Today’s question is from Carrie:
My kids are required to wear uniforms for school. I’m not a fan of this as I can buy “regular” clothes for a fraction of the price. What are great prices for school uniforms? Where should I buy them?
I know Sears has their KidVantage program, so I want to buy my kids’ pants there, as last year my son blew the knees out in his pants and I had to buy new pants every other month. But what about jumpers? Skorts? Polos? Leggings/tights? Shorts? And shoes?
Is it also true that most clothing goes on clearance right after school starts? Should I be saving extra money to buy the next size up for my kids to purchase in October? -Carrie
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Hmm. I always have done school-clothes swaps at the school itself. Usually you just bring in last years old clothes and trade up for bigger sizes. That works great, you can also usually find the 2 for 5 dollar deals at Walmart. Another good place to check for polo’s is your local thrift store!
Also check Children’s Place clearance sales, I’ve gotten navy shorts and pants there before for only 97 cents!
JCPenney, Target and Walmart are my favorites, as it is possible to find some great clearance deals there after back-to-school shopping is over. I find pants and shirts all year on clearance, at a much better deal than at the back-to-school shopping sales. $2 – $5 is a good deal for shirts $3 – $6 a good price for shorts and pants in my opinion.
I second Freecycle. I see offers for the local Catholic school uniforms on Freecycle often. And just saw one at the thrift store today!
My daughter had to wear them last year when we lived in SC and I dreaded it too!! Not only did it cost me more money on clothes, it doubled my laundry because I wouldn’t let her wear the white shirts or tan pants out to play! Lil Anyways, our Target sold them but only at the start of the school year but they do carry them online year round. French Toast is a brand that you maybe able to get local if not, they do offer online sales as well and they offer very good clothes. Our Walmart seemed to carry uniform clothes year round and in long sleeve as well priced pretty cheap. Kmart also carries a selection of them too. If where you live has been doing uniforms for a while, you could always check the consignment shops too. Good luck!!
We have to buy my kids’ tops from their school, but we get their pants, skorts, and shorts from French Toast. They have great sales & they hold up really well. I have bought her a couple of pants from Children’s Place, but you have to buy them early, as they don’t sell long pants very long & you can’t order them once they sell out.
Our school uses a local school uniform store and Lands End. All pants have reinforced knees, and I found the skirts and pants from the uniform store have triple-rolled 1 1/2 inch hems, so they can be let down throughout the year. I have also found that the polo shirts are thicker, softer, more color-fast and don’t pill. I had only one knee wear through all year – on a pair of pants I’d gotten at the Uniform swap – and that was in a spot above the double layer knee and the last week of school. I found the clothes to be better made than average store bought and I am very, VERY happy our school has uniforms!
Last year, I ended up buying about half their clothes at full price (I have boy-girl twins) and getting the rest through the school swap. I spent $300 total for two children, including socks, hair accessories, shoes and gym shorts. I didn’t spend another penny on clothes for my kids all year – we asked for play clothes and shoes for Christmas and birthdays. Even on sale, I would have spent about this much on each child since my children grew a lot last year – my son grew 2 shoe sizes and 5 inches in 9 months and my daughter grew 14 inches – really – and 4 shoe sizes.
This year, I spent $12.99 on socks for both children and another $12 for a pair of black dress shoes for my daughter. Otherwise, I was able to get everything we needed through the school Uniform Swap (one item each for each item you bring in for the first 2 weeks, after that take as many as you like!).
You can get by with just a couple of items (1 pair bottoms and 2 tops for example) if you wash laundry daily or every other day too. One child in our children’s class only had one uniform that was washed daily – the quality is so high, that if his Mom hadn’t told me, I never would have known since everyone wears the same thing all the time.
I also suggest talking to parents in the school and seeing what they suggest. They may even have hand-me-downs for you if the school doesn’t have a swap or lottery or other option.
Hope that’s helpful!
Lea
Okay, this won’t help you for this year, but see if your school’s PTA/PTO would open to the idea of a uniform sale over the summer. Years ago, my high school did this. Essentially, you donate the uniform items that no longer fit your children so they can be resold at rock bottom prices. Proceeds benefit the PTA/PTO to use for the school.
I wish our schools did uniforms! Sounds great to me.
Check to see if the school has a clothes closet. Many of the ones in my town do…you can either get gently used clothing for a small amount of money or trade in what you have for the next size…etc…
Also, check local consignment sales..sometimes people will put their child’s uniforms in there.
I did a mixture this year between JCPenney’s, Old Navy, and Uniform Sale. I really like JCpenney’s the best. The skirts are wrinkle free, and include built in skort inside. I used the $10 off $10 coupon, and the $10 off $25. Old Navy I was able to get the Polos for $3.50 a piece, and the blouses for $7.00. They are really cute and wash great.
Try Landsend.com “overstocks”
Our uniform store has their sale in June but I only buy the school plaid stuff there. After searching the internet when my kid was in kindergarten, I found the prices online were comparable on the plaid pieces.
For shirts, WalMart.com has the best prices at $5 for short sleeved and $7 for long sleeved. I have yet to see them cheaper.
Otherwise, my go-to is Kohls because their % off and the cash back tends to bring it down to a very reasonable price. Their pants seem to fit my daughter better than JCPs. Either Penney’s pants run a little bit small and/or they shrink after the first couple washes.
Definitely look at the thrift stores and Freecycle.org throughout the year. Our school does a resale at the end of every school year so watch for that too. If your’s does, you will need to get there at least 15min before it opens and wait in line because there will always be moms there that just grab an entire size and buy it all.
I have never waited for the clearance sales because I usually have a problem finding the size I need even in August. Buy the size they’re in now and the next size up because, as of the end of December, it becomes almost impossible to find anything other than the shirts … even online. I struggled to find clothes for my kid in January when she was in kindergarten and grew 3 inches over Christmas vacation.
I agree that you can find uniforms very inexpensively. I love the George brand that Wal-mart carries. I love their shirts, they wash really well, don’t fade, etc. I do NOT like the skorts, skirts, or jumpers from Children’s Place. The hem of them flips up in the wash, and I even tried ironing them to get it to stay down and it would not. I don’t know about everyone else, but ironing is not something I want to do! The Izod brand is very good too and I love French Toast, as well. This is my son’s first year in uniforms and after reading all of the previous posts, I am a little concerned about his pants. I purchases 2 from children’s place, and 2 from wal-mart. But, I am going to check into the program at Sears! It sounds pretty good, if they replace them! You can definitely find good sales and clearance. You just have to shop around. I’ve been ordering uniforms for this school year, since probably May. And everything I have bought has been on sale, with a coupon or on clearance!
And while I agree with uniforms being easy, for my kids, it’s like they actually have 2 wardrobes, their school wardrobe and their “not school” wardrobe. So, it’s kind of like buying double. So, I always try to find the best deals on all of their clothes!
I bought uniform navy shorts at our local consignment for $6 each. The school sells them for $15 so I was glad to get more than half off. But now we are doing home school instead. So we didn’t use the shorts. I will mail these to anyone who wants to buy them. They all say “Tom Sawyer, Elderwear” on the tags:
Size 4, Pleated,
Size 5, Flat Front, (2)
Size 6, Pleated, (2)
I hope it’s ok that I put these on here. If not, just remove. My email is jamie kaufmann at yahoo dot com. Good luck with all your shopping, everyone!
It may help to find a private seamstress for jumpers, skirts, etc. They often won’t charge as much as retail stores….I know this by experience as I’m a seamstress!
Hope you find something to fit your budget. Not to advertise or anything, but feel free to drop me a line. 
At my school growing up we could only buy “approved” uniforms from a particular local dealer. It was really pricey. We spent way more than if we just bought regular clothes. If I recall correctly we could buy white blouses or oxford shirts anywhere, but everything else had to come from the uniform store to make sure plaids and colors matched (and to control lengths of skirts and such). Personally I hated it, only because there wasn’t enough variation in fit for changing bodies. Nothing worse than feeling dumpy when you are already and insecure 9th grader. As an adult, I don’t dress that differently for work, but I have the option to find the brands and styles that flatter my figure.
Target has a coupon for $5 off the purchase of 3 uniform clothing items.
http://coupons.target.com/apparel-accessories-coupons
French Toast online has reasonable uniforms. That is where I buy them for my kids for their school. Check the clearance section for even better deals.
My son is starting kindergarten this year and has to wear a uniform. I bought his shirts from Walmart. I purchased his shorts and pants from Costco. They are Nautica brand and only cost $8.99 per pair of shorts.
I have 3 in kindergarten and first grade. I buy my little boys pants through Gap.com. They carry husky. I do not recommend Gaps navy, they fade terribly. I bought alot of uniform items at JCPenney outlet last month. The polos were $3.99 and pants were $6.99. I found a few skorts for $4.99. Target is really good about clearancing their uniforms after school starts. Target’s polos wear great!
I buy a lot of our uniforms at Cookies.com. They have a wide variety of uniforms, styles and colors. I like them because they have lots of different styles and having to have a gray skort it is difficult to find. They also have good sales.
I have also purchased polos and gym clothes from Old Navy, Target, and Childrens place.
Dickies.com has 75% off of the list price of their clearance items right now with free shipping- there were boys plain short sleeved and long sleeved polo shirts as well as khaki pants all for less than $5 each after the coupon code HOT75 and free shipping on any order.
I just posted about it here
http://justcallmecheap.blogspot.com/2011/08/75-off-at-dickiescom-plus-free-shipping.html
My son is starting high school this year and needed uniforms. He is a big guy, so uniform hand me downs weren’t too possible. I got him 2 pair of shorts from Lands end for $9 each tonight. Luckily his grandma has bought him a lot as well. he’s a 2X and a 44 waist, 18 inch neck with 37 inch sleeves!
We buy our navy pants and our white polos for my son at Target, occasionally Kohl’s or Walmart.
Organize a used uniform sale at your school.
Our school has one and it is a great way to save money and find exactly what you need – the right colors, the right plaids. For my son, I picked up a few sweatshirts and long sleeve polos. When my daughter goes, I plan on getting the skorts and jumpers there for her.
The best part is that he has outgrown shirts/pants, I bring them to the sale and can make some money too!
There have been a lot of ideas posted, but as I spend almost nothing on two children for private school uniforms, here is what I do.
(1) Get to know other parents and ask for hand-me-downs. I have a family that swaps their older daughter’s clothes to my daughter, and my older son’s clothes go to their younger son.
(2) Buy and sell your used uniforms at a consignment sale. Our school has two uniform sales per year. I usually make enough to cover my purchases. I have also found blazers, skorts, etc. At regular consignment sales.
(3). Hem pants into shorts or capris. I do this when they get too short or the knees blow out.
(4). Shop the Goodwill. I have found Old Navy and French Toast uniforms there.
(5) Do laundry daily. Then, you limit the number of items they need.
(6). Ask for school uniform items for birthday and Christmas. My middle schooler wanted a special hoodie, so his grandparents gave it to him for Christmas one year.
(7) I do have to buy new occasionally. My best places are Target clearance or Old Navy.
Our daughter started Pre-K at a new charter school. This year uniforms are optional but I really hope they will become mandatory as that would make my life easier. I like the fact that khakis are the bottoms and I am glad I found this site so I have ideas of where to shop. What I don’t like is that they have custom polos that are $14 a piece!! Along with that there is the custom Field Trip shirt that is $10 a piece. That is there idea of a discount. Right now we bought two white polos and I will probably buy 1-2 custom shirts but for those prices…
I just recently stocked up on school uniforms at jcp.com. I love the French Toast brand since they have the adjustable waist and hold up. They were all on sale plus I brought the Groupon they were selling a couple weeks ago and used that. I find it much easier to shop online then to go to the stores to find my 2 boys sizes.
Children’s Place has uniforms 30% off today, Thursday. Maybe it’d be worth checking out.
In my city, thrift stores often have displays of uniforms right up at the front of the store.
If you are ambitious, you might talk to the school about organizing a uniform swap or secondhand sale.
if you want brand new – lands end for sure. especially great when you can find the size in the outlet online. i bought chinos for my son for 5.00/pr. the best time to buy is when they’re on clearance (i.e. buy shorts/shortsleeve in winter). theyhave an excellent guarantee on their prducts too, but they are excellent quality.
if you want to buy second-hand, organize a swap with other families at the school or set up a store where people can donate outgrown but good condition, and others can buy at thrift store prices.
We have had great luck with JCPennney. Usually I buy as big as I can at the beginning of the year and the pants usually last all year. They look a little short in June, though! Look for the adjustable waist so you can get more wear out of them. Sometimes you can turn pants into shorts if they still fit in the waist. Our school has a uniform sale where you can trade in old stuff for credit. I save his stuff and trade it in midyear and buy the next size up if I can. Pants are usually only $5.00.
It may seem expensive but I love that I don’t have to deal with fashion trends and rules about what is allowed and what isn’t.
You can find inexpensive new and used school uniforms on Ebay.
I actually love the uniform policy-makes each morning a little less stressful. I find them at French Toast.com-you can usually find coupons for them online as well. You can also try Cookieskids.com they have good prices as well. Children’s Place online has good sales in June-if you shop that early and they have a sale going on through 9/5/11. Our school also has a uniform exchange program when the children outgrow the uniform clothing we bring them to the school where there is shelving and racks to place the small items and you can pick out the sizes you need and this is all for free. Good luck!
Sorry forgot to include the coupon code for Childrensplace.com X3E2011 good through 9/5/11.
Old Navy, Children’s Place, Target for mass retailers. How about consignment sales/stores? I’ve gotten some school uniforms there before.
Does anyone know of EXTRA SLIM fitting girls uniform pants? We are having the HARDEST time finding pants to fit my 12 year-old… she has to wear khaki. 12 slim is too short, and most 14 slims swim on her. The only ones that may fit are Gap 14 slims (we are guessing they might, because the 12 slims were actually too tight), but Gap has been sold out of 14 slims for some time now, with no promises of re-stocking. Yep, we’ve tried Old Navy, Target, Wal-Mart, Children’s Place, Dillard’s, etc. Does anyone know if AE 77 fits tighter? We would have to order those online, so not sure how they fit. Bought many skirts to get through the fall, but winter is snowy here… Thanks.
try JCPennies. I found their arizona brand to run smaller than most slim’s.
We have to buy from a specific vendor for our school. Luckily we have a used unifrom sale at least once a year. The vendor charges $43 for a girls plaid skirt!! I was able to get my daughter a few for $7 each at the sale. I had to buy 2 pair of pants and a polo new from the vendor to finish up my son’s clothes and those three items cost $80.56. I can buy a whole wardrobe off season at Gymboree for that much. I wish we could buy from the stores. I buy Old Navy uniform pants for my son for church and I buy Gymboree uniform polos off season and they last forever. You can usually get them for about $5 if you can buy ahead for the next year
I had a hard time finding uniform clothes this year for my son, as it was the last minute he had told me none of the ones in his closet fit him!! Before school started the JcPenney outlet had a great sale and I bought some for my daughter at that time, before I knew of my son’s dilemma!! I found that walmart.com sells uniform bundle packs, with free shipping. You can get 2 pairs of Dickie shorts or 2 jumpers for $16 and 4 polos for $20. They have other bundles too but just an example.
There are so many ways to get good uniform deals, as far as how much to pay, it depends how urgent you need them. I am always buying a size or 2 ahead even 3 if the deal is good. I look for clearance uniforms everywhere, and year round. Not just in the fall. I had 3 boys in uniforms (one is in high school now) and while shopping at old navy in November one year I found light blue polos for $1.99. Since I have 3 boys I knew I could use multiple sizes. I bought over 60 shirts that day. They lasted over 4 years. The most I will pay is $10 for pants and $5 for shirts. That is the best sale price Old Navy usually runs before school starts. Target Clearance is good, but not until it reaches 75% off in my opinion. Thrift stores are good too. If you have a stock pile then you can be very picky. Savers and goodwill both have certain deals where a certain color tag will be 99 cents on a certain day. If you go on that day when they open, and head straight to the uniforms you might get lucky. Shopping savers and good will for uniforms is best at the begining or middle of summer, as it gets closer to school they don’t have much. The school itself is a good place to start too. Most schools have some type of used uniform exchange or sale. Or befriend another mom at school with a bigger kid
. I have one family that gets all of my youngests clothes when he grows out of them. Good luck.
I was on Land’s End clearance last night and their school uniforms were scattered throughout the swimsuits, already marked WAY down. If you go to retailmenot.com, they have good coupon codes for free shipping and then all items are returnable for no shipping penalty at a Sears if you had trouble with the fit. Also learned last night on their website (b/c I’d paid more for swimsuits on Monday than my friend paid on Tuesday, that they will refund a price adjustment if items go on sale within fourteen days of your purchase). With school uniforms already on clearance, you may want to keep this in mind for next year. Even if you don’t buy ahead, you may want to wait until the last minute to buy them, b/c you could take advantage of the price match if they mark them down the first week or two of school.
Meant to say “buy a year ahead or way ahead” in that last sentence. For those not wanting to stock pile several months ahead of time or est. their child’s size, they could still wind up with clearance prices even if they order a week before school starts.
LANDS END! If the clothing does not hold up then you can return it for a refund. 30% sale ends tonight.
Someone probably already suggested this, but I see them in the second hand stores all the time – I home school so we don’t need them, but I have purchased some in the past since its just a plain khaki pant in our area.
My daughter go to a private school and uniforms are required, I find good deals at frenchtoast.com. Their prices are reasonable and they ship fast. Also our school has a “uniform closet” where you can go and trade uniforms or just go and pick something up that you need. Good luck!
My daughters attend a private school and wear uniforms…like several of the other posters, our school holds an annual uniform sale. It goes for two days and on the last day at noon, everything is 50% off the sticker! You can easily get items for a dollar or two and build a whole wardrobe for around $30! I’m often asked how I can afford to send my daughter to a private school with the cost of uniforms and my response is that I actually pay far LESS for her uniforms than I would for clothes if she attended a public school! If your school doesn’t hold one of these, I would certainly offer to put one on or even hold a swap with some parents at your own home. Most parents would appreciate help in saving money on uniforms like you! Our school also keeps a directory of people in the school office that can be called midyear to see if they’d like to sell uniforms. You might consider starting a FB or Twitter page for the school so you can generate more excitement for an annual sale!
If you can sew a little and you have a girl who needs the skirts or jumpers I would recommend buying a least a size bigger than she needs. The skirts and jumpers don’t seem to wear out nearly as fast as the pants (especially little boys pants of course!) and they also seem to be the most expensive new or used! You can easily put a quick hem at the bottoms and an easy dart on the side so that a girl could wear them longer. Also good if you have kids that aren’t the same body type but are close enough in age for hand me downs.
Just saw on Facebook that Old Navy is having a sale this weekend on uniforms for $5 for select styles if that helps.
There is a church in our town that has a Christian school. They also have a quarterly Rummage sale. The uniforms end up in there and I often pick them up for 50 cents an item!!!! We homeschool our kids, but they are involved in activities that need uniforms: American Heritage Girls!
Walmart has unifrom bundles if you choose to go that route or they have polos for $5, jumpers for $8 is u buy 2..and they offer free shipping to home, Hope this helps.
http://www.walmart.com/browse/Apparel-Bundles/_/N-94ltZ1yzju7r?_refineresult=true&_refineresult=true&_refineresult=true&ic=48_0&path=0%3A5438&ref=425873+4292344503&povid=cat133202-env200978-moduleB070711-lLinkFC3ValueBundles
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