School uniform

[Dobby101]

My DD (6) goes to a run of the mill primary school.

Their school uniform includes a shirt / blouse. They are not allowed to wear polo tops.

The shirt / blouse they are required to wear is 65% polyester. DD comes out of school looking uncomfortable most days, and has sweaty armpits. Sometimes her neck & chest looks a little irritated. She was completely fine over lockdown and at weekends wearing cotton tshirts.

AIBU to think they should give an option for wearing natural fabric rather than the synthetic polyester. Even the much cheaper polo tops are 100% cotton.

Need to know whether I am U before asking school to consider a change and embarrassing myself. Thank you.

You haven't said what colour it is yet

@Dobby101

Unfortunately M&S /JL / Next don't sell the right thing.

The school has a v mixed demographic, lots of less well off (financially) families, it's one of the poorer schools in our town so I'm surprised they're not going with the polo tops like most primaries here do, which are more affordable, easier to get hold of and not made out of polyester!
Come to think of it, we're the only primary in town going with traditional shirts / blouses.

To be fair, this isn't a shirt/polo shirt issue as polo shirts are also typically polyester, and you'd have exactly the same issue if the only one in the right colour didn't come in a cotton alternative. The issue is you can't buy a uniform shirt that's not polyester. Presumably if you could buy one in cotton it would fix your problems? That might be a better thing to ask the school?
(MNetters are quite good at finding obscure things, so if you don't mind sharing the colour, someone might be able to track down a cotton shirt).

MNetters are quite good at finding obscure things, so if you don't mind sharing the colour, someone might be able to track down a cotton shirt).

That's a brilliant idea. And i'd be so grateful if any clever MNetters out there are able to locate this blouse in blue (it's not an out there colour but I can't find anything!). The sleeves must be short and not in a puffed out style or extra detailing on the shirt. The buttons and collar would be exactly like this one. In an ideal world not too expensive as i'll have to buy x 3, but that might be pushing it . And 100 percent cotton. DD is 6 but i'd go a size up. Thank you to anyone willing to search this.

Try Ecooutfitters.
They definitely do blue. Does it have to be an open collar?

Or buy M&S ones and dye them blue in the washing machine.

I don't think a primary school can actually be that strict and enforce it can you find any 100% cotton shirt you can shorten sleeves and just leave top button open or just tell them she will be wearing a polo shirt as you can't find a cotton shirt

www.marksandspencer.com/2-pack-girls-regular-fit-easy-to-iron-blouses/p/clp22225033?color=BLUE

What about this one? You could always change the buttons if they're not right.

@Pinkywoo they are a polyester/cotton blend. OP needs just cotton

Oh bollocks sorry, I got over excited at finding the right colour and style!

By Nature sell organic cotton uniform. Not sure whether it’s any good, but they do have a blue short sleeved girl’s blouse (and a unisex one out of stock).

It isn’t cheap though.

Eco outfitters do have one. I'd buy with room for growth as they aren't that cheap. Can you sew?

Another thing to try is to look in the boy's normal clothes section, rather than school uniform section.

You can often get plain blue shirts for boys, and there will be short sleeved ones now heading into spring and summer - good candidates might be Zara, Gap, Next, John Lewis, H&M. Possibly La Redoute or Vertbaudet too.

It won't be a blouse collar, but I don't see that a primary school could possibly enforce that.

Thank you. By Nature links to Eco Outfitters who do seem to have something that should be suitable! It's not exactly the style they want them to have. But I think it's close enough.

£16.99 for her size is a bit of a PITA but I don't want her to be uncomfortable all day. Or have to start wearing deodorant aged 6 just because of the bloody polyester.

Cotton white vest/T-shirt underneath should solve this.

Try searching for "revere collar blouse" to get that style of neck.

100% organic cotton

www.ecooutfitters.co.uk/shop-73/girls-school-uniform/polo-shirts-unisex.html

Not cheap and possibly not exactly what the school want but probably close enough.

And then I read your update and you have already found the same page.

I suffer strong second hand embarrisment for anyone who still believes in forced gendered clothing via school uniform in 2021. It's almost as if uniform even at primary school has been drawn up without considering the needs and requirements of pupils.
Who in their right minds considers it OK to ban primary age children wearing trousers? Or indeed any children wearing trousers. Send the children to school in suitable clothing that they are comfortable in. I bet if you use a polo shirt they won't notice half the time.

It is more important that children are comfortable and suitably dressed than adhering to some arbitrary standards that do nothing to help education and learning.

Also ensure children can wear clothing fit for the environmental conditions. If school complains, you can say you are helping your children learn while saving the planet.

It's always really bugged me, the amount of polyester in school uniforms. I go the trouble of making sure all their clothes and bedding are natural only for school uniforms to be made of dreadful polyester. And don't get me started on 100% plastic dressing gowns! You have to hunt to find proper ones.

You can get 100% cotton school shirts at Marks & Spencers, John Lewis, Next and I'm sure there are other places too.
Not with compulsory logos, you can't!

Buy white ones and dye them blue.

My sons uniform shop only sells pure polyester or polyester mix uniform. Their jumper is a usual colour but it has a trim around the hem in a different colour, I just buy some cotton jumpers in the main colour and sod the trim, it hasn’t been mentioned yet. The blazer is polyester, I bought a cotton one in the correct colour and added the school emblem and coloured trim by buying a second hand one, picking off the bits I needed and sewed them on his cotton blazer.

The only thing I gave up on is his tie, but as it doesn’t come into contact with his skin that didn’t bother me too much.

The issue is they want shirts/blouses which are generally higher in polyester content than polo shirts. Blue 100% cotton polo shirts are about £4 a pack in Asda.

@Dobby101, you need to decide which is the battle you'd rather have. Sourcing 100% cotton blouses in the right colour, which sounds like it would be expensive for a growing child, or supplying the right colour top in a different style, ie the polo shirts.

Dc's old primary changed uniform from polo shirts to formal shirt and tie. Even they made allowances for the odd student who needed them, eg polo shirts in 100% cotton for the child who overheated in the polyester shirts, or had sensory issues etc.

Eco outfitters sizing is generous, at least it is in the shirts I bought.
I have found their shirts very good quality, I have two dds and they have been passed down and still look new. The advantage of cotton is that it is also much less likely to stain, and looks good for much longer too. Old shirts just get nice and soft.
The other option is to buy white and dye them.