School Uniform Wardrobe Review for a 3rd Grade Girl

What's in our School Wardrobe?

It's been a while since I looked in my daughter's closet, took inventory of what's in her school wardrobe and shared a full school wardrobe review. My last full review was 3 years ago when I shared our Kindergarten School Uniform Wardrobe. This year, I really didn't do much back to school shopping. She hadn't grown much, so many items from last school year were still in good shape and still fit. But we have added a few new items that I picked up on sale.

Since the year started, we've transitioned all of her shirts rotating out all of her girls size medium shirts (7-8) to girls size large (10-12). The list below shows the types of wardrobe items in the school wardrobe including which brand. I think it is a good example of how diverse her wardrobe is by brand. A handful of these items were received complementary for evaluation in a review, however, most were purchased from the family budget. Disclosures are included in the full review posts, when relevant.

Girls School Uniform Wardrobe Inventory

• 3 short sleeve polos (Dockers, Classroom, French Toast Waist Tuck)
  
• 3 long sleeve polos (Lands' End Peter Pan, Cherokee, Children's Place Ruffle-Placket)
  
• 3 pair of Cherokee Flat Front Uniform Pants (While we've tried other brands that I liked, my daughter prefers these bootcut basics from Target.)
  
• 6 scooters (Cherokee Pleated Scooter, Cherokee Uniform Scooter, Lands' End Ponte Button Front, Schoolbelles Side Pleat Skort, Lands' End Solid A line Skirt and a Dockers Scooter)
  
  Before you ask - Yes, its a fair question. Why do we have 6 scooters? If you're building a school wardrobe for the first time, I would only recommend purchasing one or two. We've acquired these over time. My daughter seems to get the most value from scooters as some of these skirts have been in the rotation for 3 years already.
  
  The Docker's one has been hanging in the closet with tags on it for since Kindergarten waiting for her to grow into it. It has an elastic waist, but it is not adjustable. The skirt may be too short once her waist grows into it. Lesson learned; adjustable waistbands are key.
  
• 5 sweaters (Lands' End Performance Zip Front Cardigan, Children's Place Uniform Cardigan, Primary Cardi, H&M, Gap)
  
  Again, you don't need 5 sweaters. My daughter now has a favorite which she now carries with her in her backpack daily. The rest hang in the closet and might be worn on the weekend. But it did take trying different brands and styles to find her favorite.
  
• 2 pair of Boot Cut Yoga Pants (Children's Place Bootcut Foldover Active Pants and Lands' End Yoga Pants)
  
• 4 short sleeve t-shirts (Children's Place t shirt, Primary Polo, French Toast v-neck T, French Toast crew.)
  
• 2 long sleeve t-shirts (Circo, Children's Place)
  
• 2 pair of shorts (Gap, Lands' End)
  
  Both of these were leftover from last year's wardrobe and will need replaced for Spring because she has finally outgrown them.
  
• 4 active skorts (Children's Place)
  
  Again, you surely wouldn't need 4 of these in a first year wardrobe. In fact, you might not need any. My daughter likes to wear the Children's Place active skort for PE days during warmer months. We have 4 of them because I kept buying them on clearance forgetting that I had already put one away in the next size up. Yep, that happened 3 times. Oops.
  
• Sneakers for PE (Striderite)
  
• Mary Jane style shoes (Striderite)
  
• Accessories : bike shorts for under the skirt (French Toast), cuff socks (Gold Toe), knee socks (Code Socks and French Toast) and tights (Circo and French Toast).

What's missing?

Jumpers or dresses. Simply because my daughter is not a fan. She has a strong aversion to jumpers, always has. Maybe it's hereditary since I'm not a fan either. I used to be able to get her to put on a cotton polo dress, but not since first grade. She simply prefers to wear separates. If your daughter likes dresses and jumpers, you'll need fewer separates.

Schoolwear from Primary.com

Primary.com gifted me several clothing items to evaluate so I could share my opinion of the items with you. All opinions are my own.

(c) Rene Shonerd. All Rights Reserved.

I recently read about a new children's clothing retailer that was created by Moms.  The idea is to keep things simple and stick with what works.  From what I have seen so far, Primary.com is doing just that in a very cheerful way.

The idea behind Primary.com is that kids tend to favor a few key pieces of clothing in their wardrobe that they wear over and over.  The moms at Primary.com make sure you can find that item again in the next size up when your little one outgrows it.  All of their items are basics in solid colors.  For girls, think of quality tees, shorts, sundresses, tunics and leggings, hoodies, and cardigans in solid colors.  For boys, think basic shorts, pants, hoodies, tshirts, and polos.  The styles are classic and they are only offered online only.  The prices are kept simple too. Everything under $25 bucks!

Intrigued?  I was too.  I contacted Primary.com and asked to check out their school wear items.  I received a cheerfully decorated jiffy-bag package.  Each items was individually wrapped.  I unpacked everything to take a look.

First, I fell in love with the simplicity.  Everything tagless and kid friendly, even the laundry instructions are simple.  The stamped label in each item has a different cute critter representing each size.

I also love the sizing options because they carry more options than most children's retailers. I recall the big difference in the length between a size 6x and a 7 on girls pants.  Now I'm again noticing a big difference in tops and shirts that jump from a 7-8 to a 10-12.  At Primary.com, most basic items are offered in all sizes giving more options when your child is between sizes. When you click to select a size, the image updates to show the item on a model that age.  It provides the height and weight of the model so you can compare with your child.  My daughter is the same height and weight as the model wearing the size 8 and 9 items.  I love that the site gives that extra visual to help you decide what size to order.

(c) Rene Shonerd. All Rights Reserved.

They offer a basic polo for $16. The cotton is 100% super soft pima cotton jersey and the weight of the fabric is just right, not thin or chintzy. For girls it is offered in white, navy, lilac and sky (blue). The boys polo is offered in four additional colors. We tried a basic white one that works for many school dress codes. It is not a traditional interlock polo because it has a relaxed soft collar made from the same cotton as the shirt itself. At my daughter's school, the uniform dress code is basic and broadly defined. It calls for a "white collar long or short sleeve shirt".  The Primary brand polo will work just fine for us, but might not make the cut at schools with a stricter interpretation of what makes a polo shirt a polo.

They also sent girls basics of leggings and undershorts (like bike shorts).  While either could be worn by themselves as bottoms, they pair nicely in a uniform wardrobe under skirts and jumpers. Reviews on the site indicate the shorts and leggings are running small and we agree with the recommendation to order them a size up.  These leggings are made from a blend with 7% spandex, which is higher percentage than other brands at major retailers.  This makes them fit snuggly and would be great for girls with very thin legs.  My daughter, with her athletic legs, would recommend two sizes up since she hates tight fitting leggings.

(c) Rene Shonerd. All Rights Reserved.

The girls cardi, or cardigan sweater, is offered in three colors, white, pink and heather gray. The fabric is a blend of 70% cotton and 30% bamboo (note the heather gray version is different; it is a poly blend). I haven't given it too many turns through the washing machine yet, but so far, it is holding up beautifully.  This sweater is unique in that it is the first cardigan that I've come across that contains bamboo. It is very soft.  It costs $24.  I am a big fan of this sweater!  I would order one for myself if it came  in my size.

Based on the selection of items I've seen, I'm a big fan of Primary.com.  I wish the site would have been around when my daughter was a toddler.  If your kids do not have a uniform dress code, you will be sure to find many great items to assemble an entire wardrobe for the school year.  The site offers quality basics for a reasonable price.  Works for me!