i need to dress up for but i like to look nice i rather suspect that's were the school gate mafia bitchiness comes from i like making the effort
all the lot a my boys school were middle aged wore their husbands work shirts in and uggs good for them but that's not for me i like heels i love lipstick especially hussy red and adore dresses and nice coats

my dad say a woman should always look and smell like a flower

I like to look like joan Crawford whether going to work, going to the zoo, travelling, or nipping to the shops. I tend to wear only dresses or 1940s trousers and have an array of outre vintage outer garments. I always put some makeup on in the morning whatever I'm doing. I even put perfume on at night when I'm sleeping on my own. I don't own jeans or anything casual.

Hasn't occurred to me to give a hairy gnat's chuff to care what anyone thinks. This is my aesthetic and carries over into my love of films and music.

I have heard some bitchy things said behind my back. Along the lines of 'I must be so insecure to care so much'

That said, I wouldn't judge anyone for turning up in pyjamas. It just wouldn't occur to me.

I think it's a bit off to drop your child off in what is obviously pajamas (and I don't mean tracky bottoms, loungy pants etc) - there's a father at our school who regularly does this and they're not even clean, it's a bit grim and I always think it must be so embarrassing for the child.

Even if you're been on night shift etc, how hard is it to pull on a pair of jeans?

As others have said, the school run is just part of the day. I 'make an effort' for the school run exactly as I do every day. I never roll out of bed and stay like that all day. I never wear jeans or trouser, mostly dresses. I love fashion and beautiful clothes and I want to wear them.
I can never see why people wear their nicest clothes the least. I used to buy something and after a couple of suppers or nights out it would be old looking or I was fed up with it or it no longer fitted me. I wear the clothes I love now -wear them all the time. I like to. Life is too short to just go through the motions every day.
I quite understand those who don't care. I understand those who are not interested. What I don' t understand is those who say they don't care but really do or they wouldn't notice or care what I am wearing

Like others said, I dress for the life I have after the school run. Most of the time this is smart casual work gear, with full make-up (why would anyone think I was dressing like that for their benefit?!), on Fridays and holidays, it's what I wear in my free time, which is not too trendy, not too smart but nice skinny jeans, boots and coat. I'm not dressing specifically FOR those mums, but for the world outside my house. For me, that is make-up and what I think are nice clothes. I don't give a monkey's if others want to create a different impression.

I like the mum who turns up in full Boden gear with her Uggs on full display and drops some line about a designer label and has her Emma Bridgewater box on full view in the back of the car.

I think she's a shallow show off but I'm still a bit jealous cos she does look good.

pagwatch hear, hear.

Life is too short, and you're a long time dead. And the world is dreary enough without adding to it.

I wouldn't categorically say I only present myself - for me. Obviously I am also aware of the impression I make. But it's more complicated and more multi-dimensional than 'I do it for me' would suggest. But I'd say much of it is about how I feel.

I wear frighteningly niche (and hideously expensive) perfumes for my benefit, because I could use anything and mostly people wouldn't know. But I'd know. I have to sleep in perfume or else it feels wrong. I sit on the sofa (and am right now, wearing Tabac Blond) and sniff myself.

I wear silk jersey because it feels incredible on your skin, and moves like nothing else. You swap jeans for a pair of vintage crepe Jean Muir palazzo pants and you just move differently. And any mumsy arse looks great in them. The casual observer probably wouldn't know or care but you hold yourself differently and swish about like women did when they cared about posture.

I am a right ponce and proud of it.

" like the mum who turns up in full Boden gear with her Uggs on full display and drops some line about a designer label and has her Emma Bridgewater box on full view in the back of the car.

I think she's a shallow show off but I'm still a bit jealous cos she does look good."

Don't worry, she's just desperately lower middle class

Does anyone consider that people might be doing it, in part, for their children? So their children are proud that their mum or dad looks a bit smarter or is one of the well turned out ones? Not to raise them as shallow but I'd hate to embarras my children. They are preschool age anyway so I'm not sure at what age this may or may not become an "issue"...

I dont mean designer labels in relation to the above post by the way, just not in pj's, tatty fleece, etc