School uniform buying - what lessons have you learnt?

[LoveBuckets]

Need to get some new kit while sales are on and thought we could pool our experiences re quality, price etc. What are your thoughts on ironing too?

Polo shirts
I've also found Adams better quality than George. But the best polo shirt brand I found is a David Luke one I got 2nd hand - does anyone know where to buy this brand? The fabric stays softer and dries with fewer wrinkles and the colour still looks bright.
I've found that for yellow, it's best to choose the brighter eggy yellow shade rather than the paler yellow which turns grey in the wash fairly quickly.

Summer Dresses
I like the A-line ones with flower buttons from M&S, synthetic so I don't need to iron them.

Knitwear
Not very impressed with the Adams girls' cardigans, still intact but looks faded and droopy. Am I expecting too much?

Anybody else have problem with a school that insists you buy everything from them. Trousers -£16, skirts £14, Shirts £12 each,-girls turned grey in wash really quickly, Socks £5 pair, Blazer £44, Sweatshirt £18. 5 kids and it is so expensive! Not a private school and wasn't like that when they entered, only changed this year, so no second hand either! Seriously thinking of cutting off logo, which is on a pocket and sewing it back onto more reasonably priced shirts.
Any tips anyone?

DD!'s secondary school has just chjanged to an academy and introduced full uniform. Blazer, Shrts, Trousers, Skirts, Ties, and P.E.Kit. If they have the wrong kit they get sent home.
They aren't allowed a coat as blazer is waterproof, not brill in freezing cold winter, and they must wear it all day so they stink after a couple of weeks.
It is £75 for a full uniform, we got it free as DD was already at school there but they got sizes massively wrong, even after measuring them. DD got a size 32 blazer, didn't even go near her boobs, and a size 34 skirt which fell off her

M&S trousers have been fine here. Got either the cheapest, or next ones up and they have survived two years of wearing (bought five pairs though, so they aren't worn that much).

Not sure if this has been done already, but... buy v-neck jumpers rather than cardigans (especially if you have to invest lots of money in school crested ones) as the buttons will all be off by the end of Reception.

Okay - so my question is (uniform virgin) how many skirts and / or trousers do you buy? I've noticed a few lovely people here have bought 5 pairs of trousers... is this what most of you do? Seems a tad excessive to me, or do the benefits of being able to grab a clean pair every day outweight the costs?
I was thinking 2 skirts (worn with knee-high socks rather than tights until it's cold) and one pair of trousers for my DD. Am I way off the mark?

I find asda polos shrink when tumble dried.

The best place for me to buy uniform is the local school supplier, which is a lot more expensive but is better quality and stocks lots of fittings/styles of trousers (essential for tall thin fashion conscious y7 dd).
My top tip-don't send ds in new school logoed jumper for the first 2 weeks of new school year. The brand new jumper will mysteriously disappear to be replaced with shitraggerty old one.

Don't leave it until mid-August to get it because the shops will have run out.

It shows that everyone is so different. I though M&S boys trosuers were crap. My son got holes in all 6 knees of the three pairs I got. I bought John Lewis the next year cos they came with patches. We have had 2 holes so far.

I don't rate the M&S stuff either. And I find the sizing weird (or maybe it's my dd's shape that's weird . I have no complaints about the Asda clothes.

By InmyheadIminParis - when I work full time I buy 5 of everything, shirts, cardy's, skirts, ties the whole lot but if one of us is washing every 2 days then 3 lots of everything is fine.

You have to remember it depends on your child how clean they are. Some kids get dirty every day (and my DS is one) and are hard on their clothes, others are gentle angels. I would start with 3 sets of the main clothes and buy extra if you need it later.

Sad about Adams because I thought their trousers were great and we were set up for the next 10 years...

When dd first started at secondary I paid extra to get the trendier blouses from M&S with the three-quarter length sleeves and more fitted shape. They were terrible as the sleeves were so tight she never wanted to wear them (and she is a skinny little thing, 13 yo now and looks about 9).

Both children have polos and sweatshirts from school with the logo on. As dd was so small I got hers done at a local embroiderers. They were cheaper, have lasted her two years as they haven't shrunk or faded at all and don't look any different from the official school ones. Ds's ones I got from his school look really tatty by comparison and have shrunk so much I don't know what size to buy him for this year.

Asda trousers seem to fit my skinny dd best, bhs weren't bad either, but Tesco ones aren't very flattering at all being a bit baggy round the bum and top of the leg (not that she notices such things!).

My other advice is a bit late for this year, but if you buy boys' shorts get the cheapest ones you can find. They only get to wear them for about half a term with our weather being what it is, and they won't fit next year.

Last year I went to M&S sale and got a 2 pack long sleeved shirts for £3 and a lovely pair of shoes for £7 for Ds. The soles didn't last long though what with slakey feet and playground football and they cost me £20 to get them repaired . Ds is threatened daily to keep them in good condition! the uppers are in good shape and he still has growing room.

Tesco's trousers and Asda jumpers are the best as far as I'm concerned. The last lot of Asda trousers I bought looked like rags at the end of one days wear, even though I press them maticulously. I took them back.

My top tip is if your Ds grows in height but not width or he still has loads of adjustment in the waist; cut them down to make him shorts for summer(primary school obviously). No one ever realised that my Ds was wearing the same trousers all year round (yes, I did was them!).

DS has 4 ASA polo shirts, a clean one every day, don't need 5.

2 pairs of ASDA trousers.

2 school issue jumpers - I could do with one more of these as they get the dirtiest, but of course they are the most expensive!

top tip - don't have DC with weird-shaped feet . My DS's are so wide we keep having to go up sizes to get the width, which makes it harder for me to judge fit on cheaper trainers, etc, and DD's are just such a strange shape that 9 styles out of 10 just don't fit properly, so I really can only buy from a proper shoe shop - that's going to be fun when she gets to school age, as almost all girls "school" shoes are the wrong style to fit her.

If you have to source uniform through school, then definitely try to buy ahead from the second hand shop - i.e. summer uniform in mid-winter and vice versa for a better selection. If the school run the second hand shop themselves, then throw yourself on the mercy of whoever is in charge [shameless] to get first dibs on the best stuff.

For reception girls: buy pinafores, no trousers or skirts. That way if they have a headteacher that is particular about their shirts being tucked in, they do not need to worry about this...

How many pairs of trousers for reception boys do you reckon? I was thinking 2 pairs of trousers and 1 pair of shorts....ds 1 is 4.5 but v small and skinny (his 18-24 month trousers always fall down). Do mums of other skinnies think Next are good, or should I try M&S?

I find Sainsburys TU pretty good - DD1 has had 2 years out of her polo shirts - they are still white and have not shrunk, though they are beginning to bobble a bit.

TU cotton summer dresses are lovely and iron really easily.

i had to go to the school supplies shop two days before term started last year to exchange a pair of sports shorts which I had ordered online but were too big. I don't think I have ever seen more desparate and probably suicidal people in one (very) confined space. I won't be doing that again!

Who does the best box pleated grey skirts with adjustable waistband?

Reception boys - we survived with 3 pairs of trousers (hasty tumble drying this morning!) but mainly beacuse they were 3 for 2 when we bought them. Would not go for fewer than that - once the weather cools down you won't want shorts. IME Next much slimmer than M&S but elastadjustible waist is the main thing.

Stealthsquigle (great name btw!!) I can totally sympathise on the shoe situation. Ive got a DS who is starting reception in september when he'll be 4.6 and he's already wearing a size 13 shoes. Clarks/Startrite etc just won't even go over his foot...he's beyond an H fitting so we buy Geox shoes which actually fit really well and last for ages. But can't seem to find anywhere that sells Geox school shoes so goodness knows whats going to happen in september!!

He's got 5 pairs of trousers (from M&S) which are seriously too long cause he needed age 6 round the waist but am getting mil to shorten at end of August and 6 polo shirts from Next as they seemed to be the only ones that were in the right proportion...all the others seemed really wide!! Have managed to get some really wide velcro plimsolls from M&S as well even though school brochure says must be elastic sided ones but there is no way he'd be able to get those on his feet lol!!

School jumpers Im getting this week at the parents evening to find out classes etc...Im thinking of 3 jumpers for now?? Is that enough do you think?

InmyheadIminParis, my dd has 1 skirt, 1 pr of trousers and 3 summer dresses (can be worn in a winter emergency with tights, vest and jumper.) I did end up buying 6 unisex polo shirts though (came in packs of 3) as I have a son 2yrs younger so they were never going to be wasted. 1 jumper and 1 cardi for her.

I tried some school uniform bits on dd in M & S today and was not impressed. Very small selection and very odd sizings. She turned 5 yesterday and is quite little for her age, but an age 6 dress was far too slim fitting, as were the polo shirts we tried, but the skirts in both size 5 and 6 fell off her I think I'm going to try my luck in Tesco