Ideal Uniforms offered me the opportunity to review their web site and several items of French Toast brand clothing. I had only recently learned of them, so I was happy to learn more about the company and the products they offer. They are based in New York with two retail locations in Brooklyn and Elmont. Those of us outside the NY area can visit their website. Below are a few quotes from the About Us page on IdealUniform.com.
"For over 83 years, Ideal Uniforms has been a family owned and operated business. We specialize in designing and distributing professionally styled apparel, work-wear and outerwear for men, women and children. Ideal Uniforms is your one stop shop for all your educational, medical, corporate and scouting needs. Ideal presently outfits hundreds of schools, hospitals, boy and girl scout troops, and businesses. Ideal Uniforms has been a family owned and operated business. We specialize in designing and distributing professionally styled apparel, work-wear and outerwear for men, women and children."When I began researching Ideal Uniforms, I found some negative online reviews. Comments centered around two types of issues, poor customer service and inventory management. Knowing that most companies pay attention to online feedback, I asked if they had made any efforts to address customer concerns in these areas. Jack Kassab, a Vice President at Ideal Uniform, told me that they made a large investment this year in both areas. He said, "We now have a system which helps us with inventory control as well as forecasting to avoid running out of merchandise prior to school opening. We also made some changes in our customer service department and we have been getting great feedback."
I had fun browsing the online store where school uniform items are organized together making it easy to view their selections. You can filter by gender and then type of clothing with logical groupings as "pants and shorts" and "blouses, knits and polos". You can also add additional filters by size and color. Because my daughter had recently outgrown her button up shirts, I selected both a French Toast brand short sleeve and a long sleeve peter pan blouses. I also selected the French Toast Girls Skinny Stretch Twill Pant. My final selection was a "Girl's American Doll Plaid Dress". I found these uniform dresses designed to fit the 18" dolls too cute to pass up. It is listed under Accessories and is available in many different plaid patterns. It made a perfect gift for my daughter since grandma planned to give her an American Girl doll as a Christmas gift this year. Personally, I had a positive experience shopping online with them. They contacted me via email to let me know the doll outfit was out of stock and requested feedback on how to fulfill the order giving me the option to wait until the items returned to stock or an alternate pattern. The correct items were shipped to me quickly as one complete order. |
| © 2014 Rene Shonerd |
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| © 2014 Rene Shonerd |
The peter pan blouses she'll be able to begin using right away. The fabric is 55% cotton and 45% poly. I ordered these in a size 7 also. Her similar blouses in a 6x are too short, showing her belly as she moves around and making it very difficult to keep her shirt tucked into her pants as her dress code requires. This short sleeve blouse fits her perfect. The long sleeve needs the sleeve turned up once which is expected as she is just growing into this size. The weight of the shirts are perfect for layering under a jumper or sweater; however, they are also thick enough to be worn alone or simply paired with a criss-cross tie. They are labeled as machine wash cold, tumble dry low and iron when needed. I put the "Wrinkle No More ™" fabric to the test. This photo shows the short sleeve blouse on the right straight from the dryer. The long sleeve blouse on the left I touched up with the iron. While I prefer the crisp look of the ironed blouse, I admit that I'd let my daughter wear it to school without ironing, especially if she would be wearing it under a jumper or sweater.
Overall, I had a positive retail experience with Ideal Uniforms. I am also pleased with the quality of the French Toast brand items I received. I like that they stock school uniform items year round so you can find the items you need in stock mid-year. You can connect with them online on Facebook or on Twitter to get a heads up when items go on sale and find useful coupons codes. To learn more about the items they carry, check out the details from the Ideal Uniforms post in the Retail Round up series.
Currently, Ideal Uniforms is sponsoring a giveaway that is being organized here on Uniform Mom. One lucky reader will win a prize pack which includes your choice of one top and one bottom of French Toast brand clothing for either a boy or girl! It ends on 1/13/14 at midnight ET. Enter now so you too can get a chance to pick out an school uniform outfit from Ideal Uniforms.
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