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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To dislikethenotion of 'school run' outfits

169 replies

Sleepyfergus · 13/06/2015 17:26

Sets my teeth on edge when people describe outfits as being suitable or appropriate for 'school run' like it has to be of a certain standard or type to be deemed ok.

I think it's a bit sad that some folk might feel pressurised to look or dress a certain way before they can drop off or pick up at school.

OP posts:
ouryve · 13/06/2015 20:43

It's George's best, around here. :o

MamaLazarou · 13/06/2015 20:44

(Although, to be fair, calling it a 'School Run Dress' and then getting shirty at people for assuming it's a dress one would put on especially for the school run is a bit off)

MissHavishamDreams · 13/06/2015 20:44

This is just so funny. Some people myself included just like fashion/make up etc and I always make an effort to look nice.

This.

So what happens if you wear make-up and enjoy fashion as of the time, as well as being a working mum/SAHM? How do you differentiate between those who look like that all of the time and those who are 'dolling up' for the school run?

Ridiculous and bitchiness at its worst.

MissHavishamDreams · 13/06/2015 20:45

all of the time

DinosaursRoar · 13/06/2015 20:49

Lashes - it's not a dress exclusively worn on the school run, it's not the case of putting it on at 8:30, taking it off when you get home, putting it back on at 2:30 to go back out then changing when you get home again, it's a shorthand for "the sort of dress a stay at home mum wears" - when someone on a section like S&B posts a dress saying "what do you think of this?" most people would need some sort of guidance as to the occasion said dress would be worn to assess it.

("Day dress" doesn't really cut it either, because most "school run dresses" are a bit scruffier than "going out for lunch" or "work in a smart casual environment".)

And let's face it, it's nice to have a change from the standard "school run uniform" of "skinny jeans, long sleeved t-shirt and decorative scarf".

floatyflo · 13/06/2015 20:59

I do judge them I'm afraid. I think they're very insecure about themselves, they seem worried that others approve of them Which is such a shame.

And your judging is going to make them more secure how?

Can you not see what you are saying? Confused

formerbabe · 13/06/2015 22:22

I often get dressed in the morning, do the school run and get changed when I get home to do the cleaning! My cleaning outfit is minging leggings and a minging vest top with bleach stains! I can't clean properly in anything else!

SeenSheen · 13/06/2015 23:26

Well I'm a bit back to front n that I'll often pull on the first easy thing to hand for the school run and then go home and get ready/changed for the day after I've dropped them off.
I've often thought about getting a school run coat though. Something not too warm, totally waterproof with a hood that leaves both hands free for bags, hand holding and scooter restraining. Trouble is the nice looking ones that tick those boxes cost a fortune and I couldn't justify it just for the school run.

TessBrookes · 14/06/2015 00:19

Eh? School run outfit? Really?! Confused People just wear whatever where I am. I know I do.
People are normal round here.

TessBrookes · 14/06/2015 00:25

It's major round here. The look had to be effortless, casual but stunning: cashmere long cardies and knee high boots in winter and perfectly manicured toes and tans with metallic fitflops and a little shift dress. Very uniform, very widespread. Crawling in in your tracky bottoms would oust you

Who would actually CARE?! Confused Who set down a long cardi and boots uniform rule or whatever?! That's you conforming to the rest of the playground and being a sheep as everyone else is wearing it.
Wear what YOU want to wear! Who actually said you have to look the same as everyone else?!

TessBrookes · 14/06/2015 00:29

It's very much a sahm thing, which irritates me as it's not very inclusive.

I'm a SAHM, and couldn't be faffed with so called school run outfits. If it passes the sniff and the stain test, then job's a good 'un..... Grin Grin

SoupDragon · 14/06/2015 08:41

Well, I'd look a complete twat walking the dog in the woods in a summer dress and flip flops

Why? Flip flops might not suit the ground conditions (although sometimes they are fine). I see loads of people in summer dresses in the countryside when it is summer.

Flip flops are never suitable for walking the dog in the woods or the countryside. Unless your woods/countryside are substantially different from the places I go to.

You'd have to be stupid to go in a summer dress in the woods near me unless you have a fondness for ticks. This also counts against flip flops

I don't get why people are so wound up about the fact that people like to change clothes depending on what they're doing. I mean who really gives a fuck?

SoupDragon · 14/06/2015 08:42

It's very much a sahm thing, which irritates me as it's not very inclusive.

And this is complete bollocks. Unless you're going too complain about work wear threads not being "inclusive"

MarshaBrady · 14/06/2015 08:46

There's no pressure, people just wear what they like which can be higher end or not. But I'm glad no one wears pjs, I haven't seen that in all the years of a sr.

chickenfuckingpox · 14/06/2015 08:46

people actually do work out the school run outfit a friend and i were discussing it friday she was laughing about the ones who show up in there pjs and saying she would never show up at school in her jogging bottoms she found it awful that i had gone to school in my joggers no matter how hard my day i must make an effort apparently Hmm however from her pov she has had major surgery and all sorts to cope with so im guessing that being fully and appropriately dressed for school means she is coping well and needs no sympathy at all! its a self esteem thing for her for me not so much Grin

StillStayingClassySanDiego · 14/06/2015 08:59

When I did the school run and was a SAHP I always made the effort to look good with my clothes and make up, not for other people but for me, I lik clothes and make up.

The school run is long gone for me and I now work, I make the same effort now as I did then.

It's not about looking a certain way because of insecurityConfused as a pp suggested, it's what suits an individual.

NickNackNooToYou · 14/06/2015 09:03

To me 'school run outfit' = clothes

Some people put more effort into clothes than others, personally I rock up fully made up or literally not even hair brushed, depends what I'm doing/how I'm feeling.

As with life do whatever you like as long as you're happy & not hurting anyone fashion sense not making people's eyes bleed Grin

MarshaBrady · 14/06/2015 09:03

My wardrobe isn't greatly different between work and sahm, except for higher end meetings and I'm not so every day.

I didn't change it for the sr it was still stuff I liked. The first school we used was fashiony it was fun, still no pressure, but people did look good.

Iggi999 · 14/06/2015 09:04

Soupdragon on a workwear thread the clue is in the name, but a "school run dress" gives no indication that it actually only applies to people doing the school run and then being at home - all sorts of people do the school run, and must do it in whatever clothes are required for their working day. That is what I mean by not inclusive, it makes it sound as if everyone who does the school run is a sahp which is obviously not true case. Maybe it should be renamed a sahm dress Smile

merrymouse · 14/06/2015 09:20

From the thread a 'school run dress' is a bottom skimming shift dress - the kind of dress you have to learn how to wear when getting in and out of sports cars.

merrymouse · 14/06/2015 09:22

And to be fair, I can understand why you might want to claim an hour a day to wear that kind of dress if that is your thing.

ShadowsInTheDarkness · 14/06/2015 09:22

YY how can anyone tell whether someone has got "dressed up" for the school run, or just got dressed and ready for the day. I've always got makeup and nice clothes on for nursery drop off. It's an hour away from our house, we bus in, and then I head off and get on with my day after dropping them. Hell, last week I was helping a friend out with an art project around the subject of death. He wanted the people on site to look the part so I dropped the kids off at nursery with huge back combed hair, a corset, full length black cloak and scary big black eyes. I certainly hope no one thought I'd chosen that outfit specifically for the school run and no batted an eyelid tbh. (Which may say more about how I usually look tbh than it does about anyone else.) I do have a fairlh eccentric look though, which would be the same whether I was walking a dog/going to work/shopping/insert any other standard activity here

trollkonor · 14/06/2015 09:45

I've always taken it to mean clothes that you will look nice in, will allow you to do an emergency dash after a todler, all with minimum effort.

When I am between contracts I do the school run and do fall into wearing certain clothes. At work I will be in a jacket and heels, then during my temporary stints as a sahp it will be nice jeans, nice top, good trainers or flat boots. By nice I mean clean, not not faded and in the boundaries of stylish. I am happy to do the school run looking like I have been dragged through a hedge, sweaty from a run, or tun up with paint in my hair and decorating clothes. Like most people I do prefer to look reasonable much of the time in public and there are certain clothes I can rely on to quickly look ok.

I will admit to getting home from the morning school run and taken my jeans off and replace them with fleecy pj bottoms before curling up on the sofa.

SoupDragon · 14/06/2015 09:49

Soupdragon on a workwear thread the clue is in the name, but a "school run dress" gives no indication that it actually only applies to people doing the school run and then being at home

That's because it doesn't.

SoupDragon · 14/06/2015 09:51

That is what I mean by not inclusive, it makes it sound as if everyone who does the school run is a sahp which is obviously not true case

And that is the most ridiculous claim for "not inclusive" that I have ever heard. It's just looking for reasons to be "offended".

This thread is bonkers.