School Uniforms at the Cookie's, the Kids Department Store - Retail Round Up Series

Cookie's was established in 1972, now with 7 retail locations in New York City.  The are known as the World's Largest Kids Department Store and they were noted in 2007 by Crain's Magazine as the #1 School Uniform Headquarters in the United States.

The Cookie website features a special school uniform section. It is well organized making it easy to find items by gender, size and item type. They carry a wide range of brands including a Cookie store brand, French Toast, Dickies, U.S. Polo Assn., Blueberry Knitting, and Rifle School Wear.  They carry both plaids and solid uniform items.  As the "school uniform headquarters" they have a wide selection of uniform items available including polos, pants, shorts, skirts/skorts, shirts, sweaters, vests, blazers, gym wear, jumpers, outwear, shoes, ties and accessories.

For boys, they offer the following sizing options: Toddler Boys 2T - 4T, Boys 4 - 20 including husky sizes, and Men's.  For girls, they offer little girl 2 - 6X, girls 7 - 20 including plus and half sizes, as well as juniors and adult. Online orders ship for $5.95 everyday in the contiguous US.

If you have a few minutes, you can check out this great video segment from the Balancing Act (Lifetime Television) with an interview with Cookie executive highlighting the benefits of school uniforms and a fashion show of uniform looks.

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CookiesKids School Uniform Fundraiser Program

Uniforms, Poverty, and Inspiration

Reblogged from From Boyle Heights to Downtown L.A.:

In the 8th grade, I was about 13 or 14, I was elected student body president. My teacher, Ms. Kane, was very passionate and talented at instilling patriotic ideals and an appreciation for the little we possessed as well as reminded us of the world that lay at our doorstep.
Her mother was a Holocaust survivor; a slowly fading tattoo of her serial number that was her only identity during the war, still marked her for what she had lived through.

Read more… 880 more words

School Uniforms Made in the USA

Have you seen the ABC news series “Made in America”? If so, you’ve heard the quote that “If each of us spent just $64 on American-made goods, the result would be 200,000 new jobs.” So if you’re looking for a way to spend your dollars on American made products and you’re going to buy school uniforms, check out the retailers below.

I recently came across a blog called Mom in the USA: Shopping Directory of Products Made in the USA. Katrina, the blog’s author, says that for a company to make it to her Shopping Directory she verifies “with the company via email that their product or products are made in the USA and where they are made. Retailers make their way onto the list by having a Made in the USA search option, either by having a dedicated button or by entering Made in the USA into their search and successfully finding the products this way.”


I found a few companies in her directory that make and/or sell school uniforms. She has kindly allowed me to reprint them her with permission:

Our Kindergarten Wardrobe

Before I set out shopping for "uniforms" for my daughter's first year at public school, I came across a few articles that offered advice on back to school shopping for uniform kids. Since most of us do laundry weekly, they pointed out that you only need a weeks worth of clothes for each child.  I also learned you have to take into account the number of PE days your child has each week and to factor in a backup outfit (to leave in the school cubby or backpack, just in case of "an accident" or a mishap in art class or in the cafeteria). Next you have to account for the seasonal weather changes in your region. And finally, add in shoes and accessories.

My daughter's school dress code is a full page of do and don't but it boils down to navy bottoms and a white shirt with a collar. No collar needed on PE days. I learned from a neighborhood Mom that for us PE is twice a week.

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I printed out a copy of the school's uniform policy and made a list of the following items on my phone so I could checked things off as I found pieces for her new school wardrobe.

• 2 pair of shorts
• 2 pair of pants
• 2 scooters
• 2 pair of leggings (Yoga Pants and basic leggings)
• 2 short sleeve t-shirts
• 2 long sleeve t-shirts
• 2 short sleeve polos
• 2 long sleeve polos
• 2 sweaters (a cardigan and a v-neck varsity)
• 1 dress
• PE shoes
• navy or black shoes
• a belt
• bike shorts (for under the dress)
• cuff socks, knee socks and tights

While it was still warm, she could wear the shorts and t-shirts on PE days. The two other days she could wear skirts with short sleeve polos and a dress on another day to round out the week. As the summer turn to fall, we could stick with that routine but switch to knee socks instead of cuff socks. As fall turned to winter, we could change to long sleeve t-shirts and yoga pants or leggings for PE days. On non-PE days, she could switch up to long sleeve polos with pants or the skirts with tights. The sweaters could be used over the short sleeve shirts when she got cold due to the air conditioning inside during warm months and as another layer of warmth in the coldest months.

Before I got started shopping, I went through her closet and dresser and crossed off items that we already owned that complied with the uniform dress code. She already had a few t-shirts and navy yoga pants that could be used on PE days. She also had a navy active skort and a few pairs of tights.

This Pinterest board, Kindergarten Wardrobe Items, shows many of the item I found, and some I've purchased since. I couldn't find images for everything. And some items pinned in the wrong color, but you get the idea. In future posts, I'll share with you what I spent, what worked, what didn't and why.

(photo used with permission from Microsoft)

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Related Posts:

• The Spend - our actual cost for School Uniforms
• Belts for School for Kindergarten and Elementary aged Kids
• Modesty on the Playground
• Building a Boys School Uniform Wardrobe

The Hunt for the Long Sleeve White Polo

When I bought school clothes in the fall, I didn't stumble upon any long sleeve white polos. I instead bought a few cardigans for my daughter to wear over her short-sleeve polos and blouses. As the weather got colder, I kept an eye out for them to show up at the locals stores. As far as I can tell, they never did.

As some point over the holidays, my daughter began asking for "a shirt with sleeves". Even during the post holiday sales, none of the online stores were offering free shipping and I couldn't find any valid promotion codes. Call me a penny pincher, but I back out of an online sale when the shipping is more than the item itself.

I headed out shopping mission to find her a long-sleeve white polo.

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I hit the local Sears to check the Lands End offerings. They were pricer than I wanted to pay. I found only short sleeve polos at Old Navy. Target did not have any uniform items in stock. And the local JCPenney had one, but it wasn't her size. Then I decided to stop in the big box store that I rarely shop at -- Walmart. Our local store was so crowded on a Saturday afternoon in January that folks were circling for parking spaces like it was Black Friday. So I bailed on that madness and checked out their website from the comfort of my couch.

I learned that they carry a small selection of basic uniform items. Since I'm not typically a Walmart shopper, I was not familiar with their store brand, George. The website organized items into a School Uniform Shop. Most items were George and Dickie brand items. They also featured Hanes brands socks and undergarments in the uniform store. The prices were some of the lowest I've seen. The also offer value bundles in qualtities of 2, 4 and even a 7 item mixed bundle. After you add a bundle to your cart, they smartly let you mix up sizes and colors within the bundle. Brilliant!

The item I had spent the day shopping for all over town was in-stock in her size. I ordered a 2 pack of George brand long-sleeve polos for $11 and 97 cents shipping. The item shipped later that night and arrived later that week. At that price, I had low expectations. The cotton is softer than I was expecting, and my daughter is happy with them. We've washed them a few times already and they are holding up fine. I can update this post later in the Spring to let you know ow they hold up after a season of wear.

H&M's Organic Cotton T-shirts

On PE days, my daughter is required to wear "navy sweat pants, skort or shorts, and a plain white or navy t-shirt or sweat shirt". As we started the school year, she had several plain white short sleeve Organic t-shirts from H&M. They were a staple in her preschool wardrobe. She wore them with basic navy shorts when it was warmer. As the weather grew colder, I returned to H&M and found the long sleeve version of the same shirt. She paired them with basic navy leggings from Target and Children's Place. Today during the heart of winter, I found the turtleneck version of this same organic t-shirt. Two for $14.95.

Although our school policy allows the basic t-shirt (think Hanes), these have worked as a more stylish and comfortable alternative for our daughter. They have a feminine fit, are soft and have the right amount of stretch to them.

Most of H&M t's kids shirts are sold in a 2 pack; however, it seems I've bought some of these as individual items too. And not all of their t-shirts are the same. I just browsed through my daughter's dresser and found that the ones we like better have "Made in Bangladesh." printed at the bottom of the sewn in tag or printed in the shirt on the tagless variation. We have several of a similar style that are "Made in Turkey". Attached to the sales tag was a green tag that encouraged me to visit hm.com/conscious. I checked it out and browsed the site that summarized H&M's "...vision is that all business operations shall be run in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable." This lead me to click on a link to read more about H&M's Bangladesh Development Plan. It was nice to see a brand acknowledge difficult issues in the clothing industry and present a plan to let us, as consumers, know that they are working to make things better for those folks who make the clothing items that my daughter enjoys wearing.

H&M's online store is not available in all areas. Here is their store locator.

Lands' End Iron Knee Pants

This picture was taken to commemorate the first day my daughter tied her shoes "all by herself". However, it also shows the dreaded knee patches that had become a signature accessory in her wardrobe during her last year of preschool. She blew out the knees on every pair of pants she owned. I don't know how, but she also managed to tear off or tear through the patches I'd iron on. By the end of the Spring, I'd found some success by ironing a patch on each knee on the inside of the fabric, as well as the outside of her pants. So when I saw a recent promotion for Land's End Little Boys' Pleat Front Iron Knee Blended Chino Pants - Classic Navy, I could relate.

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This product was recently awarded the 2013 Good Housekeeping VIP (Very Innovative Products) Award. For boys, they offer these in a few styles that would like be acceptable for various uniform dress codes. The flat front chinos are available in little boy and big boy sizes for $30.

For Girls, they are only offered in basic uniform pants in several styles and for jeans in toddler sizes, little girls sizes and big girl sizes 7 and 8. They retail for $34. Do you have a pair of these for your son or daughter? If so, please tell us what you think. I also found boys pants that seem to get at the same knee blow out issue by French Toast called Double Knee Pants.