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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 world of work is a tough one this year, but if you start planning now you can make sure that if promotion is on offer, you’re in the right place and condition to get it. Just follow this 3 point guide:
1. Be prepared – understand your company’s goals, even if they seem to have nothing to do with you. When your chance comes, show how what you are doing, or plan to do, meets those goals.
2. Dress the part – it’s not just about fitting in, it’s about dressing up. If you currently dress like everybody else in your department, you may not be looking like a promotable person. If your colleagues wear T-shirts, you should wear smart polo-shirts because a collar gives the impression of greater age and seniority. If the standard for your department is a casual shirts and jeans, stick with the shirt but buy some hardwearing work trousers because it hints that you’re looking for a more serious role. Where your team all come into work in sloppy old clothes, keep your look casual but invest in a new sporty jacket that’s also smart, because it gives the impression you have hidden depths outside of work and that implies you could, and should be doing more.
3. Don’t be lazy – dirty mugs on your desk, crumpled clothing and piles of old paperwork imply you’re not up to your current job, so why should anybody promote you? Clear away your desk debris and iron your work clothing so that it’s crisp every morning. You’d be amazed what a difference it makes to the way people see you.
And when the chance comes, remember to be nice to those who remain below you in the workforce, because they know how to drag you down again!
Two things are making the rugby shirt this summer’s most exciting casual clothing item:
1. Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus, showing South Africa’s World Cup quest has won critical acclaim; it’s the ‘Best Movie for Grownups’ according to AARP The Magazine catering for the 50+ audience in the USA, as well as being popular with rugby players themselves. Starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, the film is likely to be one of the most popular historical dramas of the year.
2. The Six Nations Rugby, ahead of the 2011 World Cup, promises to be a more equal, and therefore more exciting, European tournament than for many recent years. And for England fans, Jonny Wilkinson is back in the frame for both the Six Nations and the World Cup.
So how should you wear your rugby shirt to be in with the latest fashion?
• This item of sportswear is likely to be more popular in a solid colour than in the traditional hoops of colour in 2010.
• Never, ever, tuck it in.
• While rugby shirts have been worn a lot with jeans in the past, this year – because of the links to the film, Invictus – they will be most fashionable worn with sports shorts especially white ones.
Sales at shops catering to teenagers have dropped sharply in recent months, partly because so many teens are finding it tough to get the part-time jobs that were funding their clothing addiction. In the USA in November, shops specialising in clothing and accessories for teenagers were the worst-performing sector in retailing, with a nearly 8% drop in sales, while established stores (those open for more than a year) had a double digit sales drop compared to November 2008.
Teenagers and young adults hare coming to terms with issues of money, budgeting and avoiding impulse buying when it comes to clothing. Their habits are very bargain savvy – many have used high street shops and stores to try on clothing such as trousers and jeans, and then gone online, knowing the right size and style, to find a bargain that will fit perfectly.
Many are also turning away from fashion to focus on quality. They say they don’t mind spending £30 on a polo-shirt if it will last them all year, but that they wouldn’t buy such a garment on impulse to wear to a party, as they would have done a year ago, because they want to plan their spending and be sure that what they buy will be of good enough quality to survive hard wearing for months. A cheap polo-shirt is not a good investment either, because it will sag and fade too swiftly
Young people are also proving to be much more practical than their parents may have thought. One university student said, ‘I’ve just bought some hooded sweatshirts to go over all my old T-shirts. That way you can’t see how faded and tatty they are underneath. Last year I would have got new T-shirts too but I don’t need them. My old gear will last until summer and I can use the money on other things.’
Some teens have even decided to go for part-time jobs that offer uniforms because it means that they don’t have wear and tear on their ‘good’ clothes while they are at work.
The UK’s Border Agency staff are getting bonuses this week, and one of them is a slightly revised uniform – new polo shirts. Why has the polo-shirt become the clothing choice of every form of security work, from the nightclub bouncer to the border patrol? Because it’s so versatile.
When people have to combine looking professional with being able to move in a hurry and engage in strenuous activity, there is no clothing that is as useful as the polo-shirt. T-shirts allow a similar range of movement but are less smart and shirts are smart but rather constricting to wear. The polo shirt combines comfortable wear with demanding situations perfectly.
Polo shirts also look good – they give an impression of fitness and physical strength without looking scary or overly confrontational. As an item of uniform they work just as well for car valets as for doormen and because they aren’t very much different to the polo-shirts the average person would wear on an evening out, they calm situations and look reassuring.
Because polo shirts are cotton or cotton rich, they allow those wearing them to feel comfortable whether the weather is winter chilly or summer hot and with the right colour/style combination a polo shirt can look very formal and dressy or utterly relaxed and casual, meaning that it fits into any situation and any kind of gathering, which makes security staff feel comfortable that they don’t stand out as targets.
If you’re about to get a job, or change jobs, work trousers are probably not top of your list of priorities. This is especially true if you have an office-based job, where smart trousers or a skirt are all that you require, but in other professions, where some level of protection and performance is required from you clothing, such as working in a shop or factory, in an office connected to a manufacturing or sales outlet or where you are required to demonstrate products for sale, then investing a bit thought in your clothing choices can be important.
Perhaps those to whom this is most important are the self-employed and those working for small firms or family businesses. In these circumstances, the right clothing makes a real impact and defines the way other people see your company. A smart and professional appearance could help you secure more work but looking sloppy or even as if you can’t afford new clothes, can convince potential customers not to rely on you and that’s business disaster.
There are many kinds of work trousers, each suitable for different work situations. Trousers that work for a carpenter wouldn’t be right for a driver, while a plumber needs completely different work-wear to that worn by a computer installation engineer.
Those involved in building, construction, fitting and maintenance will benefit from trousers with lots of pockets for tools, gloves and other accessories. Durability is also important as you may be kneeling, squatting, bending and stretching and you need trousers that can take such a range of movement.
Drivers and delivery people need trousers that are comfortable to sit in all day but still look good when you present yourself at the front desk with your delivery.
Many jobs require waterproof and high-visibility clothing, including trousers, to enable you to remain warm, safe and dry as you work.
It comes as news to many people that there are socks specifically designed for specific situations and specialist footwear.
Most of us have got used to the idea that there are sport socks that are engineered to stop the feet sweating and blistering and not to chafe, but did you know that there are special socks for many situations?
There are specially cushioned socks for work-wear, designed specifically for people who spend a lot of time on their feet and especially for those who are active on their feet: builders and loaders of vehicles, for example. These work socks are often called crew socks and are worn to protect the feet as well as keeping them cool, comfortable and infection free.
Steel-toe boot socks are specially designed to offer both maximum comfort and maximum safety when wearing steel-toe capped boots or shoes – the best ones have reinforcement in both the heels and the toes, an arch support which offers extra comfort and supports the foot during long hours spent standing, and an antibacterial finish, because one problem with steel-capped footwear is that it is prone to making feet both smelly and more liable to fungal infections.
The Schoolwear Association, which is the trade body for the uniform industry, says that around a dozen schools a week are removing school ties from their list of uniform requirements. There are several reasons for the dumping of the school tie:
• Cost
• Health and Safety
• Old fashioned look.
But the biggest reason for getting rid of the school tie is that it’s no longer necessary.
A tie used to be the only way to identify which school children were from, but now that polo-shirts, T-shirts and even sweatshirts can be monogrammed in the way that ties used to be, it’s become redundant. Many schools in the UK actually prefer this layering of embroidered or printed uniform items because it was too easy by far for young people to take off their tie and become anonymous.
Polo-shirts have become the standard clothing item for many school uniforms, replacing the collared shirt. Children find them more comfortable to wear, while teenagers consider them less old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy, meaning that they are more likely to wear uniform to school in their rebellious years.
Parents are also happier, as replacing lost school ties was a substantial cost in many households – although it’s not impossible to lose a polo-shirt or T-shirt, it’s considerably more difficult not to realise they are missing at the moment they get dropped, so they are much more likely to be rescued from the walk home, or their role as a temporary goal post or blanket to sit on during a sunny lunch-break.
Wearing a school uniform is a relief to many parents and quite a few children because it means that new clothes for school can be budgeted for, and that the insidious form of fashion-bullying, based on designer clothing and brands, can’t happen.
If you’re little one is heading for school for the first time, or changing schools this year, it can be nerve-wracking to send them off to a new place. And if your own first day at school wasn’t fun, you probably expect the worst. Here are a few tips to help you, and your child, cope with the first day of term:
Food – most schools have strong rules about eating, but make sure that your child’s school-bag or backpack has some high protein snacks in convenient pockets: almonds and raisins are good, as are yoghurt covered fruit and nuts or some snack size cheese portions. Many children get low blood sugar mid-morning and mid-afternoon and having something to snack on can restore their sugar levels and their energy.
Clothes – it’s very important that kids conform to uniform rules … but it’s also important for him or her to fit in. Instead of buying everything on the school uniform list, buy the minimum and see what your son or daughter comes home complaining about – often you’ll find that only newbies wear a certain listed item and that the ‘cool kids’ have a more generic clothing code like a black sweatshirt instead of the school’s own black jumper, or a plain white polo-shirt is worn for after-school games rather than the monogrammed one that the school said would be needed. If you haven’t overspent, you can then buy these items and allow your child to feel he or she fits in.
Kit – new pens and pencils are the only compensation a kid feels about heading back to school, so even if last year’s stationery and equipment is still okay, splurge a bit for them to feel they’ve got some lovely stuff to show off.
And don’t overdo it when they get home – if you act as if they’ve done something amazing, they will expect to be greeted like a returning hero every afternoon. Just give them a little treat and a low key welcome home.
We’re bombarded every day with sport: Man U, fat folk dying younger, Usain Bolt, exercise preventing heart attacks … so it’s not surprising that sport clothing is one of the biggest growth areas in garment retail in the past ten years.
But if you, our your kids, take sport seriously, it can become an expensive business. Here are some tips to help you save money while staying fit:
If your child attends a school or after school sports club, talk to the coach before the new season starts and ask him or her to agree to two things: a strip colour and style that will be stuck to for three (or ideally five) years and that training sessions and ‘keep fit’ sessions, as opposed to formal matches, don’t require team kit to be worn. Two of the biggest costs for parents are when team kit changes every season and the wear and tear of having team clothing damaged during training sessions. These two agreements could halve your spending on sports kit.
Then get together with other parents and place a bulk order for sports clothing. Make sure that the person placing the order is savvy enough to negotiate the best possible discount.
Buy large quantities of clothing that all kids get through in no time. Black shorts and white T-shirts are the classics and will work for almost every sport, as well as saving ‘official’ sports clothing for actual games and tryouts.
Try and get your kids to choose sports that have complementary clothing: white polo shirts can be worn for tennis, cricket and golf, for example.
Set up a swap shop with other parents so that when your child outgrows specialist kit like printed jerseys or T-shirts with team numbers on, those items go into the pot and can be available to parents with younger children.
Get your child to pay half for specialist equipment, either in money or in completing household tasks – six week’s dog walking to help pay for a new tennis racquet, or paying half for a fantastic new warm-up hoodie can encourage them to take very good care of their kit, because they’ve made an investment in it!
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