SOME THINGS TAKE PRIORITY

This week I have been busy getting my sewing gear together and have the task of remodeling school clothes.  I'm not quite sure how this fits into the RTW Fast other than they are second hand uniforms that require fresh pockets and dresses that need their hems adjusted.  I'm here wondering why they insist on making girls school dresses so unflattering shapeless and boring?  I have three dresses to hem up and two blazer pockets to replace and I'm trying to get inspired to just get it done.  

While I'm on the school uniform subject  I have a question that I've asked myself (out loud because I know at least one person has to listen to me) several years in a row now.  Why do schools insist on changing the design of their emblems and styles and colours of their uniforms so so often?  Why? The last school our daughter went to they almost had a different outfit for every different year level.  It soon became a bit obvious that the uniform shop wasn't as lucrative as the school hoped so they decided to change it and "encourage" parents to replace their uniforms from the old design to the new as quickly as possible.  Ok! I know its a business but do they think we don't work out what they are up to?  And along with the change in uniform this school had absolutely no buy back, resale or secondhand uniform set up.  Me, coming from a business background immediately thought this was one way I could help out so I offered to do the hard yards on behalf of the school gratis and set up a win/win secondhand sales outlet that would benefit both the parents and the school.   The sweet lady, who clearly gave birth to her children during the inception of the uniform shop because she appeared to have been there so long, kindly said that they already had something happening.  I politely stepped away and .... left them to that happening moment.  Some 4 years later still nothing has happened and there is no sign of it ever happening.  We've moved state and school and happily gifted most of the uniforms to good friends who could use them.  The remainder our daughter kept for posterity and memories which is fun too but you don't need several sets of everything just hanging in the wardrobe for looks and dress ups.

Don't get me wrong I love seeing my children in pristine uniforms but there is a limit to what is for presentation and practical purposes and then there is what is basically a fairly easy business model.  I just think that that model could get a whole lot better.  In the new school our daughter has to wear a boiled wool blazer throughout summer over the top of her dress rain, hail or shine, to and from school. Right now its shining a whole big lot and we are sweltering. So much in fact train lines are buckling, we are having power outages, the roses are wilting on the branches and the dogs water bowl needs replacing what seems like every few hours.  I just don't know how much of the lovely appearance of the students is healthy or necessary in this sort of weather.  But we wont buck the system because it looks pretty good.  One would think that the comfort of the children in the learning environment would be more conducive to a good experience at school than suffering the sweltering weather in a boiled wool jacket just to look good.  Silly mums, just because we went to school in sandals doesn't mean society hasn't progressed.

Much to my surprise while shopping recently I discovered those fabulous Jerusalem/Roman/Greek Sandals that I recall going to school in and they are ..... yes, back in style. WOW!  They still look as silly as they did back then but they are in fashion girls, just WOW!  I'm just not sure I'm ready to swap my Birkies though.  My hubby loves my Birkies, not!  Remember these?

So  I will stop procrastinating and get on with the repairs and send them off to the dry cleaners for pristine pressing.  That should do this week I think.   Next week its my turn, I will do the planned January outfit for the RTW Fast, hopefully if my real work doesn't call first.