Where to get uniform, your recomendations please.

[appplepie]

This may have been done to death - sorry - searched on here but didn;t find much.

DD is strating school in Spetember and I wondered if you could recomend where I could get the basics - skirts, polo necks etc.

Also, Asda had some lovely feeling lycra skirts that felt like jogging trousers.... would I be better getting the teflon?

Also, how many of each (skirt, jumper, tops) do you have in?

Not worried about it, more excited!

thanks

My DD starts too!
I have researched lots on here and been to all shops.
I have tried to shop for my daughter shape (tall & v skinny). Also wanted cotton as much as poss for sensitive skin.
I have got it all
4 long sleeve shirts Mothercare
2 short sleeve Sainsbury Tu
2 cardigans age 4-5 and 2 age 5-6 from George Asda £12 the lot
2 soft pull up waist trousers Asda (not a fan of the polyesterness of these but if we have another freezing winter, I want to be prepared for £6)
2 summer gingham dresses eBay £2.50
1 pinny M&S
1 culottes skirt M&S
1 pull up soft waist skirt Mothercare
5 pairs tights zeco from uniform shop £3.50 each but normal tights nightmare for DD.
5 pairs grey knee high socks M&S
5 pairs White ankle socks M&S
Pack 5 vests M&S
PE kit from sch uniform shop (ridiculously huge will fit till she's about 10 at least but smallest thy do)
Plimsoles size 8 and size 9 both Sainsbury £2.50 each! Gorgeous!!
2 x ties sch uniform shop.
And lastly one pair of Ecco shoes, fitted correctly with insole so they have masses of growing room!!
Load of sew in name tapes and stick on tapes for pack lunch box, shoes, book bag etc
I'm now completely broke! But it's all done. No stress incase stuff as sold out. No furious naming on bank holiday weekend for me!!

Asda all the way. It is good quality, but cheap enough for you not to get too upset when every blouse or polo shirt gets covered in paint/felt tip/fandom mess.

Asda or Matalan
because:

Cheep,
last ages
hard wearing
wash brilliantly
i dont mind when they get pen/paint etc on them becuase they are so cheep they can be replaced.

i have one set for every day
Becuase:
Im not pressured to get it washed, ironed and back in circulation
ds has a set all together so he can get it himslef, dress himself which is one less thing for me to think about when running round like a loon in the morning.

REFUSE to pat allot of money.

What i DO invest in is good shoes, if you buy cheep, you will end up replacing them within weeks because they are hammered. Clarkes last and polish up great every day. Reason i buy new is becuase he grows out of them.
Also a good quality winter coat, Next usually, slighly big for him so that we get a whole autumn and winter out of it.

I have got m&s gear ready for september

they have 20% off and free delivery at the mo

I got:

3 x pinafores
2 x trousers
2 x 3 packs of plain polo shirts
2 x cardigans
1 x plimpsoles
2 x 3 packs of tights - warning... nowhere seems to sell 4-5 in school tights! Got 5-6 which weirdly fit!
1 pack of 5 ankle socks

then school wise:
1 book bag
1 pe bag
1 school cardi
1 school jumper
1 school polo
1 school pe top

Need to get some pe shorts still and school shoes - thats it! will be leaving the shoes at least another month and getting proper fitted

she has a good winter coat which still fits so sorted there :)

I find supermarket sizes a bit on the small side, so good for when your child is on the younger end of their size. I got some nice polo shirts from Asda.
Mothercare also slim fitting (not so good for DD)
M&S and Next are a bit more expensive but seem to wear well and look nice.
Always get more tights than you think you will need, they bobble horribly and look nasty after a term.
I get one set of clothes per day as they always come home in need of a wash and I can't guarantee I'll have time in the week to make sure everything is washed/ironing and ready.

Thanks,
What material do you think wears well - whats this teflon stuff, thought that was for frying pans....

Think i'll get skirts rather than dresses as DD has found them easier at nursery, but they all seem to be really short. Got three year old DD size 4-5 and its very short!

I am looking at name labels and taggit thingys.... oh my I am so excited.... think DD and I will have a nice shopping trip after our school meeting this wednesday.

I buy all of mine from Next, we don't buy skirts though as my DD2 won't wear them.

We buy their pull up trousers and polo shirts, both cheap as chips and wash really well. We have 6 polo shirts and 2 pairs of trousers as a minimum.

I use a fabric marker - then just write her name or initials (depends on the class size etc) in her clothes on the care labels usually.
The skirts/dresses that you can tumble dry are good - no ironing needed.

Agree with faintpositive: Asda or Matalan.

I try to get winter coats in the January sales, when they are all atleast half price. This might not help for this year but you can always buy a bigger size in preparation for next year.

I miss Adams! They did the best stuff, trousers in a choice of lengths etc.

Asda do brilliant summer dresses, but I buy the rest from Next or M&S. I prefer to buy online as I can't be bothered to traipse around looking for everything (3 DCS).

I get two each of skirts/trousers/shorts/sweatshirts etc. and three or four polo tops/shirts for each. I certainly don't wash it every day - they usually get through the week on one set, maybe the odd change of shirt, luckily they aren't mucky pups.

All change for next year - DS1 is off to senior school and has just started to get that sweaty boy smell. I think a daily shirt and a can of deo will be in order from September.

I find asda bottoms are fine but the polo shirts tend to not last as well,m&s are better.Shoes have to be clarks,more money up front but cheaper in the long run.If you have to have a blazer for you tot then M&s are deff the best.

Oh & should have said school socks from M&S are imho far superior to others

Any tips for skinny boys? My nearly 4 DS is starting pre school (uniformed) quite tall but skinny waist.

Thanks

The trousers that kept best for DS were Sainsburys, far superior to his M&S ones. Though I've since bought him Next slim fit ones and they seem to be washing up well. I find tesco/asda far too wide for him.

T-shirt wise BHS ones have been good and so have Next pure cotton ones. I'm restricted to what I get due to weird school colours!

For DD (who starts in August) I have a mixture of stuff - Sainsburys, Next, M&S, Tesco. I have no idea what will come out best. What I can say is that even if one item from a shop fits and washes well, it doesn't mean all of them will. I was amazed that the M&S sizes varied so widely - DD has got an age 3 pinafore (she's tiny) but age 5 cullottes and age 4 cardis.

Oh, and don't try and put iron on name labels on teflon - they never last. Put them on the cotton waistband/pocket lining or such like.

For DS he goes through 2-3 trousers a week and 3-4 polos. I also have a few shirts (for photo day lol) and a few jumpers. And one pair of shorts.

For DD I've bought more but more of an assortment. She's a mucky pup and she gets bad eczema so I'm not sure what's going to work out best for her. You can get most uniform all year round, so I don't think you need to panic and have everything right from the start and can buy as you need.

Definitely Clarks for shoes! Every time I've gone for cheaper makes it has been a total false economy.

Asda polo shirts are V cheap - but they don't wash well and they seem to stain at the drop of a hat. Or maybe I'm rubbish at laundry.

Sainsbury's clothes - good value/good quality. Sells out INCREDIBLY quickly and unless you do get stuff now, the size you are after will almost definitely not be there when you want to buy it. Sigh.... or maybe I'm disorganised AND rubbish at laundry..

Tesco - not much experience of their school clothes - not near enough for me to think about a special trip for school clothes, to be honest. Or maybe I'm lazy, disorganised and rubbish at laundry...

Next - good quality, not cheap. And sometimes guilty of "fancyfying" things a bit with too much embroidery (for girls!) etc. They DO do slim fit though, which is v helpful for my skinny little rabbit (son). Or maybe I'm frumpy, lazy, disorganised and rubbish at laundry....

M&S - top notch. Good quality - comparable prices to Next or sometimes cheaper with their occasional offers. Washes BRILLIANTLY. Would buy it all the time every time if my v limited budget would stretch to it. Or maybe I'm tightfisted, frumpy, lazy, disorganised and rubbish at laundry...

School shoes - always buy the best you can afford. Sacrifice all the rest of the clothes (bar winter coat perhaps) in order to buy the best quality shoes. They get scraped, scratched, worn through, soaked (puddle jumping...sigh!), scuffed, bent, and generally treated with contempt, but they HAVE to stand up to the job for as long as they fit the child concerned.

Also, it's very worthwhile investigating whether (once your child's settled into school and you don't aspire to them looking perfect every morning!) the school has second hand uniform sales, or whether you can find decent preloved stuff on Ebay/Gumtree, etc. Ebay has been BRILLIANT for winter coats for me.

HTH!

i have just been looking at Asda. very cheap
Both Ds' starting school, one in reception, other in nursery both in school uniform.

i need:
8 polo shirts - @ £2 each
4 pairs of trousers @ £3 each
1 book bag from school office for £4
2 jumpers from school office @ £10 each - DS2 can wear Ds1 jumper, only had it since christmas
2 pairs of shoes
1 pair of pumps
1 pair of dark trainers
a lunch bag
2 sports cap water bottles.

shouldnt be as much as i thought it would be.

whta do you think skirts or pinafore dress....?

DD is quite dead against trousers for now.....

pinafore dresses can be bought a size bigger and do 2 winters. they don't fall down like skirts.

asda recommendation too. 6 polo shirts 6 of trousers/pinnafores/skirts 5 jumpers (second hand) about 10 pairs of socks (they go missing) 6 pairs of tights 9 vests (they go missing too) 10 pairs of pants 2 pe shirts and 2 shorts and pumps in current size and next couple of sizes /pe bag/ coat/ hat and 4 pairs gloves(cheaap from asda. matching ones... there always seems to be a missing glove too)/ sun hat.

DD changed schools in reception and so had to have new uniform.

The teflon/polyester style pinafores are much harder wearing but I went for jersey material which does bobble after two terms (but washed daily) as it made it easier/quicker for her to get dressed after PE as the material is stretchy

if you have a girl I would recommend buying LOADS of socks (as sock monsters often eat up at least 4 pair) and also more tights than you think you need for falls in playground etc....
NBut mostly stock up on socks!

I can heartily recommend M&S for all of it! I bought my DS trousers from there last year when he started in Reception. I just bought 2 pairs, plus numerous socks. The trousers are only just showing scuff marks on the knees and have lasted him all year.

I will be going there again as DD starts in Reception this year.

I got 2 pairs of trousers with teflon coating for £6!

Gone back and looked again.

M&S do a skort and coullottes (spelling?) pinafore dresses and skirts, plus summer dresses. The polo shirts and jumpers we get from our school as they are embroidered. Our school secondhand rail is very reasonable at 50p per polo shirt and £1 per jumper! All very good quality. And so far we have not lost one single item whilst he was at school.

Agree with TrishCummings don't scrimp on school shoes. The will eventually get scuffed, but if they fit properly and are a good make they will last a lot longer, and it is cheaper in the long run.

My top tip is to get at least one summer dress (or pair of shorts for boys) because it is often sweltering for the first couple of weeks of term and all the older children are in their summer stuff.

When DS1 started school I had got everything - so I thought - but it was boiling hot and he was the only boy in the school (or so it seemed) not in shorts, because I'd thought he wouldn't need any till the following year as of course he was starting in the autumn term. Needless to say there were none in the shops and I felt like he was the odd one out. I was so relieved when the weather turned cold!