What does the best dressed mum at your school gate wear?

[Goodwitchglenda]

What does the best dressed mum at your school gate wear? And where in the country are you?

Posting in the spirit of curiosity and inspiration!

I find it psychologically fascinating that there are some women on here who almost have to frame any mother who likes fashion as a bad mother, as though we have to sacrifice an outside interest/passion at the altar of motherhood and have no other markets of identity. Humans have expressed themselves through clothes for almost as long as we have been on the planet. Being interested in clothes doesn’t make any woman a bad mother. It’s almost like these naysayers have to believe that as a survival mechanism for some reason. There aren’t two camps. I am a good mum and I care about design and often get compliments on my style: it’s not either or and it’s not “sick” to be interested in how other women express themselves through clothes!

Parents at my daughter's school don't tend to be 'well dressed' in the way I think you mean (city school in deprived area, predominantly Muslim, and African so lots of traditional dress) However two of my daughter's friends' mums always look amazing- they wear simple classic clothes in neutral colours. The type of people who always look well groomed and put togther- innate style. I am in awe every time I see them even though it's not my style. I think I dress well though! I love fashion and clothes and wear nice dresses as the norm I'm in Nottingham.

Ya, DS is at Eton, the new boy Windsor's Mum best dressed mum for sue.

for sure.

I'm sorry but 'slaving away in an office' (eg working hard) is more 'worthy' (whatever that bloody means) than fashion. Get a grip.

No one cares if you work or not, genuinely I don't but please don't pretend fashion passion is compatible to a job.

I think most of us have some interest in fashion - who determines what is fashionable? However the school run is imo an unusual place to be bothered about whether you are fashionably dressed or not - most parents are racing against the clock to get everyone up, dressed, clean, fed and in the car/on the Tube in the morning to think to much about their outfit.

Just looking like you haven't just rolled out of bed puts you ahead of the game at our school.

In many people’s case it is a job! It’s an industry that employs many talented and hardworking people. And no I don’t think that working in an office is automatically more worthy than having a creative passion. I’m someone who is very creative and lucky to have made a job from it, but had I not been able to and been forced to do a job I hate, I would absolutely prize my creative interests as more worthy. Priorities I guess.

This comment should be on the front page of Style and Beauty tbh. I have faced many comments for making an effort with my appearance since becoming a mum, always from women who don't bother. Most of them seem to enjoy taking the stance that they're a cut above the rest as a mother for not bothering with their appearance, which couldn't be further from the truth. There is no mum uniform, no standard clothes you should wear once you've given birth.

Wear your makeup every day, wear your nice clothes every day, feel good doing it and fuck what anyone else thinks is what I tell myself. And to those who dont want to, you do you, I dont believe this thread was intended to bash anyone, the OP was asking for whats the most stylish things you've seen mums wear at school drop offs/pick ups. And for those asking why she didn't ask about men; I can't imagine she would use them for fashion inspo, I certainly wouldn't.

Some parents do drop off first and then have their morning shower afterwards. Schools start quite early especially if you wfh.

If you're interested in fashion, looking around in a cocktail bar of an evening would be more informative than the school run.

Op, you insist you're all about Fashion as Art but you're coming across as judgy mcjudgerson by choosing the school run for your observations.

Either that or you have no more interesting events in your day to dress up for??

They're just baiting. Ignore the sadsack

There are several different tribes at ours:

1. The immaculate handbag, tan coat, heels combo with full make-up and hair. These are obviously 99% working in an office mums. Law, government, corporate etc
2. The low-key H&M/Primark/no brand WFH working mums who are also busy professionals but don't have the time or energy to put on a full outfit for the school run
3. The self-employed, edgy, creative working mums who don't have a boss so they like showing that with casual but trendy clothes. Baggy jumpers, trainers, baseball caps etc

To be honest, the vast majority of mums look perfectly normal! It's some of the dads where I've really raised an eyebrow. One literally looks like a drug addict with tattoos, eye bags and sloppy clothes. Another one was so creepy that another mum thought it was a child predator trying to spy into the school. They don't show up regularly either, possibly the result of split custody and it's their weekend to get the kids. But really, it's the men who stick out at the school gates.

I have loads, but a cocktail party or a launch aren’t the only places people dress interestingly, at least not in London. Street style is one of the great pleasures of living in a city, so the school drop-off is another example of that. There are all kinds of people from different walks of life and I love seeing their personal interpretations of their style. Someone above mentioned some mums in traditional African dress - one of my friends collects those fabrics and takes a great interest in that area of textile design. I doubt you’d accuse those mums of being shallow for expressing themselves through dress. It’s natural and very human!

Agree. I don't do drop offs or pick ups often, but whenever I'm at school for any reason I make an effort so as not to embarrass my children. And it really doesn't take much effort to put on decent looking clothes/jacket instead of dirty pyjama's. It takes all of 2 minutes to even pull on a pair of leggings, a hoody and run a brush through your hair. You don't need to put on a full face of make up to look presentable either.

I’m in West London. There’s a real mix of clothes tbh but an awful lot of Anine Bing, Frankie Shop, and Golden Goose shoes. More Barbour than you’d expect in a city too! One mum has the most amazing coat collection to the extent I asked where they were all from, Hobbs! The oval shaped Celine sunglasses are having a moment too.

There’s another school round the corner where the mums seem to be in a uniform of barrel leg jeans, checked jackets and sambas.

There aren’t many dads I see regularly and those that I do are in suits or running gear!

Some of the answers on here are batshit. Do people not understand this is the style and beauty board , where people like to discuss, you know, style and beauty? And that it’s OK to do so?

It’s a long time since I was at the school gate but I just want to say I totally get where the OP is coming from - it’s an interest. I was a sahm in those days but I always made an effort to be showered and wearing ‘nice’ clothes (usually jeans & a jumper) because I am interested in clothes. I also like to see what others are wearing. It became a shared interest with DD from a young age. She went on to do a fashion degree and has just landed her dream job in the fashion world. So for those of you who do have the time and the inclination, enjoy yourselves and you never know what it could lead to for your DC!

My school run days are over now, but in the name of all great mums who love life but seriously struggle with the judgementalism and bitchiness of school run situations, I actually hate this thread, and yes, it is worth saying, because those school run mums who genuinely don't give a shit what anyone wears because they're focused on actual people rather than artifice, they might find comfort in my comment.
I genuinely hated school runs as I had never encountered a situation where so many people were in the same place for literally the same reason yet felt the best way they could use that time was to look each other up and down ffs rather than actually chat and get to know each other.
Only on school runs. Nowhere else.

Totally agree! Why be on the S&B board to carp about people having a discussion about clothes??

It's a long time since I was at the school gate, when most SAH mums dressed fairly practically: jeans, t-shirts or jumpers, even the dreaded shell-suit back in the day! Especially if you had younger kids it made a lot of sense not to be too dressed up.
I was teaching part-time and had my own self-imposed uniform of skirt, vest top and cardigan .. just to differentiate my working clothes from the rest of my wardrobe.
I did have one friend who believed in wearing her nicest clothes all the time and she always looked great, as if she was heading to the theatre or a day in town shopping with afternoon tea somewhere smart. I think she was right - instead of keeping your "best clothes" to wear on rare occasions she had the pleasure of wearing them all the time. I know some people judged her for it, unfortunately.

@MrMucker the bitchiness was aimed at my nicely dressed friend unfortunately - completely the opposite of what you're talking about. She was a lovely person who was just having fun with her clothes and not judging anybody.

Agree, I love fashion and worked in it for years but the school run isn’t really somewhere I would get inspo for or I dress up for. Lots of us wfh/hybrid so comfort and casual tends to win out.

In my school run days (long gone), mums were either dressed for the work they were dashing off to or they were stay at home mums with younger children, so dressed very casually and not trying to look fashionable. This was a London state school.

I think it’s probably only in wealthy areas that women arrive in designer gym gear or a well put together outfit ready for a day of coffee / lunch, isn’t? Otherwise women are off to work or off to the park / playgroup with toddlers and babies.

I think some posters and seeing this too literally. It’s not so much that this is about what women choose to wear specifically for the school run, as if they then get changed into their day clothes when they get home. It’s about what women are wearing every day. The school run element is just about the fact that these are the women that a lot of parents see every day. Especially if you’re not going to a workplace, these might be really the only women someone might see in a day who are of roughly the same age and demographic as them, so what they are wearing might be interesting.

Well @HeadInMyShedmost including me are wearing jeans or joggers with a sweatshirt or fleece and birkenstocks or adidas with a mac. Lots wear leggings/sports clothes and then some in more office clothes.

I get it OP. I love seeing what people are wearing. It's people watching and it's fun. In a sea of beige it's so refreshing to see someone in bright and colourful clothing. I'm a teacher so I don't actually notice what people are wearing in the playground as I'm in such a flap trying to make sure the right kid goes home with the correct parent but I work 4 days a week and on the 5th day when I take my kids to their school I love seeing what people are wearing. I try to wear bright fun clothes and when I'm feeling brave I'll pop the sequins on no matter what time of year it is. Dopamine dressing works for me.