School ‘no logos’ policy

[JambonetFromage]

DC’s secondary school has introduced a “no logos” policy for bags and coats - so no North Face, Nike swooshes etc.

On the one hand I think this is great as reduces the competition for having the latest cool brand. On the other hand finding logo-free coats and rucksacks is a bit of a pain.

Overall I’m in favour though and it feels like a refreshing change.

What say you mumsnet, should more schools go down this route?

Most of the secondary school’s where we are have gone this way now- removes the competition and it also prevents the angry parents ringing in on day 3 of term when their child’s brand new £300 coat has gone missing.

Most parents just buy from the supermarkets so no logo.

Like the sentiment but it does sound tricky. What if something has a logo that is not cool eg next?!

Does next stuff tend to have logos?

My DC are deeply uncool though and I’m still having to replace stuff like their Regatta rain jacket!

You can’t really have a rule of ”no cool brands”, who would decide what is in and what isnt?!

It was a nightmare for me when DS1 was in Y6. Joggers for PE had to be black and unbranded. He was 5’6’’ with a 26cm waist. Sports brands fit him. Supermarket and M&S did not (choice between them being two inches too short or simple falling down - he had a belt for school trousers). I was close to using Sharpie on a pair of £15 joggers (so not much more expensive than M&S) when someone here suggested Uniqlo. Cost a small fortune. So yes in principle but….

DD needs school shoes for secondary that have no logo also. Kickers fit her (fairly narrow feet and quite fussy about the look) but I'm betting the red and green tags to help small children put their shoes on the right feet also count as a logo.

It’s the same here, I don’t think it really rules it out though my DC has a fairly expensive bag and coat that are well known and “ viral “ but don’t have logos to see.

Mine had this rule 30 years ago!

Great I went to school in the mid 80s when designer labels hit the working class. My mates and I were from the poor end of the catchment zone...we could have been really bullied like some of the younger ones were because we couldn't afford the labels... personally I was a teddy boy so didn't give a shit...my mates just stole the ones they wanted

You colour it in with a sharpie.

But what about things like Jansport bags? They are much more cost per wear effective than a supermarket schoolbag.

It’s annoying. I want to buy the highest quality item that meets my child’s needs. We try to find zero or discrete logos in general, but sometimes they are unavoidable.

she will shred a supermarket rucksack in days. Her North Face bag that we over researched and then modified to deal with her physical needs as she has SEN has survived 2 years and looks brand new. It has a tiny logo. I would be happy to cover it with some sort of patch I guess, but I don’t want to stop using a bag that works for something that does not. That bag keeps her organized and fits all her medical supplies which is hard to find.

the same is true for a multitude of items. I’m not buying random items because they don’t work for my child’s needs. Even something like a pair of socks is carefully chosen in our house,

Define "label". What's the difference between a label and a brand?
My daughter has had a couple of "branded" backpacks over the years - they were basic and cheap from Sports Direct.
As someone has mentioned upthread - coats like Regatta. Is that a "label"? It's a brand name but it's decent quality and I associate it with teens who belong to the Scouts (sorry 😁 I don't mean that in a horrible way).
This just sounds like another stupid thing for schools to get their (plain from M+S) knickers in a twist about.
If people want to buy good solid quality shoes/coats/bags etc for school then it's likely to be a "brand" name. You simply can't avoid that.
Just such a waste of the schools time to be making a hoo ha over things like this.

Define "label". What's the difference between a label and a brand?

OP said "logo" so I expect she means the sort of thing with exactly that plastered prominently on the outside?

I don't know about backpacks but have never worn a coat, shoes or anything else with such a logo in my life so am not sure why they'd be "a pain" to source?

Its a great idea

DC are scouts, not sure what is potentially horrible about that?

Anyway…

the rules is no visible logos. Doesn’t matter if it is a cool brand or basic, they are all logos and all banned.

@Puzzledandpissedoff coats often have a little logo/name sewn on it that says the brand name.
But that doesn't mean they are an expensive or designer make.
For example a coat bought from Decathlon that says "Quechua" on it. That's their own brand clothing. It's not "designer". It's just an ordinary coat. Would this be banned under the school rules? The Quechua backpacks are just about the cheapest you can get 😂
(picture incoming).

@JambonetFromage the Scouts comment wasn't meant to be horrible. I meant their more likely to be the ones wearing sensible waterproof coats - like Regatta.
It was a compliment 🙂

@JambonetFromage so would the Quechua coat I posted above be banned then?
Because that's ridiculous.
It's a frigging basic coat.

You just need a piece of fabric the same colour as the item and stitch it over the logo. If you can't sew just use some fabric glue. If the logo is a little sticky out piece of fabric just cut it off. Or use a sharpie as someone else suggested.

This was the rule at my school 30 years ago and it was PITA back then to find plain black waterproof coats (the days before online shopping!) all the girls ended up getting the same one from the local clothes shop - they were massive long things with big plastic silver coloured zips that broke immediately on using and rustled loudly whenever someone moved.
We looked like some sort of bin bag wearing coven and you could hear us coming from miles away 🤣
Broadly I think it’s a good idea but DDs school have settled for ‘discreet logos only’ rather than no logos which basically allows them to ban North Face etc but allow Regatta for example

@carpool or schools should just stop being so petty.

Coats often have a little logo/name sewn on it that says the brand name.
But that doesn't mean they are an expensive or designer make

I know, @Needmorelego, but the difficulty is that once a small and inexpensive logo's allowed it soon becomes vast expensive ones and the problems start

It just seems so unnecessary when entirely plain items are so readily available - except for the maker's label inside of course, and at least that's hidden

I think it is a normal rule, in most schools

This made me laugh so hard. Because my dc are in Scouts and have sensible Regatta gear. 🤣 We are admittedly quite stereotypical.

@Puzzledandpissedoff I just out of curiosity had a quick look at the websites where most people I know buy coats and bags for school (a couple of supermarkets, decathlon, m+s, sports direct etc).
It seems to be barely any plain colour backpacks that don't have the name or logo of the make on them.
I wouldn't say they're "readily available" at all.
Coats seem a bit easier - the supermarket/M+S ones don't seem to have logos.
It just seems a bit ridiculous to ban a bag such as this one that costs just £6.99.
(picture incoming...)