School Uniform Prices

[altarflame]

I think that part of the purpose of school uniforms is supposed to be that they cost less than "designer clothes." But they cost SO MUCH MORE than *I* typically ever spend on clothes! The uniforms I've bought Isaac and Elise DO hold up really well, and I appreciate that about them, but, gah! Elise especially is still at an age when cheap clothes are outgrown before they fall apart, anyway, so if I get her $4 pairs of shorts off the table-shelves at Target that's just fine.

Her preschool had a policy of "just" wearing the preschool's tshirts every day, with whatever bottoms you chose. They were $10 each. So I spent $50 for 5 tshirts for her at the beginning of the year, and then about $30 more throughout fall and winter because some of the originals got so stained up (since, you know, preschooler), and one just vanished. Then in February, I had to spend another $50 because the old shirts suddenly didn't fit anymore. While those costs are not the end of the world, I would straight up never normally spend $130 on tshirts for a 4 year old in one year! This is leaving aside the laundry nightmare of realizing you don't have a clean uniform shirt in the morning and always having to plan for this, or seeing something grimey on one that had just come out of the dryer, and losing your mind that 2 months into ownership you can only find 3 of the 5 shirts no matter how you tear the house apart.

I fantasized regularly about walking in there and dropping hundreds of dollars on shirts so it would never be a problem again. They were stacked up there all tantalizing, behind the desk by the door.

I'm looking at the prices for uniforms for this school Ananda and Aaron just got into, now. Thinking, "WHAT?"

Lately, Ananda normally wears a mixture of stuff she's blatantly stolen from Laura and I (mostly things we don't fit in anymore anyway), 2 giant garbage bags of awesome expensive barely used stuff from her friend Mia, who was going away to college, a few things she's traded with her friend Izzy, Hot Topic shirts she buys herself with saved up allowance money when they're having special promotions, and things we've found at Goodwill. The only clothes I've really bought her new over the last couple of years are the one formal outfit she needs for orchestra performances, $4 blank shirts from craft aisles for her to paint her derby number on for bouts, and really nice socks, bras and underwear. Ok and there were tights and leggings in her Christmas stocking and they all get pajamas on Christmas Eve. You get the point.

How am I supposed to spend much on clothes for her, when we've went from making rent-to-own payments on her cello to financing her braces? We've replaced her skates, upgraded her knee pads and helmet, and taken her on 3 derby trips, this past year. Fancier clothes are obviously not a priority to her, since all she wants for every birthday is more books and art supplies.

Aaron, Isaac and Jake mostly wear trash bag loads of really nice (sometimes still new with tags) clothes from a family we know with three boys who are all a little older than our boys. This past December I did stock them all up when Old Navy was having an absolutely ridiculous sale - I got them something like a dozen outfits (combined) for around $200, to fill in the gaps in their wardrobes. Before that I can't remember the last time I bought them any new clothes but socks and underwear, except for Aaron's dance things, Isaac's cheerleading stuff, Halloween costume pieces, etc.

And also of course about $600 for Isaac's uniforms, for 3rd and 4th grade, counting things he outgrew mid-year in 3rd. I mean, damn!

The point is that I was looking at the required uniforms for this school Ananda and Aaron just got into, and it's even worse than Isaac's school uniform prices. I mean the pants are $25 per pair, and on cold days their only outerwear options are a school hoodie or windbreaker that is $35, either way. Shorts are $22. There are like 5 styles of shirt, all $14-17. Those prices do NOT include getting the school's logo embroidered on all the tops (shirts and outerwear), which it has to be. I guess hey're not super unreasonable prices taken individually, but I'm sitting here thinking that even if I'm VERY modest (like 5 regular shirts, and one long sleeved, 3 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, and something for cold days, each) it's going to be $500. And I'm really not convinced that will be enough. And I'm damn well certain Aaron is going to outgrow everything I get him by Christmas and need all new stuff. Assuming he doesn't destroy the pants' knees long before that. AND I AM COMPLETELY SURE THAT AS SOON AS HE STARTS THEY'RE GOING TO SEND HOME A LIST OF DANCE CLOTHES AND SHOES HE NEEDS TO WEAR ONLY FOR THOSE HOURS OF THE DAY.

I honestly don't understand how mandated school uniforms can be legal at free public schools. I mean I've always been ideologically opposed to school uniforms regardless, although I'm less vehemently so now than I used to be, but really - I'm 100% sure the cost is not possible for some families out there. What do those parents do? I'm picturing some poor exhausted people having to do school laundry every single night.

Something sucky that has seemed to be the case thus far is that the uniforms don't take the place of "regular" clothes, either - the kids still need just as many of those anyway, since they don't want to wear their uniforms outside of school, and you wouldn't let them even if they did (because then they'd be stained and worn out twice as fast).

Ok, I'm done.

Today was productive without being nuts (roasted chickens, sewed something for Annie, planned out/crafted/rehearsed their Mythologically Speaking presentations with them, grocery shopped, made an appt) and tomorrow is one of our ridiculous nonstop days. But then Friday is almost totally open, and next comes the weekend. For now, sleep sounds luscious.

Comments

[aelf.livejournal.com]

Do the schools not have used uniform exchanges/sales? If they don't, I'd get the PTA (or whatever they have) on that ASAP. We save a small fortune by buying used.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I've never seen an exchange. Sometimes the uniform company will bring a van to the school and sell things at like 75% of cost, but that's always in the middle of the year - so it can help, with things that are being outgrown, but not really with the initial stock up. I have seen school uniforms on Freecycle occasionally, albeit not his school (yet).

Isaac's second year, they had a "surprise" table of $1 polos at the back to school orientation. But I didn't know that was going to be the case, they went fast, and we skipped it since there was a conflicting event that evening :/ I seriously almost cried when I found out, because I'd JUST went and bought all the full price ones and it was a tight time.

[crustyshoes.livejournal.com]

Completely agree with you on school uniforms. If there has to be a uniform, I think it should be just a t-shirt or top. Does your school do specific colors or is everything logo-ed? I always see basic uniform stuff at thrift shops (navy/khaki uniform pants/skirts/dresses), some parents list on kijiji or freecycle, and there are a few stores that carry uniform basics. Old Navy has a sale on them now (still not super cheap, but cheaper than buying from your school's supplier).. http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5924 Also seconding the comment about uniform exchanges/sales. We used to do this for our dance/sports equipment (the ones that didn't need to be purchased new) and saved so much money. Everything adds up so quickly.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

They have to be logo embroidered, AND they're particular about what kind of polos, etc. I tried to buy generic uniform pieces in the right colors at BJ's the first year, to get embroidered myself, and the school said no because of things like "The collar is wrong" and crap like that... I think it's a racket and they're in cahoots with the clothes companies.

We have done dance consignment before, although that was easier for Annie since there's a lot of used girl stuff out there but the boy stuff is rarer. Especially now that Aaron has giant man feet :p

[crustyshoes.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is really frustrating! I can't believe how picky they are being. I hope you are able to find some way to bring the costs down, because even for one kid that is a lot to spend on just school clothes.

I can definitely see dance consignment being a challenge for boys! I remember it being hard enough to find things for girls once we hit an age where a lot of the kids who do it for fun dropped it. It's great that you find ways to make the extra curricular activities work even though they can get so spendy. While we'll do what we have to as well, I'm secretly hoping my son's interests fall on the cheaper side of the extra curricular spectrum! After reading this post, I'm also hoping for uniform free schooling.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

It's VERY common in the town where we live, for families to use only thrift and hand me down clothing. I actually think charters mandating more expensive uniforms is one of the ways they're purposely classing off from the regular public schools (which are filled with migrant farm workers).

I'm not debating whether we CAN afford it, I'm saying it's pissy that we have to. Of course we'll find the money, just like of course education is more important than fancy Christmas presents (I don't think I mentioned Christmas presents once here....I guess the pajamas and tights? they don't have anything to do with this), but I still get to bitch about how much cheaper and simpler it would be to be able to acquire education without uniforms, like it was when I was in school, and still is in much of the country. Whether we can swing an expense is irrelevant to whether it's fair.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I don't really believe teachers have anything to do with these policies, honestly. And I do actually have a pretty optimistic view of teachers. And I did say my opposition to uniforms is not as strong as it used to be, mainly for the reasons you're listing.

I do have a pretty negative view of our school board and it's administrators, that I honestly think you'd share if you lived here.

The racket thing was sort of a joke.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I'm confused and a little insulted by your comments about my role as a parent right now. The main reason I continue to make Annie stick with cello is because of scholarship opportunities, braces obviously contribute to the long term, derby actually got her off the couch and moving her body around, as well as bringing her out of her shell (there's no way to overstate these positive changes). Everything I do for my kids is with the long term in mind - I'm much more likely to deny them fun things than enriching or educational things or health things. I don't even understand what you misinterpreted or I'm not understanding correctly, here.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I like that you comment! I just care about your opinion. If you were some anonymous person I probably wouldn't have replied.

I usually feel better about things after I vent about them. This can be a source of contention between grant and I - complaining sort of is the solution that leads to acceptance, but he tries to solve things when I just want him to go "yeah! That sucks! Solidarity!" so we can move on with it off our chests :p Or, he offers a different perspective, which makes me feel like we're arguing when I just wanted affirmation. Generally speaking, once I've written about something I'm not that upset about it anymore. At least for awhile? I read over this post with great satisfaction before I trotted off to bed last night.

Obviously this is not as true for deeply confessional or ongoing complaints. *shrug*

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I am not upset about this business at all, fyi, so please don't worry about it. I understand your intent and it makes sense :)

I did want to say, for kids at Old Navy, the non-sale prices are lower per item than those uniform prices in a way that really adds up when you multiply by 10 and such - and they always have certain "sales," it's just they also do super-sales sometimes. Like I happened to be looking last night thinking how Jake is having a growth spurt, and collared, button down shirts on the site are all $7-12, and tshirts are mostly $5-8. $12-$15 is a standard non-sale pants price, there, for kids pants. And kids clothes at Old Navy actually hold up really well, at least in my experience - it's not all that ridiculous Viscose that they make women's shirts and dresses out of now, they are really pretty good (boys' in particular). Way better than Target, where the tshirts will have pinholes within 2 washings and the screenprinting looks like shit right off the rack (I think they're actually trying to make "crappy" look like "the style").

I was also thinking part of the different perspectives here could be that in Florida (no seasons, really) as homeschoolers, there is never normally a time that we have had to buy multiple kids a whole bunch of clothes each at the same time. We can space things out through the year, doing a little here and a little there as people outgrow things. That is actually a huge part of the uniform pricing issue; having to outfit so many in a full wardrobe of stuff at once. Although now that I say that, we can clearly wait on the outerwear and long sleeved shirts...

Also, you are now the first person on the net to have been informed Jake and Elise got into Isaac's charter - I just found out today and am still sort of in shock that ALL FIVE are slated for schools next year O_O Elise in particular is a trial basis; Jake I really feel is ready and though there are trade-offs, I think he'll do well and it'll be worth it. Gah! I have a lot of thoughts, mostly about the best ways to use aaaaaaaaall that childless time...

[custard-kisses.livejournal.com]

I find uniforms brilliant, and they don't need nearly as many regular weekend clothes either. It can be a big layout at the start of the year, especially if you have twins, but it pays of throughout the year. My girls are wearing their kilt and wool jumper for the second year in a row too so they last for ages and they only wash them at the weekend, or every second weekend. Their shirts they have 2 or 3 off so that lasts them all week.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Isaac and Elise, whenever they've been wearing uniforms, change as soon as they get home and wear regular clothes for the rest of the day to preserve the uniforms between washings. Otherwise they'd be played in outside and have dinner all over them, etc etc... So we haven't really seen a decrease in non-uniform clothes needs.

Being able to keep wearing the same ones a second year sounds great, because they really do seem very durable. At this point I'll try not to complain if they can just make it through an entire year in the same size.

There is something strangely satisfying about acquiring and stacking them, in the same way that I liked buying prefolds and other cloth diapering stuff - something about a set supply list, and fulfilling it, and having these useful items for a specific purpose. That big layout at the start of the year is my complaint. We've never really done the "school clothes" shopping spree that was standard for me as a kid, since we don't really have a set school year. And being in Florida, we've never had to be ready for winter or whatever. So it's normally easy enough to just get a couple of things here and there for one child at a time, without the bottleneck effect of needing a bunch of everyone all at once.

[tikizeekbaby.livejournal.com]

I liked uniforms, but for us they weren't "cheaper" either as my kids usually wear hand me downs or thrift store finds with a bit if new stuff thrown in. We were lucky in that it was only required that we wear white collared shirts and navy blue pants or skirts so you had the liberty of shopping wherever the prices were best rather than having to buy a specific type of logoed clothing.

I did like that it cut down on some of the " your clothes aren't like mine" bullshit I was disturbed to be seeing when my eldest was in preschool and how it cut down on fashion fixation if your kid is wired that way ( my second is totally obsessed with clothes and shoes... At 6).