As we enter the latter half of August, the thoughts of many turn to the scant weeks that remain until the beginning of September and panic begins to set in. It is after all only a fortnight before that day comes and brings with it the return of the school routine. It’s about now that everyone starts to buy their stationary and there’ll be a county-wide shortage of file blocks and lever arch files for the next month. 

Picking out your new files, pencil cases and school bag is always fun. It’s a chance show off who you are in a place where everyone is seen as equal. It’s one of the few realms of school life where there are no rules. You can pick it out in your favourite colours or, if you’re a creative type, spend time customising with pens and badges. The schoolbag especially is something that you really want to be unique with because it’ll make it much easier to find among the hundreds that have been chucked down in the quest to be at the front of the lunch queue and save a few late registrations being marked against your record. 

There isn’t much scope to be creative with the compulsory school uniform and it was something that did irritate me quite a lot back when I was in school. I’d try to rebel by dying my hair, choosing fabric shoes over the regulation leather style and wearing eyeliner and nail varnish. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t do these things. Whether my hair was bright red or its natural blonde obviously couldn’t have a physical affect on my education. 

A compulsory uniform was an annoyance but I find myself understanding it a lot more now. For five days of the week, you knew exactly what you were going to wear and because everyone else was wearing the same thing, your clothing wasn’t the thing that got you the sideways sneer as you walked down the hall. To observers, all students are equal. You can’t tell just from looking at someone whether they come from an affluent family or one that is just about keeping its head above water. The introduction of the school uniform grant helped to ensure that those from low income families could be kitted out just the same as their peers.

Many people bemoan the cost of a school uniform and I suppose that yes, it is an expensive upfront cost. However, when you boil it all down into its component parts, it’s actually not that bad for something that you’re getting a year of use out of. 

The blazer is the big ticket item and depending on the school and size, they can cost up to 70 quid. It’s steep but it is something that is worn every day and provides some level of protection from the elements. Then come your shirts or blouses. Again, the price depends on the school because if it’s a common colour like white or blue, these can be bought anywhere with a twin pack still providing change from a tenner. If, however you require the mint or red of Mount Lourdes or the now defunct Collegiate, you’re limited to the official uniform stockists. School jumpers are generally all the same price but they’re normally pretty warm and you can’t put a price on not shivering at the bus stop on a snowy morning when the bus is inevitably late. 

When it comes to covering the lower half of the body, we find ourselves paying more if we’re female. Increasingly, schools are adding certain requirements to their regulation skirts which makes it much more difficult to find something suitable in your bog standard clothing shop or supermarket clothing range. You’re pretty trapped. Boys however seem to have it a lot easier. Grey and black trousers can be found anywhere. There’s nothing special about them – it’s not like each school has their crest embroidered on the front pocket. Cheap and affordable, they’re easy to replace if an unexpected tear occurs. Unfortunately for us girls, we learnt early on how to be nifty with safety pins and soon learnt the merits of a needle and thread.

There are even examples when it comes to primary school uniform. A basic navy school jumper can be bought for a few pounds and it’s easily affordable to buy five to do the full week. However, once you whack a logo on there, a single sweatshirt will set you back nearly 20 quid. Ditto with the polo shirts although some schools have been kind enough to leave their crests off these for now and parents all over breathe a sigh of relief. 

The price discrepancies are unfortunate but it’s sadly something we have to come to expect. I’ve found that for some reason, female clothing is consistently more expensive, even for the basics. It’s come to the point where I don’t bat an eyelid at paying nearly 20 quid for a pair of jeans in the supermarket. My standard pair are nothing special. Dark wash, straight cut with a bit of a distressed feel. The men’s section has a pair almost identical, save for the price tag of 15 pounds. It’s getting to the point where all females are finding that the men’s section is a much better choice for the likes of plain t-shirts and hoodies: cheaper and don’t insist on clinging to every lump and bump we possess.

In saying that, I’d love to know who actually sets the prices for school uniform. Some people reckon it’s the stockist whereas others think that it’s the school. I honestly don’t know but I do know that there is a massive difference between the likes of blazer prices between schools. I don’t know why though. They’re identical save the colour and crest. Surprisingly, it’s not always the more unusual colours that are more expensive. You’d mistakenly think all uniforms would come at one standard price. It’s not something that anyone is exactly choosing to wear and it’s a little unscrupulous to make a profit out of a cornered market. 

I miss having a uniform to chuck on mindlessly in the morning. Now that I’m at university, there’s a lot more thought involved in the matter because you never know who you’re going to run into and how they’re going to judge you. It used to take me 15 minutes between getting out of bed and heading out the door but nowadays I’ve had to double that. Everything considered, I’m probably wearing 50 quid worth of clothing and shoes a day but it’s clothing that I’ve had the freedom to choose so it’s worth the money to me. 

My school uniform was the most cost effective outfit I’ve had. Realistically, it’s fairly good value for money but it would be sweeter to many parents if it was just a bit more affordable. Teachers would remind us that we weren’t on a haute couture catwalk as we were told to do up our top buttons so maybe it’s time school uniform was priced to reflect that a little more.