Uniform advice please

[Pico2]

Now that we know where DD1 will be going for reception, I'd like some advice on buying her uniform. Our priorities are:

1. DD is comfortable - so probably more natural fabrics.

1. An easy life - minimal ironing and enough uniform to not need to have a regimented washing schedule.

1. The right balance between cost and durability. DD seems to stain a lot of clothes at nursery, so we might not want to buy uniform to last so well that DD2 wears it too, but we wouldn't want it to fall apart after a couple of washes.

Can anyone advise on where to buy uniform and how many to get of each item? Also, when is the best time to get it? Will she need summer dresses in September or straight into winter uniform?

trutex polo shirts are excellent. We bought 4 in each age range and they have each been worn for four years (two dc) and will be passed on to dc3.

I like m and s for most things but John Lewis for shorts and summer dresses

I bought DD1 what I thought was quite a lot of uniform but quickly realised we needed more! What with things getting dirty or mislaid (Label everything! ) we were running short. I bought her initial stuff brand new and then extras from the school second hand sale (they sell off what seems like hundreds of lost and unlabeled cardigans and jumpers a few times a year ). The brand new cardigans were £10 each from a special uniform shop as they are logo ones. The second hand ones were £1. After a few wears and washes you couldn't even tell which was which.

Agree that she should be able to get herself sorted. Zip on front not side or back - no fiddly buttons, no laces - watch coats unless she can do it up - tights if she can manage them -

You will need to leave one set in school for accidents/soaked through playing with water/the sodding mud kitchen so I got 6 polo tops as they came in packs of 3, 5 pinafores with zip front for easy changing and also to protect the tops a bit more, and a skirt to go in the spares bag. 3 cardis, but dd prefers to screw them up and stuff them in her book bag tbh. 2 Summer dresses at the moment, I'm keeping an eye out for zip front ones still, they are not always easy to find. We seem to have some weeks where one set will last 3 days, then other weeks where it's a new set daily. No tumble dryer, so I felt I needed the lot.

I've had Next, M&S, sainsburys, tesco, matalan. Very little difference tbh. Sizing on M&S and tesco was much smaller than the others. Dd started school wearing age 6-7 ?? the school branded stuff was tiny too. If you can try it on I would.

find out what colour the shirts are. DS's school have polo shirts or blouses so he has polo shirts as fewer buttons. He can have white / red / black. We bought some white as part of the mix when he started reception rookie error but none since then. Red or black don't show up the paint so much. If you have the option to buy colours other than white for shirts, I would do.

I think there are as many opinions around as there are shops you can buy uniform from.

I personally found that M&S offers the best for me. Easy to get (order and pick up near work), one of the few places I get pure cotton for shirts, washes well and fairly good cut.

I have now 5 of all, I wash dark and white separately and never had issues with shirts getting grey. I think we are lucky as I so far got all pen marks out when DD was in Infant but not in Juniors now where they have their own pens and some at her desk do not use the washable ones.

The only time I had to throw away a shirt was when DD came home from forest school and the shirt was covered in dried mud.

I only bought logo cardigan as a treat. We get ours via M&S and I actually find them less good quality wise then the normal M&S ones. I wash them in the same way and they look less nice far faster.

I buy to fit, I may spend a bit more but I hate DD wearing items too large, it doesn't look smart.

Shoes - I buy when necessary, regardless of the time of year. I think we bought in July, yes I had to replace in October but what can I do, I doubt buying in August would have made a difference and shoes to large do not work.

I haven't found a pair of tights that do not bobble. Next year I may try JL.

OP- re your question- I buy things from non-uniform ranges that are in the school colours. Normal clothes are never in teflon coated synthetics and they last longer too, so even though they are more expensive to start with, they get handed down and last years. I buy a lot of Petit Bateau as they usually do something in navy. Cyrillus for pinafores, some things can be found on Perry Uniform, it depends what the base colour is. Cambridge Baby have a small uniform range (they are an eco company) The gingham dresses are a nice simple shape. I buy jumpers and cardigans from Petit Bateau, or I knit them. The dds do sometimes wear the official school sweatshirt, which is part synthetic but no toxic coatings. Summer dresses, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis do pure cotton ones. And cotton cardigans. Tights I throw money at as otherwise they shrink and fall apart and last less than half a term. If I buy expensive ones (Falke usually) then they last long enough to get handed down to DD2. And don't get me started on shoes.....th cost a small fortune as the girls both have really tricky wide deep feet....
I just want them in cotton dresses and sandals in the summer, cords or skirts and jumpers in the Winter, lots of lovely colours and no polyester in sight.

If your dd favours trousers you'll need more pairs than with skirts as the lower legs/cuffs get muddy.

Think about the ease of dressing/undressing when choosing styles.

Label EVERYTHING including shoes. I used to help out with a reception class and I've seen children completely clueless of what's theirs. 1 little boy took off his school shirt then denied it was his right in front of me. There was also a little girl who just used to select the pair of shoes she liked most when coming back in from the outside play area. Chaos!

My children are messy so we have 4 or 5 of everything. Other mums I know have tidy children and manage with 1 set and 1 spare. Have no idea how that works.

I find a lot of things get stained rather than worn out, so don't even try to pass things down. I but M&S (except for logo'd sweatshirts) and they have a lot of offers on uniform on at the beginning of the summer.

If wearing shirts, only buy short sleeved ones and wear all year round (saves manky cuffs).

For girls, buy more tights than necessary, as these are like gold dust mid-year.

Unless school are REALLY strict, don't bother with school-colour hair bobbles/slides etc. Buy what works in your DDs hair. Start growing hair for nit-free styling.

DD1 is also in reception but a summer baby so young for her year. She's a fairly tidy eater but it's always pretty obvious if they've had spag bol or anything with ketchup for lunch. We've found that 5+1 sweater/cardigan is pretty much a minimum. It's not unusual for her to exit the school in a coat buttoned up, to find when we get home that her jumper has been left at school. So in my view if you only buy 3, lose one even for a day or two and then you are washing stuff at midnight. That's when the cheap fabrics come in handy to be fair to them.

Styling - check that she can manage to change for gym and go to the loo in the style of uniform you buy [if not mandated]. I got a longish skirt for growing into but it's tons of fabric to hold up while wiping your backside if you are 4...... you can imagine...

Tights and socks, buy tons and in a reasonable size especially if you tumble dry everything. You have two options with T&S. Label everything or view lost items as collateral damage. JL tights are good and a reasonable size. You can buy them in packs of 3 which are good value and you can also mend them and the darn will stay in.

The cloakroom at my DDs school looks like a bomb's gone off. They sort of launch stuff at the labelled pegs and hope it gets there. If you are not doing school pick ups personally [or by a responsible carer] you will spend a lot of time buying more stuff. If you are, be prepared for 10 mins to be added to pick up while you go back in to attempt to retrieve all the missing stuff.

Can't comment on shops/brands as we have to buy most of her stuff through the school supplier. Most of it is a cotton/poly blend which we are not v keen on but it is practical, tumble dries well and doesn't take any ironing unless you leave it in the drier for too long. I think you have to ask yourself if you buy pricey stuff that gets stained or lost will you be pissed off and will it show to your DD? It's a 5yo at the end of the day so time enough to be allowed to get arsey about this stuff when they are heading for second level.

Unless she has eczema or a good reason to be fairly precious about it, then I'd save the pounds for the stuff you'll get good value out of. Just a personal opinion though.

Are you a wear-once-then-wash person? Or a wear-until-dirty person?

At primary DDs have only ever had

• 2 polo shirts
• 1 jumper + 1 cardigan
• 1 pair trousers + 1 skirt

They can then wear their 'preferred' combination, but if it gets splotchy by Thursday can swap into alternate for the end of the week. Wash done at end of week.

PTA sell logo second hand for £1 and often is as good as new.

I prefer John Lewis / M&S for greys, they happily last 1.5-2 years until outgrown.

Make sure you label stuff properly. The amount of unnamed stuff in lost property is unbelievable.

Thanks for all the suggestions - they are really helping me to work out what to do.

Are you a wear-once-then-wash person? Or a wear-until-dirty person?

With DD it is the same thing. She comes home from nursery covered head-to-toe in mud .

I've looked at things made from better materials, but I think it is probably unrealistic for us to buy enough uniform at those prices. She also goes through the knees on tights regularly. I really like the look of pinafores with zips.

If you know your DD is a mucky one then you need a complete change of uniform for every day, so 5 tops, cardigans, skirts etc.

DS is in reception currently and isn't too messy but he still needs a clean jumper and trousers everyday due to wearing his lunch. Often his polo shirt is ok for 2 days but that's if he doesn't take his jumper off.

I got 2 logoed poll shirts and jumpers and the rest is non logoed. I do think the M&S clothes wash better and stay looking new for longer but the Tescos and Sainsburys bits have been ok too. There isn't a lot to choose between the different ranges tbh.

If you need to get logo'd stuff, it is well worth asking when/if there is a uniform sale planned. Make sure you know/can plan DD's size and swoop in!
In terms of blouses (if you have flexibility), 3/4 length sleeves worked well for us.

Despite the cost, I'm a firm believer in tights. They have intervened in many a potentially "scabby knee" incident. Out of Tesco/M&S/John Lewis, the latter seem to be the more robust.

Your biggest challenge is to grab the "school shoes in the sale". I get DD's feet measured every 3-6 months (and used the Startrite "photo DD's feet on grid" thing in between).

Maybe we're unusual, but DD's feet have stayed the same width since she was 18 months to 7. Why pay £40+ when you can get them for £15-£20 in the sales (notified by email)? It also helps if you can persuade DD not to use her shoes as a scooter brake!

My top tips:

Stikkins labels. They can be used in shoes and on bags, as well as in clothing, and can be tumbled dried without detaching.

Plimsolls - Clarks sell plimsolls in half sizes and width fittings. Useful if you have a child with difficult feet. £9.50 a pair, which is more than bog standard ones, but better than them flapping when they run.

School shoes - you can make appointments for fitting at clarks. A godsend at back to school time.

My DS is is now year 6. Trial and error us say M&S is a no no, asda not great, tesco, sainsburies and next - yes!
Best we've had is next. Lasted all year - t shirts and shirts. Use Daz or the oxy white stuff! And my DS is autistic and not clean or careful!

3 jumpers or cardies. Yes to next size up and definitely no tumbling! They dry quickly and overnight on a radiator during winter.

Shoes - as lovely as the 1 Velcro buckle latent shies are - they are not practice! Leather shoes, well fitting. Boots for winter (ankle) that Velcro up.

And at the end of the day enjoy discussing what she's done whilst silently wondering how the holy fuck she got into such a state! It's a well known fact they only leave the house looking tidy and clean

Are patent shoes less robust than leather?

My dad has patent shoes this year. They've help up really well, I'm pleasantly surprised. last year she had kickers that I got from wyndsors shoes and they were great too. She's in year 3 though so less hard on her shoes than she was in reception

DD even!

I am always amazed at how much uniform other people buy.
Mine only have one jumper in use each and one in the next size up ready in the wardrobe. The logo ones from my DC school are so naff they are practically dry out of the machine so I just do a 15 min wash after school as and when they need it and hang them in their bedrooms to finish drying, and a proper wash at the weekend.
They do have enough polo shirts for a clean one each day. I have spares too as when they play on the field or in the forest area they get ruined by mud.
My boys have two pairs of trousers each and DD has a pair of trousers and a skirt.

My DD's school shoes have always been from Clarks and the patent ones wear much better than leather IMO. She'd always had patent and they look fine even when she's grown out of them but last time they only had leather ones that fit her and they looked tatty in a few weeks.

DD1 is in Reception and is generally not too mucky, but will sometimes have a run of needing clean things every day, and then not for a week.

We bought:

2 x skirts & 1 x pinafore dress (M&S and no problems with quality here)
4 x logo polo shirts
2 x logo jumpers & cardi - this has been fine as they wash and dry very quickly, but I have definitely needed at least 3 as school is baking, so DD takes hers off inside, then loses it and, even well labelled, it can take a couple of days to make it's way back to her peg.

I did buy a bit more than we really need as I'm happy to wash less and keep the logo stuff in better condition as I have two more DCs to go through the same school!

I've just bought 3 x summer dresses as well, the only people to start in September with then had been to nursery or had older siblings.

Our school they don't change for PE until the Spring Term.

I found pure cotton summer dresses at Next and went a size up as they were tight around the arms in her size. She's not even big for her age.
I got a polyester dress from BHS which needs next to no ironing (but I don't much like synthetic fabrics for myself especially in summer so pref cotton)
She has a couple of pinafores from Tesco with a zip up the front which have lasted brilliantly. A Tesco polo underneath (2 for £2.50 or something - they're smaller and shorter than the school logo ones but under a pinafore it's no matter).

Trousers for PE days as easier than tights, but I have always struggled getting trousers right for her as she has a narrow waist. Have some from Debenhams - ok, Tesco - not bad and some jersey-style ones (BHS?) which seemed like they'd be warmer in Winter however they didn't last very well before pilling.
We got shoes from M&S which lasted well - have only just replaced them as they're starting to look a bit worn and getting a bit small.

I'm another one whose kids didn't have multiple sets of uniform. Ds had 1 pinafore then later skirt at a time and 1 cardigan. Ds has 2 pairs of trousers and 1 jumper. 4/5 shirts each depending on where I've bought them.
It's not because I couldn't affird multiple sets of uniform but because I never felt the need. Does no one wash clothes drying the week? When mine came in from school, I checked for any marks and they either got sponged or chucked in with a load of washing. Hang up and they're dry in the morning.
As for paint etc, I can't believe my kids' school is the only one to have painting smocks on the uniform list! I've never lost any uniform to paint etc

My children had Startright shoes and had them fitted properly. The key to school uniform as far as a school is concerned, is whether they can undress and then dress themselves again after pe so easily managed clothes are best. Will your DD be able to get a pinafore dress on unaided? Do they need Velcro shoes or can they manage a buckle? My DDs never got dirty or messy in reception. They just didn't play to that extent. That was done in nursery with an overall on! Thank goodness. Just buy cotton shirts or polo shirts, grey skirts, tights in winter or trousers if allowed. A few cardigans or pullovers and a decent outerwear coat. Mine didn't lose anything. Their uniform lasted well. I usually bought m and s and sometimes JL. They grow out of it more than anything.