When determining school dress options terms start to make more difference than when we are just talking about school uniforms.  There can be a lot of 'gray' area between the two, but for our discussion we will try to stay to each end of the options.  What is the difference between 'Dress Code' and 'School Uniform'?

Dress Code:

This option for dress is usually the more relaxed of the options.  An example of a dress code in the simplest form is a Polo shirt and a khaki pant for both boys and girls.  Items in a dress code can usually be purchased in most department stores, but in most cases can not have any type of manufacturer logo showing on the garment.

At a school using a dress code for it's school apparel you will see many shades of the selected color, say khaki for the pant from almost white to almost green.  This may not be an issue with the administration of the school depending on what the objective was to start.  However, a dress code is much tougher for teachers to enforce.  In some cases teachers choose not to enforce it unless there is a very blatant violation of the code.

In some cases purchasing for parents can be easier as they can buy at many locations.  However, you still face the issue of 'name brand' clothing.  If your daughter is the one who can not find the exact pant the rest of the girls are wearing, she may experience the same issues that the school is trying to avoid.  This is experienced much less often, so in many cases a dress code is better than no code at all.

School Uniform:

As you move from a dress code to a full uniform the options of colors are usually limited to a few as well as pants.  In many cases the polo will have a school logo.  There may be an option for a specific plaid jumper or skirt for girls.  A large number of schools use one specific vendor to purchase every item, sometime including the shoes.

When a true uniform is used, the pants we be almost identical or at most a couple of shades that are almost exact.  The vendors in the true School Uniform market know that they need to match their competitors very closely.

Public schools tend to not be in a true uniform, even though the parents and kids will refer to their clothing as 'uniform'.  As I stated above, this can get somewhat 'gray' between different schools and school administrations.

So, we look closer at the Private schools for a true 'Uniform'.  Being private they can dictate exactly what can be worn in most states.

There are many manufacturers of uniform apparel, but in the U.S. a couple of the leaders are Royal Park Uniforms and School Apparel Uniforms.  Each has their specialty, each makes a full line of products and each offers extended warranties.  This adds to the appeal of a true uniform to many schools.

Enforcing a true uniform for teachers is usually much easier than enforcing a dress code.  Some school's will even logo the pants to make it much easier for teachers to enforce the uniform.  In most schools minds Teachers need to teach not deal with the issues associated with student dress.

Summary:

This article, as you can tell leans somewhat toward Uniforms vs. Dress Codes.   The reason for this is that in many cases Uniforms are much easier to enforce, which is one of the big reasons to move from 'wear what you want' to a specific dress.  Where 'Dress Code' can be so gray that it can cause high levels of frustration between, Students, Staff and Parents.