Treating stains on white shirts - a review of the Clorox Bleach Pen

photo by Uniform Mom

Recently, my daughter came home from school wearing her sweater buttoned up. She's rarely cold so as the intuitive type, I asked her if she spilled something on her shirt at school that day. Sure enough, the puréed prunes that had been packed in her lunch that morning were smeared across the chest of her white long sleeve polo shirt down the sleeve and dried in.

"Okay no problem", I reacted, knowing I had a secret weapon in my laundry arsenal - the Clorox bleach pen. I love this thing! 

H&M School Uniforms - Retail Round Up Series

A few weeks ago, I was in H&M when I noticed a rack of uniform clothes tucked in the corner of the girls department.  Their simple offering included the following items:

• pleated skirts in navy, khaki, and gray
• a knit jumper in navy and khaki
• short sleeve polo shirts in navy, light blue and gray

Photo by Uniform Mom

I am unsure if this indicated a corporate effort to get into the retail space of offering children's clothing for kids in schools with uniform dress codes or if this was an effort by a local store manager to organize and display the inventory together. If it was the effort of a store manager, I'd give him or her an A for effort.  But I'd give corporate a D plus. Here's why.

Review of the Lands End Knit Ruffle Front Dress



The last year or so of preschool, my daughter quit wearing dresses. Her best friends were all boys and they were into playing superheroes. No more cute sweater dresses with tights, instead she wore jeans everyday with simple t-shirts, many with images of her favorite superheroes. Thank goodness Old Navy carries superhero T-shirts for girls.  But don't take me too literally, this was not some form of preschool gender identity crisis, just a brief tom-boy stage to fit in with her friends.

So when we headed out shopping for school clothes, I was mildly worried about her pitching a fit over not being able to wear jeans. But she took the whole uniform thing, including navy bottoms, in stride. While in Sears, I pointed to a Lands End Little Girls' Short Sleeve Knit Ruffle Front Dress - Classic Navy and asked if she would like to try it on. To my surprise she said yes.

Throughout the fall, she wore that dress once a week. At first with simple cuff socks and school shoes, later with knee socks as the weather got cooler. It has fallen out of rotation during the winter months, but she could be wearing it with leggings underneath and a sweater. I was so thankful she took to this dress because I enrolled her in Sunday school shortly after school started and she is again willing to wear dresses.  Still not "girlie girl" dresses, but cute casual dresses.

The Lands End knit ruffle front dress is made from 100% cotton fabric that is noticeably softer to the touch than the mesh polo knits.  It has a slight A-line shape and has a small cap sleeve.  After many washings, only minor fading and no piling so far.   It doesn't need any ironing as long as you get it from the dryer in a reasonable amount of time.  Little girls definitely need to wear bike shorts underneath to cover their underwear while sitting crisscross applesauce in circle-time and while playing on the playground.  I would definitely buy this dress or a similar style dress in cotton knit fabric from Lands End again.  In fact next year, I'll likely look for a sale and get both the short sleeve and the long sleeve version of this dress.  

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Related posts:

• Lands' End School Uniforms in the Retail Round Up Series
• Lands End Girls Uniform Pleated Twill Skort
• Review of the Lands End Knit Ruffle Front Dress
• Reviews of Girls Cardigan Uniform Sweaters



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!

Review of the Girls Izod Short-Sleeve Woven Shirt

On my first back to school shopping trip last fall, I took my daughter to JCPenney.  I had scoped it out ahead of time.  They had created a School Uniform section in the store between the boys and girls departments.  I knew this would allow us enough choices to see what type of school clothes my daughter preferred and for me to figure out her size.

photo by Uniform Mom

I don’t recall that she had ever had a button up shirt previously, so she was excited about the Izod short sleeve peter pan woven top.  She noticed the little bit of a puffy sleeve and it seemed to make her feel special.  We even took a picture right in the dressing room when she tried it on.  At $8, I didn’t blink at the price.  We bought it and a few other items that day.

She chose to wear it on the first day of school with a navy skirt.  We were so in a rush to get to school on time that day, I only have one photo of her back taken in the elevator on the way out of our building.  I know you all can relate to those kinds of mornings.  Anyway, she wore the shirt a few more times last fall either with shorts or a skirt. One day in late fall when there was a chill in the air, I had her wear a white cami t-shirt underneath. 

I’m not sure exactly why, but it fell out of favor and is no longer part of our weekly wardrobe routine.  I see other girls from her school wearing that style shirt often.  Many times they are worn under a jumper style dress.  My daughter has always hated jumpers.  Even when she was a toddler and had no opinion of her clothes, if given a choice she would always choose to wear whatever other option I presented.  So honestly I’m not sure if she picked up on that or not.  Or maybe she simply prefers the softness and ease of the polo shirts.  

I had picked up the long sleeve version of this shirt at the school’s Uniform Locker exchange program, but she has never worn it. The long sleeve version does not have the same cap sleeve as the short sleeve version. It is unlikely I will buy this product again for next year, only due to my daughter’s current preferences and the flexibility in her school’s dress code. 

So here’s my Mom take on this item. If your daughter likes to wear jumper dresses or if it is a required part of your school’s dress code, this is a great blouse to wear underneath.  The shirt is well made but is thin.  It can be worn alone, but it looks better with a cami underneath or with a jumper or sweater over top.  It washed well and only needed a quick touch up with the iron to look crisp and sharp again. It retails for $8 at JC Penneys, so it doesn’t break the bank and you could stock up on several.  In fact, the full regular price of this shirt is typically less than similar styles offered by other brands.

Related Posts:

• Izod Flat Front Uniform Skirt, a review
• Izod School Uniform Bermuda Shorts

Uniform Consignment in Denver

I connected recently on Twitter with @UniformConsign. After checking out their website, I wanted to learn more.  I exchanged a few emailed with Kim Vigil, the company's owner to conduct this virtual interview.  I also think its worth noting that she offers highly personalized customer service to local customers in the Denver area, they have expanded to partner with schools in El Paso Texas and Birmingham, Alabama.

Q) What motivated you to start this local business?

A) Uniformconsignment.com is a  family owned business based in Denver, Colorado that wants to make the buying and selling of school uniforms a simple and less expensive process. We are committed to our schools, the children, and their families to help provide quality garments at all times. We understand that it is hard to make it to the uniform shop during their hours, especially if they are across town from your home or workplace. We support our children, and any type of clothing swap that happens at the schools, but we wanted to provide an alternative since, let’s face it, most of us get up early and stay up late to keep our families running!