Dude if you’re a parent with a friend group of other parents in your school district, there will absolutely be hand-me-downs going all over the damn place.

My kids have so many clothes that they’ve never worn because we just keep passing clothes around, between their friends and cousins, everyone is growing so fast, it’s foolish to be spending a ton of money on brand new clothes unless we need something for a specific special occasion.

I’m sure school uniforms, as long as they are consistent, would be swapped around. I’m sure there would be parent groups forming on Nextdoor and Facebook to swap clothes. And I’m sure they would show up at the thrift stores.

Secondhand uniforms would not be a problem.

But honestly the most important part is that schools don’t treat it as a fundraiser. They should be able to buy in bulk and coordinate with neighboring districts on selection to maximize discounts, and sell at slightly above cost in order to offset free/reduced cost outfits for low income families.

In other words, in theory, it should be less expensive to dress your kids in school uniform.

Personally I think uniforms solve a lot more problems than they cause. They sacrifice a bit of self-expression (at least the older kids, who mostly dress and style themselves), but at the same time, it takes a big hit out of financial inequality bullying. Combined with universal lunch programs it basically destroys it.

That in itself is worth it. Kids getting bullied (or feeling empowered, for that matter) for things 100% out of their control (like the caste they’re born into) shouldn’t be a thing.