6th Form suits for girl

[ToodlesOodles]

Can anyone suggest where I can look for 6th form suits for DD? She’s starting a new school and the dress code is strict. Don’t really want to pay Hobbs / Jigsaw prices but the jacket and skirt / trousers have to be a matching set, which narrows the choice somewhat! Any tips welcome… thank you in advance!

Next.
when you look at one item, it shows you the other things that match it.

https://www.next.co.uk/style/su177385/q99543

dds school is super strict and I would say 90% of the girls go to H and M.

H&M or Zara

I bought my Dd Next suits from eBay.

Vinted
Asos
H&M
Uniqlo

Sounds Incredibly uncomfortable and not at all conducive to effective learning. Why are some schools still so weird?

I think the justification used to be that it prepared A level students for the world of work but no one actually wears suits to the office any more! (That’s if they even work in an office)

I saw someone describe primary school uniform as dressing the kids like tiny estate agents and that image stuck with me!
There is something very odd about still sending kids off in ties or work suits while their parents head off to work in comfy dresses, jeans etc.

I would look on eBay and Vinted for any vintage ones that would be nice to wear and get the rest from Zara / H&M etc

That sounds absolutely ridiculous.

They'll head off to university next year and spend their lives in whatever they find on top of the pile of clothes on the floor of their room in the morning.

No not true. I know of many places that are still suited and booted most days. Totally depends on industry and company. And for example the head at my kids senior school and his management team wear a suit (including women) everyday.

Mine wear suits, works well. Next or Zara, you only need a couple. Definitely don't bother with expensive brands.

H and M

If there are suits at Hobbs in.sale and your daughter's weight is stable then go for them because in my experience the Next ones will go shabby. I'm saying this if they are going to be washed regularly.

Absolute nonsense they have to dress like this and it’s so much harder for girls than boys. I’m 53 and haven’t had to dress formally ever, but even the suits at the top rarely wear suits and I haven’t seen a woman in a suit for years!!!

That’s the same place though. So sixth formers have to wear suits to prepare them for work…in a school.

Like a previous poster, I can’t remember the last time I saw a woman in a suit, outside of a school. Probably in the nineties.

I’ve worked in a big FTSE for many years. Since Covid, people really don’t seem to bother with suits too much any more. I make regular trips to various companies in London and it’s the same there.
Suits on sixth formers are daft, especially girls. I bet they’re better dressed than most of their parents on a working day.

Ridiculous.

many girls at my DD’s sixth form wear black suit jackets from next / M&S and tiny stretch Lycra mini skirts. They look absolutely ridiculous as the structured jacket doesn’t work with the too short and too tight skirt but when parents have pointed out to the senior management team at school that it’s against the school rules (skirt closer to knee than hip) the parents have been told they’re “body shaming” the girls. It’s a private school - the school website has the head boy looking very smart in his M&S suit (ready to work at an estate agent!), the head girl has her m&s suit jacket, cheap fabric mini skirt and white ankle socks - an outfit seen in no work place, ever.

Exactly. DH and I are in jeans and trainers to go into the office!

I have this kind of nonsense about body shaming. Exactly how does wearing a skirt that barely covers your bum benefit a girl? When I see girls dressed like this they are always pulling their skirts down and checking them to make sure they haven’t ridden up. Ludicrous.

But you might have missed the part where I said I know lots of people who wear a suit to work including myself. So no not 90’s just a different dress code to where you are used to. A lot of companies may be business casual but would always ‘dress up’ for client meetings, board meetings, visitor meetings etc. Spend some time in London, plenty of people going to work in suits.

I live in London. Still don’t see that many women in suits. Dressed “smartly” yes.

But I also see squillions of other people not dressed in suits. All commuting into and within London.

So clearly, making sixth formers wear suits is only “preparing” them for one of many kinds of work. And given that many of those dressed smartly will have had 3 years at uni where they wore what the hell they like, it’s seems even more pointless. Not to mention all the schools (including private) that don’t bother with this nonsense.

How very dare you! I’ve lived in London, in Hampstead no less! And unfortunately for me because I don’t like it at all, my in laws live in Manhattan so I stay there four times a year. I’ve seen many a business woman but I can’t remember seeing one in a suit.

get to primark