School dress ruined at school!

[DianaMitford]

As the title says. New dress, bought at the beginning of the summer term. 9yo DD, doing art today and black ink has soaked through her apron onto her dress. I washed it immediately she came home with Vanish and it's faded but it's ruined. I mean, she can still wear it but it's got black ink all down the front

My dilemma is that a new dress is £40 and there are no secondhand ones. Do I say anything to the school?? If so, what?!

Some of the raggy cuffs on the jumpers at my DSs school would have sent you into a spin, Diana

I'd love to see the entire dress, just to see how different it is from a less expensive one.

I think get a new dress but keep that one because it might fade so you'd have a spare one in case the new one got ripped or something. Perhaps just buy a cheaper dress that looks similar to that one? I wouldn't buy a new expensive one now with just a few weeks till summer.

I don't see why primary schools can't make kids change into old clothes for art lessons. So kids could bring any old clothes in, but I suppose it depends on their age.

Wow some really vile comments on here. Totally unnecessary.

OP - having seen the photo I think I'd just go with that dress until the end of term. Im guessing term enfs sooner than mist state schools so only 4 or 5 weeks. Keep an eye on the secondhand uniform shop. Perhaps ask who runs it to reserve/call you if a suitable one turns up. It ei continue to fade as you try more things and wash it.

Are they allowed to wear summer uniform at the start of the autumn term? Some schools allow it until half term or 1st week in October if that's the case then just buy another new one now.

I love how if you object to private schools you are immediately either "bitter", "poor" or have a chip on your soldier

It's perfectly valid to criticise the private school system in this country.

Shoulder, even

I mean, not being snarky, just genuinely curious. M&S do a traditional style pink stripe school dress, so I really wonder what distinguishes the £40 one.

I really would go spare if I'd had only one school dress for my DDs, tbh.

Surely if you can afford private school an extra £40 is nothing in the grand scheme of things?

I run the secondhand uniform exchange for our school and can't get rid of the stuff, even after filtering out ink stain and sun cream marks - I get asked for, say, jumpers in a certain size (£14 new, not available in the supermarket) then get the cats bum face when they see what's available. They all want secondhand (I don't even ask for any money ffs) but all expect it to be bloody box-fresh perfect. Aaargh. I'm thinking of chucking it in and reclaiming my spare room.

Sorry, off topic I know, just needed to vent. At least I get to outfit my dcs for free!

Honestly, while I don't argue the existence of a stain, it isn't that bad. I think that it is jumping out at you and screaming look at me, I am an ink stain because you are already aware of it and have been working so hard to get it out.

I think she should be just fine for the remainder of the term.

OP

So your DD has 1 dress to last 2 years,p. She boards for some of the week having 1 dress only, she had to go through embarrassment of school having to wash her only dress when she had a nose bleed instead of just wearing another one. Now she's been in tears over staining her only dress with ink and had to go to school in a stained dress. And you wish it happened during her boarding so the school had to deal with the dress-how embarrassing would it be for her!

You say you can afford another dress - do it, get her several dresses, for her own sake! You say you don't want to get her another as a matter of principle. What principal? The only one who is suffering is your own daughter. Poor girl.

The ink stain visible in that photo doesn't look too bad.

Wish you'd posted the photo on page 1, OP.

You can hardly see it and everyone would have said it was fine. Job done.

That ink stain doesn't look anything like as bad as I was expecting! I would still use it.

You definitely need another two dresses though. I had missed that your DD is boarding part time. There's no way you can manage with one dress. My DD flexi-boards and we were told three sets of uniform as a minimum. One to wear, one to wash and one as a spare in case of spills or accidents. You can't expect the boarding house to wash and dry one dress overnight every time she boards!

Completely ignoring the slightly unsavoury slant the thread has taken.

OP - try Napisan. That is my absolute go to product for stain removal and I'm yet to find anything it doesn't work on. Ideally I would suggest line-drying in the sunshine afterwards but suspect that's highly unlikely given the weather.

For really major stains I soak overnight - I make the solution slightly stronger than it advises on the back of the pack, then wash as normal and line dry.

HTH

Ok, to clear a few things up:

She only has one dress because I thought I'd start with one and see how we got on. All fine until the ink.

It doesn't need to be washed every night, it just can be if necessary.

DD has never been embarrassed in any way regarding her dress.

I can afford to buy her several more if she needs them - it's the fact that the dress has become irreparably damaged at school that I have an issue with.

She flexi boards one night per week so no extra uniform required. I have an older daughter who weekly boards st a different school and she has multiple sets of uniform and doesn't wear them because they live in their lacrosse kit.

I didn't post the photo earlier because I didn't take it until this morning.

Thanks once again for the helpful replies

You made this thread, and identified the issue, as being explicitly about the cost of the dress.

From your OP:
My dilemma is that a new dress is £40 and there are no secondhand ones.

Not - it was damaged at school.

But - it costs £40 and you can't get one secondhand i.e. cheaper.

Now you are saying it's nothing to do with money. So why say it was all about the cost in the first place?

Quite, proteus.

Posters have come on here in their droves to offer advice about salvaging the dress and it now transpires that (a) the stain is not actually that bad and (b) the issue is that the OP is cross with the school, not about the ruined dress, which she says she can easily replace several times over if necessary.

I did not say it was about the cost - I mentioned it because it is expensive, not because I can't afford it. I'm more annoyed that she's stained a dress than I would be if she'd stained a pair of socks. Why should I have to pay to replace something that was damaged at school??

With respect, I don't give a fuck if people think the stain "isn't that bad." It's black ink in large spots from the chest down the skirt that I haven't been able to remove. I think it's bad!!

Sorry OP but you absolutely 100% did say that it was about the cost. It is crystal clear:

My dilemma is that a new dress is £40 and there are no secondhand ones.

If the issue is nothing to do with cost, what does the availability or otherwise of secondhand dresses have to do with anything??

Private school I assume? They've only git about 4 weeks left haven't they ? Just keep sending her in it.

Because it's expensive. I'm not going to buy another brand new dress at the drop of a hat BECAUSE it is £40. And there are no cheaper options. If it was something that cost £5, I'd buy another without a second thought.
I'm annoyed the school have ruined something costing £40, even though I can afford to buy a new one. I really don't think I can explain it any more clearly. Apologies if anyone feels misled.

I am going to keep sending her in it but it shouldn't bloody well be stained! It's going to look awful on Speech Day.

Yes, three weeks to go.

You're being ridiculous. You say you can easily afford a new dress. So buy one.