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January 25, 2021

102 Comments

A mum recently noticed a huge difference when she went to buy her daughters school uniform. After asking our MoM’s their opinion, we discovered this occurs far too often.

The NSW mum of three girls shared, “I went to get my daughter her senior uniform and had to buy 2 sizes bigger than normal. The lady said “OH yes, they have changed the sizing.”

I get the dresses home and compare them to her junior uniform and it is the exact same size. It has me thinking what kind of idiot decided to change sizing on teenage girls dresses to make them think they are 2 sizes bigger?!”

A photo of the comparison between the two uniforms (one on top of eachother) can be seen below. Size 18 on top, size 22 on the bottom. The only real difference seems to be the length of the sleeve and hem.

dresss

Have You Had Any Issues With School Uniform Sizes?

So we asked the questions of our MoM’s on Facebook – “Has anyone else had similar issues with their kids’ uniforms? We would love to hear from others who experienced the same problem,” and got a huge response that we never expected.

It seems to be a common occurrence that many parents are concerned about.

The biggest concern is how it affects our children’s self-confidence and that it could even spark eating disorders in some self-conscious kids.

Comments from concerned parents include:

– “Way to encourage eating disorders.”

– “My son wears a boys size 12-14 regular top but his school top is a 16 or a S. So yep and size or 2 bigger than normal. He is 10 and going into grade 5.”

– “Yep exactly …also the cut of most of these uniforms are designed for straight up and down…bad luck if your daughter has curves…”

– “My daughter is starting kindy and I had to buy size 8.”

– “XL for my son starting high school when he’s a medium.”

Mortified!

– “Yes my 15 year old daughter is a size 12/14 but her school dress is a size 20, she was mortified!!!!”

– “Yes my 10yr old needed a size 14 she was so upset.”

–  “This exact same thing happened to my daughters…. crying in the change rooms believing they had put on weight… the guy comes over and said don’t cry we get them made in china now so the sizing is different!! Yeah great mate…. 3 teenage girls now with self esteem issues cause of the sizing!!!”

– “My 6 year old niece had to get her winter uniform custom made last year for kindergarten/prep as the biggest size the shop had was to small ( biggest size is a 16 my niece usually wears 8-10) the woman from the shop said that they’re now getting their dress made in china.

She Now Thinks She’s Fat!

– So we now have a little girl that will always need custom made and is already starting to believe that she “fat”.”

– “Absolutely agree with you about sizes. My Daughter is about to start Prep, yes she is very tall for a 5yr old but to buy size 16 in dresses seriously & that’s the biggest size. So what do we do when she grows?”

– “Same here, does not help when our kids are already self-conscious and with low self esteem.”

– “Yep when I bought my daughter her winter skirts they were apparently a size 20, she was a women’s 12-14. I wasn’t very happy with that.”

-“Yes it makes them think that they’ve put weight on!”

While some suggest to just take the tag off because the clothes are small because they are made in China, it still doesn’t prevent that seed of doubt and low self esteem it can embed in a child’s mind.

Have you been faced with a similar problem trying to purchase a uniform for your child?

Share your comments below.

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  • This is where parents need to band together and refuse to purchase the uniforms until they are resized.

    Reply

  • Yep. The same thing happened to me in school.
    I had to get a women’s size 10 in year 6 and then from puberty onwards the buttons in my school shirt would always gape and I was so self conscious that I wore my woollen jumper every single day (even through summer!)

    I also experienced the same issue with work uniforms!

    Reply

  • Those sizings sound crazy! How confusing

    Reply

  • I never knew kids paid attention to sizing labels!
    When I was younger I honestly didn’t know what size I was because my mum bought everything for me.
    But yes, this does seem odd! Has anyone thought to ask the uniform shop why the sizing is the way it is as this might help clarify things more?

    Reply

  • In a day where body image issues , self harm and suicide are so common due to mental health issues it would be better if uniform sizes reflected every day Australian sizes. I have found the same thing with wedding dresses.

    Reply

  • I have noticed this in uniforms and can have such an impact on the child.

    Reply

  • I think its the manufacturing and maybe we should avoid labels on clothes. I would love this for me

    Reply

  • I left a very big Melbourne school uniform shop in angry tears today by having to buy a size 10 for my 5 year old child. There was absolutely no difference in waist size for a size 6 or 8- how does that work. Looking for some answers. What can be done about this? Can we approach someone?

    Reply

  • Not in school yet but I wouldn’t want my Daughter feeling bigger than what she is due to ridiculous sizing

    Reply

  • We live in a world of comparison already don’t need it in school uniforms

    Reply

  • My kids are still young but when this becomes an issue I will be talking to them about how normal their sizes are and explain other kids are in the same boat! I grew up with an eating disorders due to my parents and I refuse to let this happen to my kids!

    Reply

  • My school goes from size 6 to 8 and then up and of course 8 is too big and 6 too small. Sizing is generally small makes which is ridiculous. My year 5 boy is tall and a big build and he’s wearing everyday small men’s clothing. School shirts go up to size 16 and my poor son looks like he’s wearing a dress, the shirt more looks like the length increases instead of going out.

    Reply

  • I had that happen to us when my daughter was in primary school. One school dress was about 3 sizes bigger even though they were the exact same size

    Reply

  • It’s weird that schools do this.

    Reply

  • I used to be so ashamed when I found this with my boys so I would cut off the size tags and tell them I did it because I know tags can be really annoying at times. Luckily they accepted this reasoning. They may be boys but they have the same issues about size as girls do. I’ve also found it’s the same with my clothes as well. Before I could just go into a store and if I liked something I could just buy it without having to actually try it on. More fool me.

    Reply

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