To not replace all school uniform

[Allyg1185]

Everyone I know buys everything new for going back after the summer. Am I the only one that thinks this is a massive waste of money if it's not needed?

I just replaced ds shoes and polo shirts at the easter holidays as the shoes had seen better days and the shirts were evading my stain removing abilities. I've tried on his jumpers and they still fit and aren't washed out.

So new I've bought socks and trousers as they were threadbare at the knees where he has fell etc and socks going the same way. He asked for a new more grown up school bag.

Anyone else the same as me and reuses what they can?

I've bought all new this year but only because DC1 is starting secondary and DC2 is starting primary so they need stuff they didn't have before.

After that it's as and when, reusing what we can for the following year. Although DC1 has never made it through a year without trashing uniform so reusing is probably wishful thinking!

I've never bought second hand either because financially I can afford not to and if I don't buy second hand for myself, I wouldn't for my children.
I don't buy second hand for myself but I also wear clothes for much longer than my child does as he is still growing. He got all new for the start of year 7 but I will be buying second hand except for the generic uniform items from now on.

If I don't buy second hand for me I certainly wouldn't for my children. And realistically, they wear school uniform every day. It's likely that once it's finished with then it's done its time. I agree with a pp that there's something about the fresh start of a new school year with fresh uniform that is nice. For the same reasons, I wouldn't give my kids someone else's unwanted clothes. To be truthful, if finances were so tight that I needed to, I'd go without new clothes myself first.

I will be buying new blouses for DC as last year's have gone a bit grey, but otherwise, everything else should do another year or most of it - that's uniform including blazer and fairly extensive sports kit. Most of their uniform was secondhand first time round - the skirts are £40 new and the school tracksuit is £80 for top and bottom combined, but I could get a perfectly good second hand skirt for £4 and a good tracksuit for £15 secondhand. When they are outgrown I will expect to either give them to friends with younger kids or send them back to the second hand uniform sale where I can get 75% of the selling price and the school will get 25%. Even after a second child has worn the stuff, most of it will be good enough for a third to buy. The only things which people do t tend to get secondhand are blouses/shirts and some people do t like the swimming costumes secondhand, but when they are £25 new and £1 second hand, I know which I will buy.

I will probably get new socks and tights too and shoes were new in April so I'd expect them to last at least until Christmas. And I also ways look to buy trainers in the next sizes up when I see them in a sale.

I don't think it's necessarily about finances, though. I could afford to buy new for my DC every year, but it seems silly to when there's no need. I buy second hand for myself a lot too.

Ha - secondhand isn't just for those who can't afford new. And there isn't something inherently dirty or unpleasant about most secondhand uniform. If it's good quality to start with, it can probably do 2 or 3 children. Just because someone has outgrown it doesn't make it sub-standard. I can see that some very cheap uniform might not survive to another user - fair enough, but if it's quality stuff with life in it, why not have secondhand to save money, be green and because it's just as good? Often it's the most affluent parents in the Prep schools using the secondhand shop - they love to say their saving on school skirt is a piano lesson or something similar,

I've had to buy all new uniform this year. Knees are well worn on the trousers and jumpers and shirts are stained to death! Coats, shoes and bags etc I buy as needed.

Just because someone has outgrown it doesn't make it sub-standard.
Exactly. We have summer polo shirts with the school logo that are only worn for 3 months of the year. I paid a total of £6 for 3 second hand polo shirts and they looked almost new.

To be truthful, if finances were so tight that I needed to, I'd go without new clothes myself first.

Not always so easy. I went a long time without new clothes and when i got clothes for myself they all came from 2nd hand shops and i still had hand me downs for my kids along with some new bits of uniform.

Nothing wrong with using perfectly good clothes that someone wore first. I have a drawer full of ds1s hand me downs for ds2. If he needs something i dont have he gets it obviously. None of kids have issues with 2nd hand anything you get more for your money whats not to like?

Honestly, if you can use second hand/year old polo shirts your kids are clearly cleaner than mine!

I only buy what we need and DD has just about stopped growing.
However the official uniform stuff often needs replacing as the quality is so bad so they wear badly,loose all shape or fall apart

It's a nice feeling to start the new year in new clothes.

I can honestly say that, throughout my school career, it made precisely zero difference to how I felt at the start of the new year whether I had new clothes or not. Having new uniform is definitely not the same as having new clothes of any other type.

And it's an even nicer feeling not to waste money.

What’s the point? It’s not like shops stop selling school stuff throughout the year - in fact, buying it not at peak ‘back to school’ time means you don’t have to fight for the last pack of polos!

There are kids in DD1's class who DO make unkind comments if kids wear stained clothes though (even if they're "clean" stains) - they've made them to me querying why she's wearing a "dirty" cardigan, and the kids in DD2's class are intolerant of her differences anyway - so I'm not going to set them up to be a target more than necessary either. They shouldn't be being able to make those kinds of comments and there are circumstances why the child who says this stuff does so - but still you're not going to put your kid through it.

So I reuse what I can which is usually bottom half pinafores and trousers and regard cardigans and polos as a lost cause.

I replace when I need to. Some uniform lasts 6 months while other bits have lasted 2 years.

I guess if clothes are stained and the stains don't wash out, then those clothes have had it and do need replacing. I don't think anyone is querying buying new clothes to replace those that are worn out, too dirty to keep using or grown out of. The new version might be either brand new or second hand (nearly new as lots of schools call their second hand sales to indicate that only good quality stuff should be given for sale - no one is interested in buying second hand stained, damaged or very worn clothes, only those that are still in good condition and look just like the new clothes you might buy after a few washes).

And little children in pre-school, reception and infants might need more new clothes (brand new or second hand) more than older kids. Their ability to wreck their clothes with staining or just damage means perhaps less can be passed on or carried into the next school year. Perhaps for them, if second hand is available and decent, it's even more worthwhile as the lifespan of clothing at the youngest ages is less, making new, especially new when the old stuff still fits or is decent, even more 'expensive'.

Honestly second hand clothes always look second hand and anyone who thinks they don’t is kidding themselves, and the thought of wearing someone else’s trousers makes me itch.

All as is getting is new shoes as his started to fall apart 2 weeks before the end of term & I didn’t want to buy new in case his feet grew over summer. His PE shirts are looking a bit small too.

He changed schools last September so had new uniform then would you believe it, after not growing for two years (& I bought the next size up anyway as I knew he was due for a spurt) by Easter I had to replace everything as he’d outgrown everything!

Ds used to go to a private school & there everyone wore second hand.

But don't brand new clothes also look second hand after one wash? The brand new look doesn't last does it!
Anyway, secondhand isn't compulsory !

"Honestly second hand clothes always look second hand"

I disagree. They don't look brand new, that's all.

I've had some very good things from second hand sales. And they say the second-hand shop at Eton positively thrives, so perhaps it's just a class thing? Thrift is U?

All DDs stuff gets replaced strictly as needed. Her last winter coat did 2 years, her school shirts have done 2 or 3. Her cardigans have done 4! But she sometimes goes through 2 sets of skirts or dresses in a year because her legs grow faster than her top half. I try to do shoes in October half term and Easter but it doesn't always work that way. It's a nice plan...

She costs me a fortune in clothes because her legs grow so fast, there's no way I'm replacing perfectly good clothes that do still fit.

I often buy her second hand stuff and she's very happy with that. Doesn't feel second hand or embarrassed anymore than age does when she spends her money on a second hand teddy at the charity shop.

Honestly second hand clothes always look second hand
How do you tell the difference between uniform being worn by a second child after the first child has outgrown it, and uniform that has been worn for the same amount of time by only one child? It doesn't look brand new, but neither does brand new uniform after half a term.

bigpink. I agree totally. I think there's something about showing your kids that they're worth more than someone's cast outs to be honest, and really, uniform is not that costly- given that they wear it every single school day,