March/April 2008 - Cover Story

The guys are wearing flat-front double knee pants paired up with long-sleeve oxford shirts. The cotton/poly pants are made with special heat sealing and side-seam stitching procedures to ensure long-lasting durability.

The crisp oxford shirt is made from Wrinkle No More cotton/poly fabric and features an expandable collar to provide comfort and versatility. Pants in black, brown, burgundy, green, gray, khaki, light gray and navy. Shirt in blue, white and yellow.

When selling school uniforms, don’t forget the nursery and kindergarten bunch. These kids want to look their best, too.
Available from French Toast, left to right:
L/S classic dress shirt (E9004) and boys’ toddler pull-on pants (K9319).
Toddler Peter Pan blouse (A9270), sweater with ribbon trim (C9008) and double kick-pleat scooter (X9062).
Toddler piqué polo (A9084) and toddler pull-on shorts (H9113).
L/S toddler Peter Pan knit (A9269) and toddler girls’ pull-on pants (K9317).

Mary Ann Donofrio is generally satisfied with the parochial school uniforms worn by her three kids. The garments wash well and usually come out of the dryer ready to go.

Everything has a one-year wear guarantee, so if a zipper breaks she can get a replacement. The only thing the guarantee doesn’t cover is the knees of the pants.

“The pants wear like iron,” she says, “but the football on the playground does you in.” The pants are reinforced in the knees, but it doesn’t seem to help. The school has even tested pants made of heavier fabrics, but they didn’t come out of the dryer as nice and faded more quickly.

After more than a decade of stunning growth in the school uniforms market, there is still just one criteria that drives the purchase decision more than any other.

“Every single focus group we’ve ever done, the number-one question is always, ‘How can we make them last forever?’” says Gigi Gregersen, marketing director for LT Apparel Group, which is celebrating its 50th year of making school uniforms under the French Toast and other brand names. “The number one thing is durability, and that means reinforced knees, reinforced stitching and belt loops. These uniforms are being worn to gym class, to art class and to drama. They need to be made out of steel, but they still have to look good.”

Kids can wear their uniforms so hard, in fact, that it’s almost as if they’re going to work rather than school. And that suits Dickies just fine.

“We see the school uniforms business as workwear for children,” says Rick Crosland, general manager for Dickies’ school uniforms business. “Customers know us and our reputation for tough, long-lasting workwear.” That reputation appeals to parents who “want their kids to grow out of [a school uniform] before they wear out of it,” he adds.

Dickies has incorporated ideas from its workwear lines and interpreted them for school uniforms. The company now offers its FlexWaist adjustable waistband on school uniform trousers, for example, and subjects school uniforms to the same durability testing as its workwear.

New polo shirt styles are fade-and stain-resistant – two increasingly important features in school uniforms – as well as tagless, for greater comfort. “The first thing kids do [with a uniform] is pull the tags out,” Crosland says. There are also extra pockets these days for cell phones and other electronic gear. “Kids like to know they’re emulating big brother, or dad,” he says.

"Every single focus group we’ve ever done, the number one question is always, ‘How can we make them last forever?"

More school uniform trends

• Growth is at either end of the spectrum. Gregersen says the biggest growth in uniforms right now is in middle and high schools. “Elementary kids who started out school in uniforms are now getting older, and so a program is easier to implement when the kids are used to it,” she says. But she also sees a renewed interest in uniforms among preschool- and kindergarten-aged kids. “We’ve had a toddler line for a long time, but we’ve ramped it up because there’s a real demand for it,” she adds.

One of the big changes to Dickies’ line, adds Crosland, is the breadth in sizes now available: kids sizes 4-20, including half sizes, and junior sizes 0-21, in three different fits – slim, regular and husky.

• Colors are exploding. Many school districts seem to be moving away from uniform programs and toward dress codes that specify top and bottom colors, which often are different from one school or grade level to the next. “A lot of schools are specifying colors for the bottoms, but allowing some expression on the tops,” says Crosland.

“Color can be a tool for identification, but it also gives schools some flexibility so kids aren’t wearing the same colors for 10 years in a row,” adds Gregersen. She also sees a resurgence in the popularity of some colors. Louisiana and other southeastern states are “a stronghold for purple polos,” she says, and now that the region is recovering from Hurricane Katrina, “enrollments are coming back and so demand is back up for purple.”

• Feminine detailing. “Girls’ uniforms have become so much more flattering,” says Gregersen. “We’ve revamped our girls’ line and added tapered waists, gathered sleeves, different style buttons and other feminine touches,” she says. The garments today are built for a growing girl, as opposed to a boys’ boxy cut, and girls are responding. “They’ve been dying for something more feminine,” Gregersen says. Dickies’ Rick Crosland agrees. “We have new fits on our girls’ line, including flared bottoms and a lower, more natural rise,” he says. “It makes them feel they’re wearing something more stylish.”

School Uniform Showcase

The Youth Short-Sleeve (BG-5204) and Long-Sleeve (BG-5207) Pique Polos are 6.7 oz Easy Care 60/40 cotton poly blends with stain release, curl-free collar, rib knit collar and cuffs, reinforced side vents and straight bottoms. SS in nine colors (burgundy, navy, light blue, royal, red, white, hunter, yellow and black), LS in navy, light blue, royal, red and white. In youth sizes XS (4) to XL (18-20). The Youth Long-Sleeve Oxford (BG-5214) is also a 60/40 cotton/poly blend, with patch pocket, adjustable cuffs and center-pleated back. In blue and white, sizes S (6-8) to XL (18-20. Available from Blue Generation. Reader Service #137	From LT Apparel, a girls’ Snap Front Polo (left) with a gathered back and sleeve (A9280) is paired with a school-approved Bermuda short (H9119) that’s made from cotton and spandex and features an adjustable waistband. In regular, slim and plus sizes in khaki and navy. On the right, a Swiss Dot Sleeve Blouse (E9261) and Stretch Twill Capri Pant (K9321). Reader Service #130	(left to right): Long-Sleeve Classic Dress Shirt (E9004) and boys’ Toddler Pull-On pant (K9319); Toddler Peter Pan Blouse (A9270), Sweater w/Ribbon Trim (C9008) and Double Kick-Pleat Scooter (X9062); Toddler Pique Polo (A9084) and Toddler Pull-On Shorts (H9113); Long-sleeve Toddler Peter Pan Knit (A9269) and Toddler Girls Pull-On Pant (K9317). Available from LT Apparel’s French Toast School Uniforms. Reader Service #130
The Kilt skort (KT510) from Dickies features traditional stitched knife pleating styling with updated and fashionable hardware in the form of kilt-style buckles. The 7-oz 65/35 poly/cotton twill skort is micro-sanded for a soft feel and also features stain release, wrinkle- and fade-resistance. In dark navy (nickel finish buckles) and khaki (antique brass buckles), KT510 in regular sizes 7-20, KT310 in sizes 4-6x with an elastic back. Reader Service #138	The girls’ Peter Pan Blouse (long sleeve KL914, short sleeveKS914) is an Easy Care, button front 4-oz oxford made of a 70/30 cotton/poly blend, in white, sizes XS (4) to XL (18-20). Available from Dickies. Reader Service #138	The boys’ FlexWaist Extra Pocket Pant (KP122) from Dickies features an adjustable waistband, lower rise, easy care 2x1 twill, reinforced knees (sizes 4-14) two front pockets and a versatile extra pocket. These rugged pants also come with a stain-resistant finish and are wrinkle- and fade-resistant. In black, dark navy and khaki, regular and husky fits, sizes 4-20. Reader Service #138

They’re itchy!
We get the skinny on Catholic school uniforms from students (and their parents)

Nigel Haley, 13, 8th grade
Shane Haley, 12, 6th grade
St. John of the Cross, Roslyn, PA

The Haley boys wear navy blue khaki pants and light blue polo shirts. The polos are a 60/40 cotton/poly blend, the khakis are 100% cotton. Shane says he wears the short-sleeve polo almost all year round. They also are required to wear a belt and black (not brown) dress shoes. “They allow them to wear white socks with the uniform, which blows my mind,” says dad Joe Haley, Uniforms managing editor who also went to St. John of the Cross.

What do you like about your uniform? we ask the boys.

“Can’t think of anything,” sneers Shane. His brother Nigel manages to be a little more kind. “They’re kinda comfortable,” he says.

One thing dad isn’t too fond of is the price tag. “We pay $25 for each polo,” he says. He has even suggested cheaper alternatives from some of the apparel companies he knows, but St. John (like many other Catholic schools) has a long-standing relationship with a local retailer and requires the garments be bought there. “I could find them the same shirt for $3 or $4, plus $1 for embroidery,” he says.

Sarah Donofrio, 14, 8th grade
Louis Donofrio, 12, 6th grade
Matthew Donofrio, 8, 2nd grade
Corpus Christi, Lansdale, PA

The Donofrio boys wear gray pants that are 83% poly/17% cotton, and either a white turtleneck or white button down oxford shirt with either a navy blue sweater vest or long-sleeve sweater (100% acrylic), striped tie in navy, red and white, dress shoes (brown or black) and a belt. The oxford shirt can be short- or long-sleeve. After April 14, they have the option to wear pleated navy walking shorts and a short-sleeve white polo.

“It’s soft and warm,” Matt says of his uniform, “but sometimes the turtleneck is itchy.” For Louis, a bright spot is the one or two days a month he doesn’t have to wear it. “We have a dress down day at least once a month where you can pay $1 and dress down for the day, and the money goes to charity,” he says.

Big sister Sarah wears a navy, green and black Highland Watch plaid kilt skirt (100% poly), knee socks, blue sweater and a white oxford shirt. She complains that “the shoes are ugly and the socks are uncomfortable,” but otherwise she likes wearing her uniform. She especially likes not having to worry about what she’s going to wear every day. “I can get up at 7:15 and still make the bus at 7:45,” she says.

She does wish the button-down shirts were more comfortable. “They’re stiff and scratchy, especially when they’re new,” says her mother, Mary Ann. “She likes them after they’ve been washed a few times, but when you first get them they look like they could walk right off the hanger.”

Despite a stiff shirt here and a scratchy turtleneck there, the Donofrios all seem to like their uniforms well enough. 6th grader Louis (left) has gotten one demerit so far this year, when he forgot a sweater (he claims his mom took it out of his backpack). But he could be in line for another if he doesn’t get a haircut soon – school rules say hair cannot be below the eyebrows, touching the shirt collar or covering the ears.