Some are assuming a public school's uniforms will be simpler or less expensive than a private school's, but that was not the case at my public school.
There was a wide variety of incomes, and you could tell from the kids' clothes. That was the main issue the school board was trying to address by starting uniforms (I was in 9th grade when it started, my sister was in 6th).
Well, the poor kids couldn't afford marked-up-to-$12 polo shirts with an embroidered school emblem, or $15 khaki Dickies pants, especially when their parents were trying to buy for 2 or 3 kids all at the same time. Plus in Louisiana, you NEED short sleeves for summer and long sleeves for winter ... unless you wear a coat over short sleeves, but it had to be a uniform coat with the school emblem, which cost $40. The rich kids thought it was below them to buy off-brand marked-up shirts and Dickies.
It ended up working out that the poor kids bought thrift store polos and their parents got cheap iron-on emblems (which immediately started flaking off, that sure looked nice). For pants they got Dollar General khaki-colored jeans which also fell apart. Meanwhile the rich kids bought Tommy Hilfiger khakis and Ralph Lauren polos, and paid extra to have them embroidered "to code".
It was horrible. Now it's easier since you can find outgrown ones at yard sales (no thrift stores though, we're really isolated small town), but then some mean kid starts teasing "Your mom had to buy MY old shirt". There was MORE teasing and fighting after the uniforms started. Before everyone knew some families bought clothes at the Family Dollar or wherever, but when your Fruit of the Loom t-shirts fell apart your mom could scrape up $5 for another pack. The uniforms made it painfully obvious because most families couldn't afford to fix/replace it once it started to look bad. That just makes easy targets.
There was a wide variety of incomes, and you could tell from the kids' clothes. That was the main issue the school board was trying to address by starting uniforms (I was in 9th grade when it started, my sister was in 6th).
Well, the poor kids couldn't afford marked-up-to-$12 polo shirts with an embroidered school emblem, or $15 khaki Dickies pants, especially when their parents were trying to buy for 2 or 3 kids all at the same time. Plus in Louisiana, you NEED short sleeves for summer and long sleeves for winter ... unless you wear a coat over short sleeves, but it had to be a uniform coat with the school emblem, which cost $40. The rich kids thought it was below them to buy off-brand marked-up shirts and Dickies.
It ended up working out that the poor kids bought thrift store polos and their parents got cheap iron-on emblems (which immediately started flaking off, that sure looked nice). For pants they got Dollar General khaki-colored jeans which also fell apart. Meanwhile the rich kids bought Tommy Hilfiger khakis and Ralph Lauren polos, and paid extra to have them embroidered "to code".
It was horrible. Now it's easier since you can find outgrown ones at yard sales (no thrift stores though, we're really isolated small town), but then some mean kid starts teasing "Your mom had to buy MY old shirt". There was MORE teasing and fighting after the uniforms started. Before everyone knew some families bought clothes at the Family Dollar or wherever, but when your Fruit of the Loom t-shirts fell apart your mom could scrape up $5 for another pack. The uniforms made it painfully obvious because most families couldn't afford to fix/replace it once it started to look bad. That just makes easy targets.
