What to Wear to School: 3rd Grade & 11th Grade

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

Here’s Part Two in this year’s What to Wear to School series. Today’s post features Olive, 11th grader, age 17, and June, 3rd grader, age 8. Unlike Oscar and Betty, neither of their schools require uniforms, so they have free range of their closets when choosing an outfit.

We had so much fun doing these shoots this year. The kids love setting out the clothes, putting together outfits, and figuring out the perfect accessories. It’s fun to see their style develop over the years. For these photos, college-sister Maude gets a shout out for the pretty French braids in June’s hair.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

June Outfit #1: June is wearing a red sweater from Zara, a grey pleated skirt and knee socks from Uniqlo (great prices — the skirt is $15, and the socks are $6 for a 2-pack), plus gold hightops — they light up! — that we found on Amazon.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

Olive Outfit #1: Olive is wearing a rugby shirt from J.Crew (Remember these? They reissued them! I totally had one in high school. Oh. And it’s currently 46% off!), Levi’s 501s, and red New Balance sneakers. Don’t laugh but Maude, Olive, and Oscar, each own a pair of these same sneakers. You can see Oscar wearing his in this post.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

June Outfit #2: June is wearing a jumpsuit and puffball hairbands from J.Crew, red tie Vans, no-show liner socks from Target (a 3-pack for $5), and a red twill jacket from Abercrombie Kids. The jumpsuit was the special outfit she picked on her back-to-school date with me.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

Olive Outfit #2: Olive is wearing a black blouse from TopShop (similar here), black ripped jeans by Banana Republic (hand-me-downs from Aunt Liz), and grey+black checkerboard Vans. Olive is also wearing cherry earrings from ASOS. Olive is the only one of my kids with pierced ears (or pierced anything), and she’s built up quite a collection of earrings over the last year.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

June Outfit #3: June is wearing a reversible skirt from Primary, a grey hooded sweater/poncho and red phone purse from Zara. Under her sweater, she’s wearing a royal blue tee from Uniqlo — they come in great basic colors and they’re priced at under $4.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

Olive Outfit #3: Olive is wearing a blue cashmere turtleneck sweater, inherited by me from my Grandma Rudi when she died, wide leg trousers from Uniqlo, and vintage boots she bought at the famous Oakland White Elephant Sale. One note: Olive discovered these pants at Uniqlo last year and loved them so much, she waited until they were on sale and bought one in every color. She has 6 pairs! I can’t find them online, but I pretty much always see them in-store.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

June Outfit #4: June is wearing a striped top with a ruffle on the back from J.Crew, plus green jeans from H&M, and grey+black checkerboard Vans that match with Olive.

What to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design MomWhat to wear to school for 3rd and 11th grade featured by top design blogger, Design Mom

Olive Outfit #4: Olive is wearing a David Bowie t-shirt we ordered from AllPosters.com last year, under a chartreuse fine-wale corduroy suit from Banana Republic, and sparkly heels by Madden Girl. Olive bought this suit during the after-holiday sale in January, but she’s been waiting till now to wear it. It’s so awesome!

—–

And that concludes our What to Wear to School posts for this year. Your turn. Where are you shopping for your kids these days? Have you tried Primary? They’re great for basics! Have your kids developed a distinctive fashion sense as they’ve grown? Any favorite outfits pictured? I’d love to hear.

P.S. — More What to Wear to School.

10 thoughts on “What to Wear to School: 3rd Grade & 11th Grade”

  1. Hi Gabby!

    I am wondering, since you have many girls in your house, have you ever struggled with inappropriate dress? And, if so, how do you deal with that?

    I struggle as a feminist with how to guide my daughters in dressing. My now 20 year old has not been an issue. But my now 18 year old has given me concern on this issue since middle school. I don’t know how or what to say when I see something that seems to be more revealing than what I think is appropriate. I wonder if my ideas/ideals are too old fashioned? Or am I missing an opportunity to guide her? Currently, I say nothing, but pray that she will find her way to more modest dress on her own.

    Any advice? Obviously, at 18, I am not buying/choosing clothing. HELP!

    Rebecca

    1. It’s a great question — and could probably be it’s own post. : )

      When discussions of “dressing modestly” come up, I’ve tried to define it as dressing appropriately for the occasion. So to me that means no particular piece of clothing is “bad” or off limits — you just need to wear it at the appropriate time. A sundress is perfect for a picnic, but not quite right for a job interview. A suit is perfect for a job interview, but might be too formal for school. A leotard is ideal for a ballet class. A bikini is perfect for an afternoon sunbathing at the beach. A mini-skirt and go-go boots could be just right to go dancing at a club, but could make it hard to hike around campus all day. Revealing lingerie is appropriate for a sexual encounter, but not as good for taking the SAT. Again, no clothing is off limits; no clothing is “evil.”

      I also try to make clear that wanting to wear something that makes you feel sexy if you’re headed on a date makes perfect sense, but is probably not the best choice for church or a babysitting job. On the topic of dressing to feel sexy, I also try to make it clear that wanting to feel sexy is a totally fine thing to want, and that it doesn’t mean you want to have sex, or need to have sex. It just means you want to feel sexy. It’s its own thing. And no matter what you wear, you are not responsible for the actions of other people.

      Lastly, I try to help my kids know that personal preference plays a part in all of this too. For example, if I’m unsure on what to wear to an event, I prefer to err on the side of too dressy. But someone else would be really uncomfortable doing that and prefer to err on the side of too casual.

      I hope that helps! I’d love to hear how other readers approach this.

      1. This is such an awesome response!!! I always love hearing from a more “seasoned” mom on things like this (my kids are still littler, but the 7-year old is starting to care more about fashion, and has always been VERY opinionated about what she wears)- and your approach is so great.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top