I see London. I see France. I see your little girl's underpants!
Egads! You don't want to hear any kids singing that song with your daughter's name in it. And as if that thought isn't motivating enough, here are three other good reasons you'll need to find a solution for what she can wear under skirts and jumpers at school:
- Your little girl will want to play on the playground at recess.
- Your little girl will have to sit crisscross applesauce at circle time.
- And just in case, your little girl doesn't always act like a little lady.
If skirts and jumpers are in your regular wardrobe rotation, then you need another article of clothing to retain a little modesty. I've found three options:
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The Bike Short
They are tight fitting shorts with stretch. You can find them at major retailers. Over the years, we've had several pairs of these from various vendors. The Circo brand bike shorts at Target
(update - sorry this brand is no longer available) have held up well for us. The Children's Place leggings and bike shorts are my favorite because they seem to have just the right amount of stretch to them. Gymboree brand are my least favorite because they don't seem to have enough stretch in them and they don't hold their shape as well as the others. Here are links to you can check out bike shorts from these retailers:
Bootie shorts
I'm not crazy about the name either, but that's what the kids call them.
They are the boyshort style shorts usually worn by dancers and gymnasts over practice leotards. We recently bought a pair of
Capezio Girls' Boy Cut Low Rise Short at our local dance-wear shop. They are also offered at major retailers such as Amazon or at a local specialty retailer. We found they ran true to size. They are made from 90% nylon and 10% spandex. You can launder them with your other workout wear, but hang them to dry.
Knit Shorts
I have only come across a handful of uniform retailers that carry knit shorts made for the purpose of wearing under skirts. The Gap and their sister store, Old Navy, used to carry a 3 pack, but I no longer see them available.
This year, French Toast began to offer what they call "
Kick Shorts". We haven't tried them yet, but they are described as a fitted pull-on shorts designed to be worn under a skirt or jumper. The price is right at $4.98 each. They come in all sizes from 2T through a size 16.
Cartwheel Shorts
Children's Place added a nylon
Cartwheel Short with 5% spandex. They are sold in a two pack and retail for $16.95.
Children's Place also has a
knit cartwheel short. They are made from 94% cotton with 6% spandex. Compared to other Children's Place matchables, we found these to run small. While they are intended to be short and fit snugly, I'd recommend you go up a size.
JC Penney also carries a 2 pack of
Maidenform Playground Pals (R). While we wish they were offered in 2 packs of solids in uniform basic colors, they do offer a set in navy and white, as well as other colors.
Haven't heard of CookiesKids? Me either, until recently. The are known as the World's Largest Kids Department Store and have 6 retail locations in New York City. In 2007, they were noted by Crain's Magazine as the #1 School Uniform Headquarters in the United States. The Cookie's website, which they consider their 7th store, features a special school uniform section. You can check out my overview of School Uniforms at the Cookie's, the Kids Department Store from the Retail Round Up Series.
On Lands End's website, they state that that they have made a commitment to give back $1 million to partner schools this year. Schools can earn up to 6% on school uniform orders. The tiered schedule starts at 1% on sales up to $4,999 annually. It bumps to 2% on sales between 5000 and 9,999 and 3% for sales over $10,000. Then as additional incentives, schools can bump it up another 1% if you sign an exclusive contract and another 1% for a multi-year contract. And schools willing to share the parents address or email addresses can earn another additional 1%. 
