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.

@wasgoingmadinthecountry

Thanks so much everyone. It's all given me some really good info. Mainly yellow sucks (which is what I was really hoping people would say!) Will also take on board all the other comments about washing/sensory needs etc.Thanks Mumsnet!

To be fair I'd go for the colours that are easily accessible at an affordable price. Something that can be bought in any supermarket or clothes shop with a uniform range.

Yes white tops are impractical for many reasons, but also widely available and cheap.

Oh and let the girls wear black tights/socks. Demanding white/cream/weird school colour only found in 3 shops is stupid and a pain in the ass.

We have red polos, red sweatshirts, black joggers and black trainers. It’s easy and comfortable. The neighbouring school has purple and yellow which is grim.

Please don’t have logos. Make supermarkets an easy option. Go with a primary colour.

I think younger children prefer the brighter colours like scarlet red, royal blue and bright green. I think adults prefer darker colours like wine red, navy and dark green. Grey and black are better for secondary schools.

Considering parental incomes is also important. Less popular uniform colours are hard to source and can be more expensive.

My senior school uniform was yellow and bottle green!

Actually kind of good as I never find myself thinking "oh I've dressed in my old school colours" 😂. Our blazer was made from WOOL

Brown and yellow is awful, but unlike almost everyone else, without the brown I like yellow!

Drab colours for primary school seem so depressing and put me off. It's lovely when schools have some options and a mix of colours allowed as a pp described. It looks cheery and age appropriate.

My top preference is a choice of colourful school t-shirts and hoodies paired with trousers/shirts of choice... or just no uniform.

Yellow.its hard to wash it well without it fading or going grey.

It always seems to be matched with grey or brown which I hate. I don't like purple either.

I like classic colours. Dark green or burgundy. Navy is ok but so common can look odd when its often paired with black trousers. Red or royal blue are ok, red is also very common.

But tbh I prefer uniform to no uniform.

Ps go for easy colour basics (white polo shirts etc), grey or black trousers and avoid weird rules about particular styles or coloured tights etc as these can make it more expensive.

For logo jumpers and cardigans quality is key. It needs to be able to cope with heavy washing and still look smart.

Ps hate joggers and trainers. Just looks scruffy and inevitably leads to kids wearing brands.

Surely part of the whole point of school style trousers, skirts, dresses and shoes is that no one makes branded/cool versions, it's a great equaliser when no one has the nike version.

colours that are easy to buy from local supermarkets and reasonably priced. Nothing worse than having to buy stuff from over priced school shops. If you want a school identity do it via a scarf or something optional that doesnt force parents to spend a fortune when theyre are cheaper alternatives around. Specially so if they have 2 or 3 kids at the same school

I've spent a lot of time in different schools. Here are highlights from some:

There are 3 or 4 colour choices for a polo shirt and a sweatshirt. All children can choose any combination as long as it's the school colours and the sweatshirt has the logo. Same black skirt or trousers. Assemblies looked amazing! Definitely one group but permitting expression of personal preference.

Everyone, adults and children, wear slippers inside the building and wear shoes outside.

Parents may want a particular type of uniform. Some schools design them to influence parents' views (eg a very tailored, 'statement' uniform in a previously failing school). Doesn't mean it's right for the students. Primary aged children need to move freely. I've had 9 year olds tell me they can't run around when they want to, as their skirt is too tight..

Brown. Awful

Hate yellow. Our school has purple and I love it. All the children suit it. DCs schools were red, green and royal blue. The royal blue was fecking hideous. Red was super cute.

Jade green polo’s (with school badge on) paired with burgundy jumpers/cardigans here.

Absolutely vile. Cannot comprehend why anyone would think this a good combo! For those complaining about putting them in white tops, I’d give anything to just be able to buy a packet of cheap white tops instead of the crap I can only buy directly from the school.

As for the normal colours, I prefer blue or red. Always think purple looks really really odd but then that’s because it’s more unusual

My ds primary was green and that was fine , the cheaper jumpers did fade though the school branded ones less so ( we could use plain no branded as well)
No issue with white polos as any colour gets ruined with paint etc ( remember when I was at school you had to take one if your dads old t shirts in for art)
Ds now at secondary and his is black wool type jumper and black white tie, jumpers are great and last ages and although they fad very slightly you only notice if you put next to a brand new one .
Mine was navy and that was fine
Local school had brown and yellow and brown yellow tie and that looked awful

Navy, dark green, grey, black it's all acceptable and perfectly fine.

White shirts or polo tops are easy to keep clean!

Red jumpers can be ok.
Any bright or pale colours are hideous and very unpractical.

Stained white tops? Stick in a bucket overnight with some Vanish or other, wash as normal in the morning. They come up as new.

Any stain fades in the sun too. (harder to find in the UK)

Most practical tops you can find, and they are for sale absolutely everywhere.

Ds secondary also allows black trainers but must be all black no other colour at all even in writing
I find this better as my dd plays football and normal school shoes he kicks toes out in a week or two , trainers last until he grows out of and some are quite smart looking

Im also a parent who prefers a uniform I know some dislike them

My DS had to wear emerald green sweatshirts. I could never find that shade in the supermarkets, just bottle green. Likewise navy trousers usually had to be ordered online as shops only tended to carry grey or black.
I think that just having a colour code for school rather than a uniform. Say 2 colours but the children can choose what items of clothing they wear. A rule of no brand labels on display or t shirts with slogans.

When I was at school we had lab coats made of denim for science. I've always thought its the ideal fabric for school as it's so hardwearing.
I also had the worlds worst school uniform. It included winter uniform, summer uniform, school coat, hat, pinafore, Sunday uniform, capes and bonnets.

It included winter uniform, summer uniform

I can't for the life of me understand why most schools don't have that.

Around here, girls have winter pinafore and summer dresses, boys are free to wear shorts or trousers throughout the school year at least, but you'd think a winter jumper and a light sweat shirt or cardigan would make sense?

My childhood friend got sent to a very expensive local boarding school when her dad got a job overseas. I was horrified when she showed me her trunk all ready to go and the blazer was bright pink and brown stripes.
Made me very glad for my red and black uniform.
I’ve had a look at the boarding school website and it would appear it’s just the boys now who have to wear the pink/brown blazer. The girls now have black blazers.

There’s a primary school near us that has brown trousers / skirts and yellow polo shirts. It’s the ugliest colour combination I’ve seen.

On a practical level though, I’d choose colours that are easily available in supermarkets.
Black / grey trousers, white / blue shirts are the most popular around here judging by what our local supermarkets stock.

Red is the best and green/brown joined worst.

White shirt/polo can be treated to bring up as new and are so easy to find/affordable.

Jewel colours are nicest for jumpers etc. Pillar box red and bright blue look cheap.

Black bottoms work better than grey as there are well over a thousand different shades of grey and getting everyone in the same shade is hopeless.

Joggers are more practical for eyfs, I have strong feelings about restrictive clothing on this age group. Freedom to learn and explore should be more important than anything at this age.

My kids have golden yellow polo and bottle green jumper. Not the most attractive combo but at least it’s a little unusual.

Another local school has the green top with white polo shirt, which looks nice, and I can imagine the yellow polo shirt might work better with ...erm.. no, nothing! Black sweatshirt maybe? as long as you don’t mind looking like a bee.

But the worst part is that in the summer the greenfly and those little black beetle-like flies love the yellow shirts, they’d be covered by the time they got home. Grim. And of course nobody (except me!) does a yellow wash so they all end up weird shades of mustard where they’ve been washed with other colours.

Don’t go for golden yellow!