School Uniforms! - Orlando,FL

I do about 6 or 7 pants and probably 10 short sleeve shirts and 5 or 6 long sleeve. I have 3 boys in uniforms and they put holes in the pants and stain the shirts like you wouldn't believe! I made it through the year with about half of the original uniforms and bought some throughout the year to supplement.

ETA- I make it affordable to buy many uniforms with multiple kids because I am a good shopper. Yesterday, I bought 10 long sleeve polos from Crazy 8 for $53.00 shipped. A few weeks ago, I bought 10 pairs of khakis from Gymboree for around $60. I just watch sales and buy ahead. Also, you can get some better deals on non "uniform" items. A lot of stores will have a "uniform" line and then have polos/shirts/khakis mixed in with the regular line that are the exact same as the "uniform" line. The non uniform clothes go on much deeper discounts and that is what I usually buy.

I have a little bit more than a week's worth, and I have to take into account the seasonal weather changes we have here in MI, so I have 1 pair of shorts, 2 pairs long pants, 2 skirts, 3 to 4 short-sleeved polo shirts, 3 to 4 long-sleeved polo shirts, 2 blouses, a sweater, and a fleece zip-up sweatshirt. The skirts and stuff that is a dark plaid pattern I can usually get away with her wearing twice or 3 times before it needs to be washed, because they don't show dirt and stains so easily, the tops are usually worn once and then need to be washed. Typically I am doing laundry once a week. Once a week they have Mass so there are specific items they have to wear for that, and once a week they have gym, so they are allowed to wear gym pants on that day. DD will go through runs of always wanting the green shirt, then wanting the blue shirt, always wanting skirts, then always wanting pants, so I try to have some options without going crazy.

My kids didn't wear uniforms, however, you would need to consider 3 things...
1. How often do you do laundry?
2. Growth spurts - there's a good chance that what you buy now, won't fit in December.
3. How dirty does your child get? The tops would probably need to be changed daily. However, if you child just wears the uniform go school and comes right home and changes, the bottoms may be able to be worn twice before being washed.

When we used uniforms, I asked the front office first if they had a swap meet or a used uniform closet. Which they did have the latter. I picked up lots of combinations there for my kids first, then purchased new items to augment that supply.

In FL, where it's hot, like when we lived in AZ, I had a minimum of 5 shirts per week, 5 shorts / skorts per week.

In the winter, when it's cooler by not much, I still had 5 long sleeve / long pants of each, but only 1 jacket and 2 sweatshirts/ sweaters.

My kids are active, therefore smelly and dirty every day. I only allowed them to wear their clothes once back then.

I like to have enough to get them through a week before I have to do laundry.
Then there's warm weather wear (shorts/short sleeves) vs cool weather wear (long pants/long sleeves).
Also - what ever you get now will not necessarily get you through a whole school year.
Growth spurts happen and sometimes they outgrow the clothes before the school year is over.
Our son shot up 4 inches when he was 6 yrs old.
I had to replace his entire wardrobe 3 times that year.
Buy on the large side and re-access the fit every 6 or so months.
Some schools do used uniform swaps/sales mid year.

All school kids where I am have tk wear school uniforms. My boys have two shirts, and two pairs of shorts each. They also wear sports uniform one day per week, so all up, three complete outfits. They also have a school jumper, one pair of black leather school shoes, kne pair of sports sneakers, lots of grey uniform socks, and lots of white sports socks. They also have school hat (schools here have a no hat, no play policy). The hats are always getting lost. Make sure you label everything!

I would not get long sleeved items (or very few). You are in Florida, and a coat over the top will likely suffice in winter. But the main reason, is because if you get long sleeves (especially if the shirts are white) your daughter will get "art" on her sleeves. She is still young enough that they use a LOT of washable paint stuff, glue, glitter, crayons and markers. My daughter's long sleeved shirts always ended up with gray sleeves from the elbow down (and she was a fairly fastidious kid), from reaching across the table or setting an arm down or leaning on the table while working and dragging her sleeve through whatever was there.

Even washable stuff, if you get it on there enough times, eventually leaves that grungy look. Ugh. I would opt for short sleeves (mostly) and a sweater for cooler weather, to wear over the top. (not a vest, get a cardigan type sweater).

My kids went through various stages of favorites. One year my son wore almost solely long pants (almost never wore shorts), and so the next year I skipped buying many shorts. Wouldn't you know, he decided he wanted to wear shorts mostly, not long pants. (sigh)

Daughter wore a lot of uniform "skorts", rarely wore shorts, but often opted for long pants. Eventually I figured out that this was because climbing steps (or getting into the car) was more effort/hassle when she had on a skort, because it limited her movement more than pants did. (She never wore skirts, and going into 7th grade, I'm not even sure she owns a skirt or dress at the moment. She doesn't like them.)

I had at least 7 tops and bottoms for my son. It all depends on how often you do the laundry. I only do laundry on the weekends so we had enough for each day of the week plus 2 extra. The school also had a separate tshirt for PE day. We had a few of those as well. Our school also had a sales each fall and sold donated used uniform pieces for $1 each so everything we had was used. I never had to buy one piece new.

I'm not sure what your uniform consists of but I have found that the Cherokee pants from Target hold up the best. If you keep an eye out, they will eventually go on clearance and you can pick up some extra pieces.

Actually, I buy a lot from Once Upon a Child so I tend to buy stuff when I see it. I probably average having enough clothes for about 2 weeks. When I see stuff, I just stock up. Having a boy in uniforms is tough...it wasn't all that unusual for him to come home with pants with a blown out knee. This year I will have both my kids in uniforms. I have been buying a few things for her here and there for the last 4 or 5 months.

When I was buying uniforms, I bought from Frenchtoast.com and actually went to Target to try on what they had FIRST, and then ordered online. I would have loved to have bought from the store, but they never had the color I needed. (Frenchtoast's clothes are also sold in stores.)

I bought 5 pairs of pants and a couple of pairs of shorts. I also bought 5 white shirts - long sleeves and short sleeves.

With enough to get through a week, I could wash once a week and be fine.

Are her bottoms pants, shorts, or skirts? If they are pants, I'd get probably 5 pairs, since they tend to get holes in the knees very easily.

If a skirt or shorts, maybe 3.

Tops, 3-5 should be good, depending upon how often you want to be doing laundry.

She will grow during the year, so don't invest too heavily at once in the same size.

ETA: I wore a uniform from K-12. K-6 it was a jumper; 7-12 skirt/vest. My mom bought only 1 jumper/skirt, but about 3-4 shirts. We had 5 kids in our family, so there was no way my parents could have afforded both tuition and multiple uniforms for each of us. We just spot-cleaned the main uniform as needed, washed once a week, and changed the shirts daily.

I always had enough for one week plus one extra in her backpack (just in case). I also got them a little bigger for her in K so that they lasted through first grade. I figure when they are little it is better to have extras since little kids spill things and I didn't always have time to wash them right away.

I am homeschooling now so we no longer need uniforms.

I have one child in uniforms. I buy enough for a week to start. I also of course randomly pick up clothing he can wear throughout the year. My son will be going into the 1st grade but has been in uniforms for the past 2 years.

If there are choices in the uniforms (skirts vs. pants, long vs. short sleeves, sweater vs. jacket) just get a small assortment until you see what she likes. Also have some options based on weather conditions. Assume that she will grow throughout the year, so don't plan on buying enough now to last all year. You hate to get stuck with stuff, although perhaps you can re-sell to other parents with younger or smaller children. But if you don't yet know the social arrangements there, don't assume you will have those connections right now.

If you don't get at least 5 choices, you'll be doing laundry during the week, at least for the shirts, but it's probably worth it in the short run until you and your child get used to the routine. Does your school require a change of clothing on hand? A lot of schools do for kids who have an accident (not just for peeing or becoming ill, but also for spilling their milk or art supplies), ripping something during recess, and so on. So evaluate those factors and then decide. Is there anyone in the school you can ask? Perhaps there is a parent association and a directory of officers?

Good luck.

I get 5 shirts, 5 long pants and a couple pairs of shorts for each girl. Neither of my girls like long sleeve school shirts so 5 shirts is all I get for the whole year.

My oldest dd washes the school clothes. As long as she counts to make sure there are 5 shirts and 5 pants for her and also for her sister, then we don't have a problem the next week. It is when she forgets to count or takes her sister's word that she brought all her clothes down that we have a problem and my youngest has to go through her dirty clothes to find the ones that look the cleanest to wear that day. Otherwise 5 of each is sufficient to buy for the whole year.

My kids went to catholic school so we are very experienced in the uniform thing lol.

girls all had 3 jumpers and or 3 skirts for older grades
5 short sleeved shirts and 2 long sleeved shirts.
1 pair of gym shorts
5 pair of socks
2 pair of tights

the jumpers can be worn for more than one day unless your little one is really really messy.

When my sks wore uniforms, SD had two jumpers, 3-4 each short sleeved and long sleeved shirts, a lot of appropriate socks, and two pairs of appropriate school shoes.

SS had 4 pairs of pants and similar amounts of everything else.

If the school doesn't insist on a jumper only, then I would mix and match a few kinds of bottoms. And see if they require a particular kind of sweater and get at least one.

Definitely look for sales and consider asking parents of older students (if not this year, next) about selling their unnneded uniforms.

I get one for every day and one spare. Usually a consignment or second hand store in your area will sell the school uniform way cheap! So check that out first.
So, 6 tops and 6 bottoms, coz at that age, they wreck them every day. I launder every weekend.

My daughter had to have them at her middle school. We got through the entire year with 3 pairs of pants and 3 shirts (she's not a skirt kinda girl, so no need for skirts). However, you have a little one, and she may get paint, glue, juice, etc... on her shirts, so I would suggest 4 shirts. At her age, they do a lot of art and such in school. I liked the whole uniform thing.. it sure helped us keep down the price of clothes for the year!

I like to start the year with 1 extra uniform. So 3 PE uniforms and 4 dress days.

By the end of the year, she will ruin one or two and she may grow out of it all. I will usually attend a recycle sale and purchase just enough to get through the end of the year.

This year, I went to the church rummage sale and someone threw a couple of PE shorts in the sale and I grabbed them both. They were both too big for her, but before the end of the year, she outgrew her set and fit into one pair of shorts. We washed those shorts and made them work to the end of the year.