To ask if boys can wear coloured gingham school shorts?

[Makingitupaswegoalong]

DS starting school in September. I’ve never liked the grey boys’ school shorts. I think they’re horrible.

Could a boy wear the shorts version of the summer dresses in the warmer months? The ones like this:
https://direct.asda.com/george/school/shorts/light-blue-girls-gingham-longer-length-school-shorts/G008057152,default,pd.html?redirectFromInt=1&cmpid=ppc--geor-------_-dskwid-_dm&utm_campaign=pla:Fashion-School-_Performance_Max&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17501196607&gbraid=0AAAAADt8Wcm1oMWVYoBrMZRAaJmY4OxHM&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgIXCBhDBARIsAELC9ZgYG9pdeZibdgD76_xniRBLDqnyyvZArL9DdLA7VsYiWE5zGC1CWE0aAkIFEALw_wcB

The little boys round here wear a lot of brightly coloured patterned leggings.

Why couldn’t they were these shorts? Are they obviously girly? Would people bully him or think we were weird? I just think they’re nicer.

Even the girls don't wear those at our school. It's grey shorts all round.

I’ve never liked the grey boys’ school shorts

I don't think anyone actively thinks wow what a lovely item of clothing...it's just a practical uniform item.

I haven’t asked him about it yet and we won’t go shopping until much nearer the time. I think if I presented them both as a straight choice he would probably pick the coloured ones but if I explained all the big boys wear these grey ones he would probably want the grey ones? I don’t know what he would say actually.

The state my son comes home in those shorts would be so unpractical. Its bad enough we have white polo shirts so bloody unsustainable.

well there are 2 things

1. what is the school’s uniform policy
2. why would you want your son to stand out, for the sake of avoiding entirely inoffensive grey shorts?

In any event it’s not warm enough in September for very long so he’ll need trousers pretty much immediately. By the time it gets to summer term you’ll have a better sense of what sorts of things the kids wear.

Actually I don't like shorts on any child. Their poor wee knees take enough of a battering when they're covered, bare skin is just cruel imo.

My kid (6) is all about rainbows, glitter and bright colours (of his own choosing but I also like it!). Trust me, by the time he gets to school, you'll be rejoicing dark grey trousers/shorts and navy jumpers, purely for their stain forgiving properties!

Sorry I don’t know what that means?

Have you seen the film "About a Boy"? When the mum sends her 11 yo to school in home knitted clothes and clumpy brown shoes?

If he is unbothered about what anyone says or thinks and wants to choose what he likes regardless then that's brilliant and should be encouraged but when they're too tiny to make that choice you do need to help him. It's sad but true that he will stànd out a mile and get stick if he wears those and even v little kids don't forget and can be v nasty. Please don't forget this.

Plus the grey shorts are bomb proof. My dd wears them and she is the messiest most careless, accident prone child I’ve ever met. The shorts are still going strong.

My DD wouldn’t wear a school jumper in reception, because people would think she was a boy.

Don’t put your son in what equates to a summer dress, the kids will still be reading him about it in year 6!

I agree. It’s weird that boys in this county wore them all year round for the first half of the 20th century.

Oh and you need to buy shorts now. There will be none in shops in September / August.

I think they’d be weirdly adorable in a sort of “Prince Louis in his third birthday photoshoot” type way but I don’t think even the royal children routinely wear things like that! He’d probably refuse to wear them anyway after the first time.

A couple of girls wear them with a gingham top - it's for ease of going to the toilet instead of a playsuit but it looks like one outfit. What's he doing to wear on his top half? His usual polo or shirt? It's not going to look right.

Yes I think you’re probably right.

My second DC was a girl and now she’s nearly two I’d be lying if I said I haven’t noticed the variety in colour and styles and designs girls have boys don’t. It’s for decorative purposes but I agree it’s a shame the boys choose from grey, black or white and the girls have every colour of the rainbow.

Those shorts are an alternative to a summer dress. It might not necessarily lead to bullying but unwanted questions, isolation and feeling different which aren’t things that you’d want to start school with

There's been a heatwave the last 2 Septembers.

How do I know? Panic buying school shorts, that's how 😆

Do you dislike grey trousers also, or is it just shorts you object to?

They wear them over summer. Go to your local primary school and meet primary aged human children. There is a difference in play between the boys and girls. The girls that are more inclined to get very dirty (I had one out of three girls) are kept in polo tops and grey/black. My youngest granddaughter is inked stained in anything she wears, we've learnt to live with it. You'll see a change in your DS. Resist the temptation to keep him a baby.

Girls wear these at my daughters school. But you only see them may-july really. Ive never seen a boy in them. I do think there would be some teasing.

Yes you are right. I guess it’s the transition from 3 year old in bright colours to 4 year old in grey that makes me feel a bit sad! Especially as all the teenage boys round here basically wear a uniform of back coats, black or grey hoodies and joggers. It seems like boys’ lives are so colourless!

If your ds really really wanted to wear them and had a strong opinion, I could understand maybe letting him wear them...but if he's not bothered and it's just you prefer the aesthetic, then it's really unfair to send him in with something that will make him stand out straightaway. He's not a baby or a toddler anymore that you can dress up in stuff you think is cute I'm afraid.

Haha I actually work with what you call ‘primary age human children’.

Yes, wait till he's a teen op....! It's all black sportswear!