When are you buying new school uniform for September ?

[caringdad66]

My DS starts secondary school this September.
I am getting different advice from relatives and friends ,regarding when to go out and buy his new uniform.
Some say leave it as late as possible (ie last week in August),because obviously hes permanently growing,whilst others say go in late June to beat the rush and ensure stockists have a good selection and plenty of sizes to choose from.
I can see the benefit of both and would welcome your advice and thoughts.
PS DS is growing an average of 4mm per month ( 2 inches in past 12 months )

"It's cruel to buy big clothes" LOL. ...

Honestly they are all in big stuff in year 7.

Most schools don't have the luxury of a plentiful second hand market. Kids really do wear stuff out at secondary- or it looks well worn- equally a source of the teasing you are trying to avoid.

Not to mention the regular upgrading and tweaking of uniform that means, even with sensible schools that allow a year or more run of old uniform, that the year 7s still must have the new regulation stuff ( DD2 couldn't use DD1s shirts as they'd started putting a silly logo on the collar as kids were buying the wrong ones!).

Our school is really pretty good. New uniform only applies to new pupils and replacement uniform so if DD2 had managed to keep her skirt from year8 she could still wear it into year 11. Unfortunately she's very fed up as half way through year 10 the zip has bust and she's been forced into a pleated skirt with waistband logo. Again kids lets face it, if you didn't roll the straight skirts to belt length the change wouldn't have been needed !

"Kids really do wear stuff out at secondary- or it looks well worn"

All the more reason NOT to buy big - the clothes will wear out before they grow into them. And they will have been uncomfortable for no reason.

Prices vary of course, but I don't think £23 for a blazer (M&S offer) day in day out for 3 terms is bad on a cost per wear basis.

Blazer for our school is 29 pounds.....not bad really when you consider the wear they get.

Yes I am annoyed as I was persuaded to buy a blazer in a bigger size for my ds2 who started secondary school last September to find that due to the horrible nature of the fabric that it is already looking tired and old and still too big for him. Although it is an expensive piece of kit I will rebuy for September in a size that fits now and be prepared to replace annually.

Some of the boys showing us around on the open evening looked awful, bobbly, ill fitting, faded blazers that the parents had obviously brought one in yr7 to wear right the way through.

I buy shirts all year round as needed and trousers too. pe kit is ok if a little too big as they only wear it a few times a week, but something that is worn day in day out I would buy the size that fits. eg white shirts despite best efforts do eventually lose brightness, or pockets mysteriously 'fall' off or get ink stains etc so need replacing each year at least. Ds2's trousers never seem to fit, they are either too tight or too short, he seems to grow out and then up.

I brought all of the logo'd kit at the uniform buying day last year where we had an appointment to be fitted for the blazer etc. and anything generic such as shirts I ordered during the school holidays from m&s or John Lewis, both appeared to have stock all the way through the holidays.

I've started buying a few bits and pieces already. DD needed some school uniform type things for a show she did with Guides so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and get them big enough to (hopefully) still fit in September.

My dcs wear blazers which cost about £25 and I sew the school badge on myself. The blazers get a real beating over the school year and I don't worry about sizing up as they are falling apart by the end of the year. I would size up on things like rugby shirts/games skirts/track suits as they get worn a lot less, even if they do get mucky. Name everything!