What to Wear Under a Skirt for Modesty on the Playground

I see London. I see France.  I see your little girl's underpants!

Egads!  You don't want to hear any kids singing that song with your daughter's name in it.  And as if that thought isn't motivating enough, here are three other good reasons you'll need to find a solution for what she can wear under skirts and jumpers at school:

• Your little girl will want to play on the playground at recess.
• Your little girl will have to sit crisscross applesauce at circle time. 
• And just in case, your little girl doesn't always act like a little lady.

If skirts and jumpers are in your regular wardrobe rotation, then you need another article of clothing to retain a little modesty.  I've found three options:

Disclosure - Affiliate Links in Use.

Thank you for supporting Uniform Mom!

The Bike Short  

They are tight fitting shorts with stretch. You can find them at major retailers.  Over the years, we've had several pairs of these from various vendors.  The Circo brand bike shorts at Target (update - sorry this brand is no longer available) have held up well for us. The Children's Place leggings and bike shorts are my favorite because they seem to have just the right amount of stretch to them.  Gymboree brand are my least favorite because they don't seem to have enough stretch in them and they don't hold their shape as well as the others.  Here are links to you can check out bike shorts from these retailers:

• Children's Place
• Cat and Jack at Target
• French Toast brand at Cookies Kids
• French Toast

Bootie shorts

I'm not crazy about the name either, but that's what the kids call them.



They are the boyshort style shorts usually worn by dancers and gymnasts over practice leotards. We recently bought a pair of Capezio Girls' Boy Cut Low Rise Short at our local dance-wear shop. They are also offered at major retailers such as Amazon or at a local specialty retailer. We found they ran true to size. They are made from 90% nylon and 10% spandex. You can launder them with your other workout wear, but hang them to dry.

 

Knit Shorts

I have only come across a handful of uniform retailers that carry knit shorts made for the purpose of wearing under skirts. The Gap and their sister store, Old Navy, used to carry a 3 pack, but I no longer see them available.

This year, French Toast began to offer what they call "Kick Shorts". We haven't tried them yet, but they are described as  a fitted pull-on shorts designed to be worn under a skirt or jumper. The price is right at $4.98 each. They come in all sizes from 2T through a size 16.

Cartwheel Shorts

Children's Place added a nylon Cartwheel Short with 5% spandex. They are sold in a two pack and retail for $16.95.

Children's Place also has a knit cartwheel short.  They are made from 94% cotton with 6% spandex.   Compared to other Children's Place matchables, we found these to run small.  While they are intended to be short and fit snugly, I'd recommend you go up a size.

JC Penney also carries a  2 pack of Maidenform Playground Pals (R).  While we wish they were offered in 2 packs of solids in uniform basic colors, they do offer a set in navy and white, as well as other colors.

(photo used with permission from borntobewild1946)
I selected this post to be featured on my blog’s page at Blog Nation.

Old Navy - Retail Round Up Series

Old Navy is owned by multinational clothing and accessory retailer Gap, Inc.  As of 2007, there were over 1000 stores in the US and Canada. 

I have seen basic uniform items in my local Old Navy, with more selection during the back to school season and less throughout the school year. However you'll find a much larger selection at their online store. They offer standard free shipping on orders over $50 and free returns by mail. You can also return items to the retail store. 

Building a Boys School Uniform Wardrobe

The following is a guest post by Amber Brown Vivis.  Amber is a working Mom of two boys ages 7 and 3.  She lives southwestern Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh.

Even though my son is in 2nd grade, this is my first year as a “uniform mom”. Last year our school board approved a new dress code that would go in to effect starting in the 2012-2013 school year. Students are now required to wear black, blue or brown/tan bottoms that fit around the waist and should not drag on the floor; kindergarten through 6th graders are permitted to wear jeans/denim. There also cannot be any more than 4 pockets – so no cargo pants. Shirts must have a collar and can be a solid color, plaid or striped, and could have a small emblem or logo on the upper front corner – sweaters are also permitted over the collared shirts. This was a big change from his usual “comfy” pants and t-shirts!

The Spend - our actual cost for School Uniforms

So after reflecting on the school uniform items we purchased for our daughter's first year at public school, I wondered how much it all cost.  I tend save my shopping receipts in a box during the year, so I dug through the box to find the receipts for all of the items I mentioned in our Kindergarten Wardrobe post.

According to Statistics Brain, the average annual cost to parents for school uniforms is $249.  Unfortunately, this source doesn't provide any background on what they include as school uniforms.  If I don't include items such as shoes, coat, backpack and lunchbox that we'd need regardless of dress code, I come in right under the average at $234.  If those big ticket items are included, my spend is way above average adding an additional $146 to my annual spend.  So here's how it breaks down:

Disclosure – Affiliate Links in Use

Thanks for supporting Uniform Mom!

Tops:
Izod short sleeve polo $7, Old Navy short sleeve polo $6, George Girls' Long Sleeve Polo Shirt 2/$11, H&M short sleeve t-shirts (2) $6, H&M long sleeve t-shirt (2) $10

Bottoms:
Lands End skort $20, Izod skirt $7.50, Cherokee Uniform Pants (2) $12, Children's Place Yoga Pants $5, Circo leggings $5, Izod shorts (2) $7

Dresses and Sweaters:
Lands End dress $22.50, Lands End sweater $22.50, Cherokee sweater $10, French Toast sweater $10

Accessories:
French Toast Tights (2pk) $11, French Toast socks $7, French Toast bike shorts $8, French Toast belt $9

Other necessities:
Lands End lunch box $14, Lands End Backpack $26, Oshkosh jacket $30, Stride Rite sneakers $30, Stride Rite shoes $46

All items are rounded to the nearest twenty five cents.  In some cases, I could not locate my actual receipt, so I then substituted the retail cost of the item that I could verify online.  In most cases, I purchased items on sale, used a coupon code and/or received free shipping.

(photo used with permission from Microsoft)

Related Posts:

Our Kindergarten Wardrobe
Modesty on the Playground
Building a Boys School Uniform Wardrobe