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If you’ve had to buy new school uniform items this year, you may be dreading the arrival of the spring and the demanded for new PE kit becuase it’s getting to be an expensive business!
Uniform is good for children’s sense of community and for ensuring equality between those who have a lot of disposable income and fashion sense, and those who lack one or the other, or both. But it’s not a cheap option, whether you’re buying in a high street store, via the school’s own shop, or even shopping online. And if you have a child who is already in adult sizes, as many thirteen year olds and up are, these days, you also end up paying VAT on their ‘children’s’ clothing.
There are some ways to save money if you’re canny:
1. Ask the school to consider wholesalers who can produce small orders (say under fifty items) of essential uniform clothing in larger sizes – this might be embroidered polo shirts or logo-printed sweatshirts, which can then be sold to parents whose children are classed as ‘outsize’ by other suppliers.
2. Consider swap shops for outgrown clothing – often a PTA committee can be organised to set up exchanges of informal jackets worn for school events held in public or specialist clothing like cricket togs, which are swiftly outgrown and yet still wearable by a smaller student, perhaps in a lower year.
3. Request that essential items such as white T-shirts worn for PE and sporting activities be non-branded – this means you can buy the cheapest available, or even persuade the school shop to bulk buy them for you. The school logo could be kept for items like kitbags that are not going to be outgrown, and still give a sense of uniform when children are taking part in outdoor events.
The coldest winter in recent history is all but behind us, and an uncertain spring looms ahead, so how can you dress to be smart, warm and comfortable?
Begin by replacing heavy sweaters and the kind of scarf that you mum knitted for you with something a little more stylish – both give you a rotund appearance that is less than flattering and don’t really allow for layering. Instead, invest in some long-sleeved T-shirts that can be worn with slim-line jackets and the new lightweight scarves that add warmth without bulk – because they are so much lighter, these scarves are still comfortable to wear in spring, especially with a sleeveless fleece. Go for hats, scarves and gloves that tone with each other, rather than a matching set, which is a little old fashioned – a pale blue hat with navy gloves and a blue and grey scarf gives the right impression without over co-ordination.
Vests are great items to layer, and can be worn over or under long sleeved T-shirts or short sleeved ones to add warmth without making you look fat. As the summer approaches, reduce your layers to a polo-shirt under a fleece or if the weather is so cold as to need long sleeves, try a sweatshirt with a knotted scarf around your neck.
Trousers for the year ahead are likely to be straight cut and often worn, by women, tucked into boots well into the spring. If you’re wearing a layered top look, stick to smart black trousers that don’t distract the eye from the complexity of the garments on your upper body.
While you might not give a lot of thought to your jacket, apart from recognising that it keeps you warm and protected from the wind and rain, it’s one of the most versatile items of clothing around.
While a jacket can be worn over almost anything from a smart shirt and tie – when it looks formal, to a casual T-shirt, when it looks relaxed, other items of outerwear, like long coats, can look decidedly strange if worn over less formal clothing.
A high visibility jacket made of reflective material or simply with reflective strips is a good choice for the foggy and rainy weather of late winter and early spring, and is vital if you ride a bike, or are working outdoors or travelling on foot along busy roads.
The colour of your jacket says a lot about you.
• Yellow and orange jackets suggest a sporty personality and look better on people with a tan or with darker skin tones as the yellow can wash out pale skins and make them look unhealthy.
• Red is an exciting colour and suggests energy – it works better with casual clothing than formal.
• Blue is the classic colour for jackets and can be teamed with almost any other item of clothing from a printed T-shirt to a monogrammed shirt.
• White was traditionally the colour of yachting jackets so it suggests sport or smart-casual clothing. White jackets look best teamed with a strong colour and shape such as a green or brown collared polo-shirt to offer contrast.
• Black is the colour of a smart jacket and often looks formal or semi-formal – a black jacket sometimes has a bit of a funereal feel and to get away from this solemn impression, it’s best teamed with a red or pink shirt.
The snow has arrived across most of the UK, just in time for everybody who’s planning a long journey, by plane, car or train, to reach their friends and family in time for Christmas. When the weather turns bad, it’s essential to ensure that you’re dressing appropriately for comfort and safety.
If you’re travelling by car, think about the age and condition of those travelling with you: young children and the elderly suffer much more from cold and can find it difficult to keep warm in the way that the fit and active adult does. If your car breaks down, it can be very difficult to keep warm, so ensure everybody in the car has a hat and gloves, a scarf and a jacket, so that they don’t lose too much heat through their extremities or through their core body temperature dropping.
If you’re driving, think about comfort and safety – something like a pair of jog pants is ideal clothing as it allows you to stay warm in the car, but also to get out for whatever reason, from scraping ice from the windscreen to checking the tyres, without worrying about getting messy.
If you’re travelling by car, train or plane, ensure you have layered your upper clothing. One big jumper is no good if you get stuck in a hot airport, whereas a hoodie with a T-shirt underneath allows you to take your top layer off when you’re hot and put it back on again when you go outside and it’s cold. A fleece jacket is an ideal top garment as it offers great insulation without adding weight or reducing your mobility.
Why should you buy organic cotton Christmas presents?
• Because buying organic gives a gift to people and the environment. Organic cotton offers a better future for the people who work with it, and for the entire planet. Non-organic cotton farming uses one quarter of the world’s pesticides causing damage to the environment and illness and deaths among cotton workers. An organic cotton T-shirt benefits everybody involved in its production and manufacture.
• Because organic T-shirts, polo-shirts and especially baby clothes are better for the health of people who receive your gifts. Believe it or not, as many as 8000 chemicals can be used to turn conventional cotton into a teeshirt or baby’s sleepsuit. But Soil Association standards for organic cotton actually ban the use of chemicals that are hazardous to the environment or health, so buying organic means you safeguard the well-being of your loved ones.
• Because you’re helping the world’s poorest people – organic cotton supports labour rights because organic cotton farmers in developing countries tend to have higher incomes and definitely enjoy better health. Non-organic cotton workers often live and work in poor conditions, and are exposed to hazardous chemicals. Buying organic clothing such as T-shirts can mean that your purchase helps improve the life of the world’s poorest communities.
• Because it feels good – organic cotton is literally softer than other forms of cotton, it doesn’t contain chemicals that can be irritating to sensitive skin either, so an organic cotton rugby shirt will be softer and remain ‘snuggly’ longer than many conventionally produced cotton rugby shirts.
• Because organic clothing such as T-shirts is often more focused on style and comfort than more traditional cotton clothing manufacture – this means that new designs can be more wearer-friendly and high fashion than you ever dreamed.
There’s nothing more comfortable, more practical or more welcome as a Christmas present for both sexes and all ages than a rugby shirt. With Johnny Wilkinson’s return to the England squad and return to winning form, retailers everywhere are expecting a run on the eponymous rugby –shirt for gifts this year to rugby mad boys, and Wilkinson-mad girls!
So why is the rugby shirt so popular? Well it’s made to be both durable and eminently wearable – unlike some sturdy clothing which is hard-wearing but hard to wear, it’s designed for maximum movement and comfort, so whatever you’re doing, it feels great against your skin and allows you to bend and stretch if you’re working out, or simply to slob out on the sofa.
A rugby shirt’s cotton, or cotton-blend, material, means it transfers moisture out, so you don’t get clammy but keeps warmth in so you don’t get chilled and it’s easy to wash and wear so that you don’t have to look after with excessive care. And the colourways that are traditional for rugby-shirts are winter bright and positive, unlike the drab grey that is usual for clothing like jog pants, so you look good wearing a rugby shirt for casual events.
Why not do a lot of your Christmas shopping online this year? You can grab some bargains as well as making your friends and family happy, and with the time you save trawling around the shops you can put your feet up and have some ‘me’ time.
While money is still tight and the recession still looms over us like a big black cloud, buying clothing online for family and friends is a brilliant idea for Xmas.
Why not get your allotment-loving father, or rugby-mad son a quality, comfortable fleece? You can choose one with sleeves for the man who spends all winter outdoors walking the dog or digging up his garden, while the sleeveless variety is great for standing on the touchline, especially if you’re hoping to be asked to play, as it keeps the core muscles warm while allowing plenty of body movement during the warm-up while you wait to be called onto the pitch.
If you’ve ever worried that your fashion mad daughter or wife doesn’t dress properly for the winter, then buy them a really good winter jacket, one that’s designed for performance, but also has enough style to be fashionable. Look out for the latest hoodies, which are incredibly popular with younger women and that are warm and comfortable enough for a winter walk or a few hours spent wandering around the High Street looking at the New Year Sales.
While you might not think young children would welcome clothing, if you get them all a nice plain white T-shirt or sweatshirt, and some fabric pens so that they can spend Christmas afternoon ‘designing’ their own clothing – it’ll give the grown-ups a bit of peace and quiet, allow the children to express their creativity and – who knows – you might find you’ve got the next Banksy or Armani in the family!
All these gifts can be purchased from polo-shirts.co.uk – they’ll be delivered to your door and you can stop worrying about Christmas before most people have even started.
Cotton has been used to make cloth in areas with tropical climates since around 12,000 BC and is now the largest clothing contributor in the world
Why is cotton clothing so popular?
• From the day a baby is born, it is dressed in cotton clothing like all-in-ones or T-shirts because it’s a non-allergenic fabric which doesn’t irritate sensitive skin or create allergies. This also makes it the most popular fabric for underwear and cotton socks and undergarments are still the first choice for the world’s sporting legends.
• Because cotton is adaptable it can be blended with other fabrics such as polyester to make easy wear, easy care shirts or with lycra to make clothing that fits snugly. It’s also a very good taker up of dye, which means cotton or cotton blend T-shirts and polo-shirts have richer colours that those made entirely of synthetic fabrics.
• Cotton is more durable that finer fabrics such as silk, so cotton casualwear has a longer life than many other garments. Cotton is also able to take up 27 times its own weight in water, making it the ideal fabric for clothing such as jog pants and sweatshirts that need to absorb sweat without leaving the wearing feeling uncomfortable.
• Organic cotton is particularly suitable for people with sensitive skins as it is produced with none of the insecticides or chemicals that can remain as a residue in standard cotton – this is why organic cotton clothing can often feel a little softer than other cottons and is popular for comfort garments such as sweatshirts and casual tops like vests that are worn next to the skin.
The long sleeve T-shirt emerged in the 1970s, when it became popular with skateboarders as a way of protecting their elbows and shoulders from falls in a way that short sleeve T-shirts couldn’t. Since then, it’s become fashionable to wear a long-sleeved T-shirt under a short-sleeved T-shirt for a slim looking way of adding warmth to clothing. You can even buy two-in-one long and short sleeved T-shirts to make this appearance even sleeker.
Increasingly, long sleeve Tshirts have also been worn in summer, for two completely opposite reasons: air conditioning in offices, bars and restaurants has meant that people often need to wear more clothing indoors than out, and a teeshirt with sleeves that can be pushed up when hot, and lowered when cold is ideal but the other reason is the increasing public awareness of the risks of sunburn and sun cancers from prolonged exposure to the sun and as shoulders, and forearms often burn, people have taken to wearing long-sleeved T-shirts to protect delicate skin.
In addition, long sleeve T-shirts are proving popular in the workplace as they are cheap to buy, look good and last a long time. Hooded, long sleeved teeshirts are this year’s big hit as they offer style and warmth at a really good price.
Autumn is that time of year when you can’t tell what the weather will do, but, unlike spring, you can always assume the worst.
At this point in the year, we need clothing that is warm but not too hot, keeps the rain off but isn’t too bulky or clammy, and looks good.
A hoodie fits the bill. Wearing a hoody over a T-shirt gives you the chance to shrug off the outer layer if the day warms up, and just tie the hoodie around your waist or stuff it in your bag for the cooler hours of evening. If the day turns even nastier, as it often does, you can supplement your hoody with a scarf to keep your neck and chest warm.
The great advantage of a hoodie is the hood. It can either be pulled up over your head to keep drizzle from your hair so that you don’t look like a drowned rat, or it can be snuggled around your neck to add extra warmth and comfort on a chilly day.
Hoodies with front pockets allow you to tuck your hands inside to keep them warm before the weather gets cold enough to carry gloves, and a hoody with a drawstring at the neck also allows you to stop draughts attacking your face and neck and chilling your whole body.
Choosing a hoodie in a bright colour, like red or yellow, can also have the psychological effect of making you feel warmer, so that you stride out more and that, in turn, actually heats your body up so that you are genuinely warmer.
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