brownie uniform

[lulu2]

dd has just started Brownies and i was wondering what uniform to buy for her. I was hoping to buy trousers, hoodie and a t-shirt, will that be ok?

[ramonaquimby]

dd wears the tshirt and hoodie with brown leggings and a skirt - the last 2 not 'brownie labels' has been fine.

[Carrotsandcelery]

That sounds fine lulu2. My dd had the same. Where are the meetings? She may not need the hoodie. My dd's meeting were in the school hall which was very warm and she rarely used the hoodie.
Our Brown Owl was very relaxed about trousers etc. She understood that it is very expensive to buy the official kit.

[flippinggorgeous]

I kitted out both my DDs through Ebay and second hand from other Brownies. It is amazing how much uniform people have lying around.

[lulu2]

they meet in a school hall too which is super warm carrots so maybe i can get away with no hoodie. I am watching a couple of items on ebay but even they seem to go for lots of money.
will ask school mums if they know of any secondhand uniform.

[seeker]

Don't buy anything until you are sure that Brown Owl doesn't have a box of uniform that she lends out. All our Scout-y things t=do this - you borrow form the box, then return and borrow the next size up as you need to, buying the occasional thing if there isn't the right size - whic in turn goes to top up the box when it's grown out of.

[Carrotsandcelery]

seeker that is such a simple and fantastic idea - I will suggest that at all our clubs etc.

[ramonaquimby]

i would say the hoodie is the best thing to buy - on numerous brownie days out/weekend trips away/etc etc the hoodie has been good value for us

[LaVieEnTechnicolor]

There's often Brownie wear on Ebay but check carefully because sometimes very tatty stuff is going for near its new price. You might find some on freecycle and some packs (like mine) sell nearly-new for pennies.

If you need to buy new, try to buy from Girlguiding UK's trading services (via the website), as that way the profit goes back into the organisation. But before you do any of this, ask your Brown Owl what she expects Brownies to have. As long as my Brownies have a Brownie t-shirt and the leggings/trousers/skort that's fine by me. Some, though, have every bit of Brownie kit known to man, bought as birthday and Christmas presents.

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

You need something to sew the badges on: so either hoodie, sash or gilet. Officially, I think it is supposed to be sash or gilet, but I don't mind my Brownies sewing them on the hoodie, the sash is a right PITA to sew badges on and it keeps falling off. I would say the hoodie is the best option and a t-shirt - not all my Brownies have trousers or skorts.

[HSMM]

I sewed my DD's badges on her gilet, but some of the girls sewed them onto their camp blankets. A couple had sashes with badges on.

[LaVieEnTechnicolor]

I sew all dd's onto a badge sash - in fact we're just about to start badge sash #2. A tip I picked up on MN was, when she goes up to Guides, to cut the sashes in half and sew the four pieces around the edge of a camp blanket.

[lulu2]

thanks all really good tips. I can see there is a lot to learn.