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.

You can get grey shorts in jersey type material which are nice.

Dont send him in gingham bloomers though. School is hard enough without going dressed as little lord Fauntleroy.

DS is 6 he still wears lindex brushed cotton inside leggings (not to school at they're not in the uniform policy but for non uniform days, outdoor learning, playdates etc) and so do several of his male school friends, and the ones who don't don't bat an eye that others do. DS is very tall for his age and very slim, joggers fall off if I get them long enough and are pretty scruffy. I don't see why boys should have to wear jeans or trousers with a button fly.

Having said that I wouldn't put him in those shorts, I wouldn't put a girl in them either.

They are quite different - both in pattern, material, and societal associations.

Buy cotton grey shorts. My DS wears cotton.

Nothing weird about it. Early 20th century clothes would have been expensive, made in the UK and probably natural materials, not cheap overseas polyester.

I've two boys DS1 never wears shorts killed 10 pairs of school trousers in P1 and that was me refusing to buy more after Easter going for the least holy of the bunch!

DS2 refuses to wear trousers, much happier in shorts even in winter. They never seem to wear out.

So shorts are cheaper, less material, last longer, it doesn't really matter about the length, same as girls skirts if they fit on the waist then they are all good.

@Makingitupaswegoalong my son is in reception now - he usually chooses "rock" clothes, think skulls, music notes, dragons. Lots of colours.

But at school he wears the uniform and actually really likes it, he says he looks smart and he'll be excited on a sunny day because he and his friends will "all wear shorts". Just send him the normal uniform and stop over thinking.

ÒP, the whole point about uniform is just that - it’s uniform: everyone wears the same. At no school that I know of would your DS be permitted to wear gingham shorts - and I can’t think he’d want to either, if all his friends were wearing grey.

I agree - imagine being a poor little reception child wearing what your mum makes you wear and having to walk in to school knowing you’re gonna stand out like that!

In a perfect world boys would wear whatever they wanted to school- but in reality kids can be horrible and they usually want to fit in with their peers too.
He also will possibly wear shorts for a few days in September then not until the summer term too so by then he’ll be 5 and very likely not want to stand out in coloured shorts. I’d just make life easy and get grey ones.
Another option is depending on how strict the school is around uniform but he could wear plain royal blue shorts maybe (or whatever the school colour is)? My DDs school wouldn’t care about that but I know some schools would

YOU don’t like the grey shorts? It’s not really about you though is it. What does your son want is the important bit.

Next do skinny fit joggers, you need to order them online. Might be worth a look.

I really don't see what's wrong with normal school uniform shorts. I've never thought about if I like my child's school uniform or not, if it's to my style or not. It's a uniform. You can choose all your child's other clothes.

My son prefers leggings and school said he could wear them in winter - he surprisingly happily wears track pants to school only because all the other boys do.

My brother, dad and husband are all the same, even in adulthood, and were as children. Shorts all year round unless absolutely required to wear trousers!

Seriously just dress your son like everyone else. How can you not immediately understand that you’d be setting him up for ridicule and bullying?!?

My understanding is that legally schools cannot have separate girls uniforms and boys uniform. In practise this tends to mean girls wear what was traditionally coded as boys uniform.

the grey Teflon shorts are awful, not least because of the chemical load, but I’ve never actually seen anyone, girl or boy, wearing those shorts! Summer dresses (worn by girls), yes, in the summer term & occasionally in Sept.

He should be able to wear them if he wants and not being able to feeds into the narrative of male being the default human species whereby it is admirable for girls to be more like boys but derisible for boys to look like girls. for us to have equality it needs to be OK for boys to wear them.

But back in the real world, not I wouldn't let him wear them.

You could ask the school instead of posting on here. Just follow the rules.

'Could' they? Do you mean is it possible? Or is it allowed? Or is it desirable? Obviously, they 'could' wear a yellow tutu and a bin bag... But how strict are the school about uniform? And how would DS cope with standing out so much from the crowd? At least the grey shorts are more practical and won't show the dirt so easily. It's a school uniform - whether you think it looks nice or not is irrelevant really.

Funnily enough the fashion in mens shorts this year does seem to be lightweight, paler colours and stripes/checks. I was quite surprised when I went with my son to shop. They looked a bit pyjama like to me.

But the girls school shorts will be cut differently, more skirt like in shape (or shorter than boys tend to wear) and I am sure that the children will tease him.

Because there’s a achooo uniform policy. Be thankful your boys can swear shorts the girls don’t get that and have to wear dresses.

I have a girl and a boy, there is no way I would of subjected either in to wearing these. They look horrid, I can't imagine how bad they would look with a school jumper.

Also, most kids will go back in winter uniform in September, the ones in gingham dresses or boys in shorts tend to be dressed in there uniform left over from the summer term for September until it gets cold (obviously some kids wear shorts all year round). You would be more likely to see the girls in grey skirts or trousers.

As for not liking grey shorts, collectively I think the kids look smarter when they are dressed in the same colours.

Check out what the other boys his age wear to school and dress him similarly. Let him wear the gingham shorts whilst not at school. I know this comes over as ‘herd’ mentality, but children can be unkind to anyone a little different - unkind certainly but sadly true.

In my kids primary school, at 4, it would probably be fine. Its not unusual for kids that age to be more used to dressing colourfully. They kind of get socialised out of it by their peer group, but not necessarily in a bullying sense.
Tbh though, its probably worth just getting him the usual boring shorts. They are so practical.
Get him a fun jacket, socks and bag maybe.

I think the girls' shorts are made quite loose so that they could look like a skirt. If you're happy for your son to wear a skirt, fine.