School uniform yucky colours

[wasgoingmadinthecountry]

Please can I ask for your views? At a regular state primary school what are the most horrid colours for school sweatshirts? What are the best? What do you/your children like?

From the normal range of primary school colours - blue, red, navy, yellow, dark green, bright green, purple, light grey.

Thanks - most interested in your LEAST favourite.

I like my DC's uniform policy. Generic grey skirts/ pinafores/ trousers/ shorts. Green jumpers/ cardigans either order the logos, or generic bottle green. White polos. There is an option for white shirt/ tie but very few wear it. Green gingham dresses.
No seasonal restriction which is handy for sensory, autitistic DS who only wears shorts.

Dreading the secondary minefield of formal school uniforms.... there is no genuine choice and are all blazer/ tie.

They all look smart, and the colour unifies them, but they still have personality. It's easy to buy generic items.
The green is good at hiding whiteboard pen. I find a white wash for polos is fine. Yes they gain pen marks, but it happens with many of the children.

For younger children, keeping it practical for PE/ running around is well worth considering.

I like purple but it would be harder to buy. Reds and blues are cheery. Grey practical but very dull for children.

I dislike all uniform. I don't really care what it looks like beyond that : it's just extra clothes I have to buy so that my children can attend school. The only acceptable uniform would be one that the school provides, and if the school deems it necessary to wear uniform in order to attend then they should do this. Maybe then they would be deterred from stipulating £60 blazers, £80 PE kits and the like.

Yellow is awful! Any other colour would be better but my favourites are blue and green.

My children wear brown and yellow. It is awful. The brown logo sweat shirts that they wear until year 5 fade terribly even if washed inside out.

The yellow logo polo shirts are dreadful too. They fade and look washed out and dingy after a few washes.

My preference would be navy, red, or royal blue for primary.

Purple, brown burgandy or bottle green are not great.

I'm not sure that a thread asking people about their children's distinctive uniforms is very smart...

Completely agree that the white polo shirts that almost every school has, are a ridiculous idea. They get so dirty. I'd opt for a navy polo shirt if I had a choice. Also I'd make trousers mandatory for girls, so much more sensible but my DC will never wear them.

Red is the worst, it looks so cheap and nasty. DS’s was real which was gorgeous and kept its colour perfectly. I love purple as well.

Not really relevant as its a secondary but there is a school near me who have a brown uniform with green coat/sports gear. Its awful!

Yellow is the worst followed by ‘jade’ green which in reality is that awful bright sickly green that never looks clean again after the first wash 🤢

Red lasts the best I’ve found.

My school uniform was MAROON. Nothing will ever gear that for ugliness, unless a governing body suddenly decides that monkey-sick chartreuse is the way to go...

Oh and grey on primary school children is awful too. One of the local primary schools has just changed those uniform to grey kilts (for girls and eye wateringly expensive), grey jumpers and even grey ties. They look like they’re extras on the Worst Witch!

I've seen a few posters say they like the joggers/sweatshirt combo with black trainers

Will the older kids want to be in joggers all the time? Will the girls? My DD would love it, but my goddaughter will only wear leggings or tights and a skirt. Wont they be changing for PE anyway (mud, sweat)?

If I was deciding on a uniform, I think I would specify
black shoes,
black lower half (no faded denim)
choice of two or three polo shirt and jumper colours, depending on the size of the school.
Summer dresses in the chosen colours.

@wasgoingmadinthecountry

I've seen a few posters say they like the joggers/sweatshirt combo with black trainers. Is that generally popular? As in no need to change for PE etc??

Thanks for all this by the way - hugely helpful!

My son's school allow joggers and black trainers for the younger children on PE days, which I think is sensible. As others have said white polos are really impractical. Navy is better. For sweaters I like maroon or red and dislike yellow.

Surely the unlisted brown!

I always like light blue shirts/polos with navy jumper cardigan think it looks smart though my sons is red with white polo and it’s still red at the end of the year.

My DC have been loving wearing there PE kit all day on PE days, since Covid. It's a pair of black joggers and a hooded sweatshirt. I'm not a fan of joggers but actually if that's what they feel comfortable in then I'd be in favour of them wearing that every day

Oh yeah I also hats black blazers and to a less extent black trousers and skirts. Grey is much nicer.
I guess that’s just a changing fashion thing though in the way that a black suit would look a bit now but people used to wear black suits all the time.

Nephew has a brown uniform. Brown and yellow. Looks hideous. I didn't realise he was in uniform at first maroon horrible too.

Dds school is purple and yellow. Actually goes well.

I think royal blue looks good too.

We had gun metal grey - it made us look like refugees from Victorian orphanage. Utterly depressing.

I think the worst is either dark green or burgundy, these are both colours I normally like but look somehow depressing for primary uniform which I think should be bright colours. I like red, bright purple or possibly bright turquoise best.

When I was a kid each local primary school helpfully had red (us, so the best), blue, green and purple uniforms. We used to snigger at the school with the purple uniform when we played netball tournaments.

Mine in secondary school was brown & yellow - you could only buy the hideous brown skirts, jumpers & pe kit from one expensive shop. We were allowed to wear yellow skirts/dresses too but I think I was the only one who did. A lifetime loathing of brown clothing followed!

Lots of schools (both private and state) around where we live. Imo the nicest uniforms are - navy and white - navy and red - bottle-green and red - dark grey and red. There's one state primary school that has navy jumpers/cardigans over light blue shirts with red and blue ties - looks lovely and very smart, though I don't envy parents having to iron all those shirts!

Two schools have royal blue and bright red sweatshirts and polo shirts - these are probably much more practical than many of the other uniforms but definitely not so easy on the eye .

Worst uniform by far is a nearby senior girls' school uniform (can't remember what the school is called) - bright brown blazers with sludge brown and yellow tartan skirts. Truly awful.

My kids primary school are yellow, brown and white, which was mine at primary school too. Hideous.

The secondary is black bottoms, white shirts and maroon blazers or jumpers/cardigans. They have no issue with this.

I think dark green, maroon, and navy blue are smart and they seem to be easy to source replacements.

I like white shirts as they come up bright when washed properly, it’s easier to get stains out and they are easy to find anywhere.

Best- red and royal blue with polo shirts allowed to red/blue accordingly and supermarket unlogoed versions encouraged.
Worst- yellow, brown, purple and anything specific or expensive like white polo shirts with a coloured band on the collar.