Video Pick :How to Rock a Uniform

Here is another recent video you can share with your tween or teenage daughter. It's from @Madisradd, or Madison.  According to her YouTube page, she is 17 years old and lives in Virginia.  Her channel features many crafty DYI projects. In this video, she shows ideas on how you can "Rock a Uniform".

 

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UniCycle, an exchange program in Northern Ireland

I recently came across a website, run out of the Bangor, Northern Ireland,  that maps out a program to help parents reuse and pass on outgrown uniforms.  The program is called UniCycle with the tagline to "repurpose grown out, not worn out uniforms."  The site points out that parents save money, children see recycling happening and the planet benefits too!  Because I'm also a supporter of these ideas, I wanted to share this site and program with you all.

Marianne Kennerley, the founder of UniCycle,  is quoted as stating why she started Uni-cycle:

"When my 5 year old son, Peter, grew out of his school trousers, still within their one hundred day guarantee, I had no-one to hand them on to.  With a younger daughter, Cerys, a year behind, parts of his school uniform had simply nowhere to go.  

Standing in the playground one day I realised that children grow at different rates and within a short space of time there can soon be be a surplus of barely worn uniforms that could and should be reused."

The website suggests that groups organize a uniform exchange program with a 3 step model.

1. Collect uniforms by organizing a collection day
2. Call to Action for the PTA volunteers to repair uniforms that need mending and sort the items by type and size.
3. Hold the uniform exchange in a the style of a pop up shop.

The site provides a toolkit which contains a suggested pricing model and sample flyers that can be used to promote the collection of items or the exchange day itself.  It rewards parents that donate items with vouchers that can be used to purchase other items at the exchange.  

What a great program that can be emulated anywhere.  To learn more:

• Follow Marianne Kennerley on Twitter @uniform_recycle
• Visit the site at http://uniform-recycle.org.uk/

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Pass the Fingertip Test

During the development of a schools uniform dress code, there is typically some back and forth that leads to an common understanding of the policy between the school board and the larger community of parents and students.  Once the policy is adopted, enforcement can be a constant battle for school administrators everywhere.  Recent articles included in the "in the news" series show many examples of battles between administrators and students, and in some cases, a larger group in the community.

A policy with clearly stated expectations and guidelines makes it easier for parents to understand so they can guide the student's choices when shopping.  Consistent enforcement by different teachers make clear examples of what's acceptable and what's not acceptable.

The length of a girls hemline for shorts, scooters, and dresses is a huge area for consternation.  Many schools have tried to set a simple easy to understand rule of thumb which is commonly referred to as "the fingertip test".   A young lady passes the fingertip test when the length of the skirt is below the fingertips of the student while standing with her arms extended straight down.  The same test works for jumpers, scooters and shorts. Maybe its a backlash to the mid-thigh trend we've been seeing for the past few seasons, but this fall, I noticed a trend of several retailers offering new longer lengths. Lands End's fall school uniform catalog features girls skirts in 3 lengths: above the knee, top of the knee and below the knee.  The French Toast fall catalog page on girls skirts feature both "the long and short of it" featuring two knee length skirts and one long skirt.  This can make shopping easier if your school has adopted the fingertip test as a rule of thumb to guide enforcement.

Below are some examples of new longer skirts:

Lands' End
 Girls' Plus Solid Pleated Skirt (Below The Knee)

French Toast
Kick Pleat Skirt

Lands' End
Little Girls' Solid A-line Skirt (Below The Knee)

French Toast
Knee Length Straight Skirt

Lands' End
Little Girls' Box Pleat Skirt (Below The Knee)

What do you think of these knee length and longer styles?

Video Pick: A Global Perspective on School Uniforms

This video pick is from Euronews. It is a great piece highlighting use of school uniforms in different countries around the world.

Swap.com: an online consumer-to-consumer department store

If you're looking for some serious deals and you're open to getting gently used items, then you might want to check out Swap.com.  It is an online site that can assist families to start selling, swapping and buying school uniform through Swap.com.

Swap.com is the first online consumer-to-consumer department store where you can buy, sell and swap pre-owned items. It focuses on kids' clothes, toys, kids' sporting equipment, as well as trading books and DVD's for all ages.

Swap.com offers a full-service experience, where customers simply send in their items to sell and swap with them. Swap.com does the rest. The sales price is set by the item owner. Shipping the items in and getting items listed is just $8.90 and our sales commission is low $1+20%. There is no auction or negotiation of the sales price. You can buy as many items as you want and you can pay with PayPal or credit card. Uniform Mom is an affiliate partner with Swap.com.  If you have a bunch of items to sell, click through to let them know Uniform Mom sent you.

I browsed around and found a few school uniform items, both for boys and girls.  You can even subscribe to receive an email alert when uniform items become available in your child's size.  You would go to the clothes category and use the filters for size, gender and type of clothing and then write uniform in the search box. Then you would be able to subscribe for the email search alert for when the items are added on Swap.com.

I haven't had a chance to try it out this service for myself yet.  If you have used the service, please add a comment below to tell us about your experience either buying or selling with Swap.com.

Kids Socks: the Retail Round Up Series

KidsSocks.com is based in New York and was founded by two fathers. According to an article in the NY Post, they acknowledge that most folks don't think of ordering socks online. But as they point out, no one bought shoes online before Zappos, so they set out to offer all the best brands on an organized and easy to navigate online experience.   From the time I've spent on their website, I think they have succeeded.  You can browse the site by gender, style or by brand which allows you to find what you need easily.

Kids Socks carries many brands such as Trumpette, Puma, Jeffreries, Tic Tac Toe, True religion, Skechers, blind mice, Novelty socks, and Pork Chop.  It can be your one stop shop for socks, tights, and leggings.  If you're looking for back to school basics, you'll find quality items tights by Jeffreis and Tic Tac Toe to match school uniform colors. If your school's uniform policy does not place restrictions on the kids socks and tights, you'll find plenty of colorful choices and playful patterns to allow kids to add a bit of playful self expression to their style.

The site offers free shipping on orders over $30.  They also offer a "100% money back guarantee for all products returned within 365 days of receipt of the product." The customer is responsible for shipping both ways on returns.

Uniform Mom participates as an affiliate with Kids Socks, so they have provided me these special coupon codes to share with you: