School uniform originated in the 19th century to reduce visible socioeconomic disparities and foster community cohesion. Contemporary uniform policies in many English schools require branded, compulsory items from single specialist suppliers, driving up costs and limiting choice. Prices have become burdensome for some families, with parents reporting skipped meals and reliance on buy-now-pay-later services to afford term purchases. Specific examples include a blazer costing 38, a branded acrylic cardigan for 23, and an 8 delivery fee, with returns often at the buyer's expense unless parents travel to a distant physical shop. Secondhand uniform shops exist but cannot meet all demand.
But my own heady excitement at regaining some semblance of routine come September has been derailed by an adjacent exercise: procuring my daughter's first school uniform. Call me curmudgeonly, but there's few things I resent more than spending more than 300 to dress my four-year-old in a suit and tie. The British obsession with forcing children into business attire from an age when they can't yet read or write is surely a form of national delirium.
So extortionate they have become that some parents in England are skipping meals and turning to buy now, pay later services such as Klarna to afford them before the autumn term, according to a survey by the parenting charity Parentkind. At the small, south London state primary my daughter attends, the blazer alone costs 38. The branded cardigan, made of 50% acrylic, is 23. These, alongside the other compulsory items on the school's list, must be bought from one specialist uniform supplier.
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