Can you recommend a kind of school uniform for a school that has none?

[SSSandy]

Here (Germany) schools generally don't have uniforms which I find a shame. I have a nice frock for the first day of school but don't really want to spend tons on fancy outfits for normal schooldays. What could I buy and use as a kind of ersatz school uniform which could still look nice or varied enough for dd not to end up the brunt of jokes?

The school she is going to is private, not expensive, but it is in a posh area and most of the families are well off , so the children are generally expensively dressed.

She's just grown again so this is a good time for me to think about new clothes. She's not keen on frilly dresses or dark colours.

Thanks for any tips!

What about using the school uniform concept of matching skirt/trousers and jumper, and ringing the changes with different coloured blouses/t-shirts?

Get some coordinating basics like poloneck tops from H and M to team with trousers or skirt/tights.

agree with coordinating basics. Lots of different coloured polo neck t shirts with basic skirts and trousers (denim or heavy cotton).

have a look at what passes for schoolwear in the US - Land's End and Gap both have ideas for 'back to school' outifts of denim skirts / trous / jackets, jumpers, t-shirts etc that mix and match easily.

If she's not into denim or dark colours, might cotton khakis be a good place to start?

Thanks everyone for those ideas. Have to race off to a parent-teacher evening to learn what books and things we need to get. I'll look back in when I get back.

Her favourite colours are red and yellow, so bit tricky unless I base it all on navy blue which she doesn't like too much. I was thinking of getting two matching trouser/sweatshirt jacket sets but now I'm wondering if that's a bit too casual. Might look for some nice white blouses. She won't usually wear skirts but she would wear a pinafore style dress.

Thing is since uniforms are frowned upon here, I don't want to make it too obviously a uniform imitation. It will be difficult to get her into plain colours etc anyway. She usually likes very colourful, highly patterned things. It would be ok if everyone were in uniform but I'm not sure she'll like being the only one in plain clothes while everyone else is dressed like a bird of paradise. We shall see. THankfully she's not that clothes-obsessed yet but she does know what she likes/dislikes.

Feel I'm getting some clarity now though, thanks!

At DD1's non-uniform school it's jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, some skirts, fleeces...a cheerily casual look, really.

I love it.

Have you had a look at Verbaudet? They have lovely bright things and very cool patterned tights. My dds wore their stuff for pre-school and it lasts quite well.

never heard of Verbaudet, Kate. I'll have a google. Usually get Cakewalk/Oilily/Mellow Yellow type of things for her since that's what she likes but I do spend a lot of money on clothes for her and I think some discipline might do me good, also make it easier to coordinate.

Vertbaudet def worth a look, and La Redoute too (I hadn't twigged she was little, sorry if the links I posted earlier were a bit irrelevant)

Hi SSSandy,
We live in Holland with similar 'no uniform' rules and by the sound of it, a similar 'well off Mini-Boden type kids' environment. HOWEVER, I have 3 children who live in Primark, Asda, H&M and Matalan!! Whenever I go back to U.K to visit my parents, I go shopping and buy loads of cheap stuff to last them the next 6 months. That way, I don't care when they come home after 2 days with holes in knees from footie, paint spilled in art or 'mummy, I can't find my sweatshirt' (more often than is possibly imaginable). Is your dd bothered about clothes yet? I am lucky in that despite living in a town where almost everyone works for Nike, my kids don't really care yet about labels. I'm sure that time will come though

Do you have Du Pareil Au Meme or Zara over there ? Also inexpensive , colourful but quite chic

Thanks for all the tips. Lots of brands there that I hadn't heard of before. Thanks for the links, Mrs. B. She isn't all that small since they start school here later - around 6. She's tall too so I need to buy size 8 generally so those links were good for me.

Oxocube, if I were living in Holland, I'd be bankrupt. For some reason we seem to only buy Dutch clothes brands for dd. Wonder why that is? Thankfully she isn't that clothes-conscious yet but she definitely wouldn't wear say a plain navy blue t-shirt or a pink frilly dress. She loves bright colourful clothes, especially with some kind of picture or interesting pattern on it. Makes coordination difficult. I just can't be bothered spending too much time every morning thinking about what to dress her in, since school starts at 8, we're going to be in a rush!

I have Gap and Zara just around the corner from where I live so I could go and check them out today. There's an H & M too.

I expect once school starts, she'll soon want to be wearing what everyone else is wearing anyway so I will no doubt have to more or less go along with that in the end. Basically that's why I like uniforms, you can postpone all of that dress competition till the teens and you needn't think too hard about what to wear every day.

Avoid jeans as denim soaks up water dreadfully. One jump in a puddle and your dd will have soggy ankles all day...not nice!

never thought of that MB!

Would she wear coloured cord trousers which you can buy several tops to match. If you can get 2 or 3 basic "bottom" halves and a few tops for each should make it simpler. At ds's school in CH there was a lot of Gap and sports brands as well as supermarket/department store basics and more designer stuff (S.Oliver, Bakito etc). A real cross section !

Yes LIZ, cord trousers would be good. In fact I think I'll look for some today, preferably without zip/clasp because she's lazy about those. Cord is good, warm but not too warm, and nice and soft. Maybe it won't be as much of a dress parade as I expect. We'll see. She'd be happy with plain cord trousers if I get some flamboyant tshirts to wear with them. That's pretty easy to wash and iron too.

Good idea

Polo shirts are great - wash & dry really quickly and easy to get on & off

Do you have an H&M shop near to you - great clothes.....and the fee paying schools my kids have been to all wear this albeit with prada shoes!!

Yes Milward very handy to us in fact. Had a look in there today, just quickly dived through a few shops to get an idea of what was available and see which size dd needs these days. I can shop in peace next week when she's at school.

Did buy one thing she choose though - brown cord trousers (with a little bunny stitched on one side). So that's fairly practical. Wouldn't ever have chosen anything in brown myself but she seems to like the colour.