[user104658]

Originally Posted by Livia

I'm for them. It'd reduce the risk of poor kids being ridiculed for cheap trainers and no designer labels. It gives everyone a kind of equality.

All of my schools had uniforms and my kids do too and to be honest I think it only partially addresses that problem, at best. The uniforms are very rarely provided in state schools, it's just a provided list (black trousers, black shoes etc.) and the quality and fit of the items, especially things like shoes and coats, vary so widely that it's still easy to tell who has ordered in quality items and who has been on a supermarket sweep at primark. I guess it's like any formal event. They have a dress code that will be like "black suit" for men but it's still pretty obvious who has had a quality suit tailored for them and who has bought a £100 one off the rack.

To be honest I find that in non-uniform environments it's actually easier to emphasise style choices over garment quality so the differences can be LESS obvious. For example for a t shirt with a design on it, if I see a cheapo one that I like the look of I'll wear it. But when it comes to PLAIN clothing I'll always choose more expensive, higher quality items because they're almost always a better fit, more comfortable, longer lasting, and because the materials / stitching etc. are just visibly far better.

I guess somewhat shamefully we play into it with my own kids too. We spend a small fortune on their uniforms every summer (and usually again in winter because the little bastards just keep on growing!), again especially on things like shoes, coats, cardigans... But even dresses / trousers and shirts too... When we COULD just buy a load from primark, but we've tried it and it just looks cheap. We live in a fairly affluent village and I'd say that less than 10% of the kids are low income, and the number who could be described as "deprived" is really only a handful in the whole school and calling a spade a spade - you can tell from their clothes. The fact that it's a uniform makes no difference. And again I suspect I would find it harder to tell if everyone was wearing their own stuff, because it does seem so much MORE obvious when you're comparing "like for like" kids stood right next to each other.

Its a horrible thing to have to buy into I guess. But uniforms don't change it. Unless it's an actual set uniform provided... But there's no way any state school can afford that, and if parents have to order through the school that can limit choice even further and ends up making it harder for less well off families. I don't know that there is a good solution