Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

To think pleated school skirts are sadistic and even potentially borderline misogynistic?!

121 replies

NothingIsGoing2GetBetterItsNot · 29/08/2020 09:29

Ok maybe slight exaggeration and definitely lighthearted but really, wtf - why, Why do that to us??!

I have an ironing phobia and - and I admit I have left this a bit late - am searching for school skirts for dd, and they almost All have pleats, many 10+ pleats! All the way round!! All the Jersey 'skater' style seem to be sold out in her size wherever I look (I am clearly not the only pleat-phobic parent out there by a long stretch)! Everytime I see a pleated effort i get flashbacks to my own school days when we had not just a few pleats in our skirts but a full on fucking kilt - so we're talking 50odd pleats - and my mum passed on the task as soon as she felt she decently could, so I think I am actually traumatised (in fact probably the source of the phobia, thinking about it)....

The even worse element to this is A) dd Will Not wear trousers, and B) Rather likes pleated skirts (and Is Definitely too young to do her item ironing, unfortunately!) - Can anyone recommend some pleated skirts that really are permanent pleat, and virtually iron-free..??

OP posts:

Report

Am I being unreasonable?

155 votes. Final results.

POLL

You are being unreasonable

56%

You are NOT being unreasonable

44%

D4rwin · 29/08/2020 09:30

Trousers?

NeverTwerkNaked · 29/08/2020 09:32

DD school are insisting on one particular make of skirt this year. It is £40 and it is pleated

MsVestibule · 29/08/2020 09:32

I didn't realise pleated skirts needed ironing! Can't they just be hung up as soon as they come out of the washing machine/tumble dryer?

EssexGurl · 29/08/2020 09:32

Never ironed school uniform in my life! Wash it and hang up straightaway. No problem with pleats needing to be ironed. I buy M&S uniform and most is non iron anyway. Life is too short to iron uniform!

Emeraldshamrock · 29/08/2020 09:33

You really don't have to iron the really pleated ones.
Take it out of the machine shake it, turn a few pleats by hand and hang it on a hanger.
The pleats fallback into place.
How old is your DD?

MarthasGinYard · 29/08/2020 09:38

Dd has gone all through school with pleated kilt type skirts

Never ironed one to date

Wash with no softer and quickly arrange pleats whilst drying on hanger.

NothingIsGoing2GetBetterItsNot · 29/08/2020 09:41

emerald if this is really true it's a game changer, and definitely what I wanted to hear! I fully admit my scepticism has meant I have never actually bought one to test but your words mean a lot! 😅

Essex 100% agree! I don't even think I know where our iron is... 🤔

OP posts:

BarkandCheese · 29/08/2020 09:41

My DD has to have pleated skirts, I’ve never ironed them. They come straight out of the machine and are dried on a hanger. I can’t give you a recommendation because it’s in a tartan specific to her school, but it’s quite a stiff fabric with a high percentage of polyester.

NothingIsGoing2GetBetterItsNot · 29/08/2020 09:41

Dd is 7, btw

OP posts:

TheGreatWave · 29/08/2020 09:42

When I was at school there was a campaign to let us wear pleated skirts, I loved that skirt.

I agree though with others, no ironing.

milkysmum · 29/08/2020 09:43

I have never, ever ironed a school skirt! My daughter starts high school this time. She coped...!

Bluntness100 · 29/08/2020 09:43

I’ve also never ironed a pleated skirt and my daughter had the full on ones.

You just take them out and hang them up to dry. Must be the easiest bit of kit they have.

minnieok · 29/08/2020 09:44

Mine mostly had pleated skirts from bhs, alas they are no more but they cost circa £5. Sainsbury's uniform is decent, bought from them after bhs closed but school started mandating fancy uniform so had to buy from the school shop

ColdToesHere · 29/08/2020 09:46

I had a kilt in school with (what felt like hundreds of) tiny pleats. When I washed it, I hung it on a skirt hanger and used clothes pegs to hold the pleats in place while it dried.
If you do need to iron, then leave the pegs on the skirt to hold the pleats until the iron reaches the bottom and take them off for the last bit.

MoverOfPaper · 29/08/2020 09:48

DD always had pleated skirts from M&S and George, neither of which looked like they needed ironing. I certainly never ironed them and I doubt DH has ever ironed in his life so 7 years of un-ironed pleats here!
BTW the George “pastiche” of the M&S skirt is amazing although it doesn’t have pockets but that’s a bonus as no tissues sneakily hoping in the washing machine.

KrabbyPatties · 29/08/2020 09:49

Just iron them, it takes about ten seconds!

Fluffycloudland77 · 29/08/2020 09:50

I got our iron out when dh started wearing shirts to work. The cat approached it very cautiously and tapped it with his paw.

Unfortunately he became accustomed to its presence.

littlebillie · 29/08/2020 09:50

After 2 years of a inflexible pencil skirt the pleats are lovely, Wash hang up and dry!

Dryadia · 29/08/2020 09:53

Pleated skirts are great, (was 35 years + ago) but at boarding school, one iron & board between 20-30 girls, uniforms were the last thing ironed. Shirt sleeves and collars maybe, as we were allowed sweater vests rather than jumpers.

We were allowed to wear civvies at all times outside school hours unlike my first boarding school where you could only wear your own clothes on school grounds.

DameCelia · 29/08/2020 09:54

Hang on a hanger out of the machine and put pegs on the bottom of each pleat, leave until dry.

DinosApple · 29/08/2020 09:55

M&S non iron pleated skirts OP. I’ve never ironed a pleated skirt in my life. I dry them carefully and they’re good to go.

I don’t think it’s going to be that easy for my secondary starters logo pleated skirt though 🙈.

Chwaraeteg · 29/08/2020 09:56

I'm with you, they are a nightmare. I did see some skirts that had sewn in pleats (it was either in M&S or sainsbury's) but they were all sold out :-(

Igmum · 29/08/2020 10:00

Did you go to my school OP? We had kilts.

DD has to wear a pleated skirt. I tend to iron it for the first week or so in my New School Year Enthusiasm then just hang it dry. There's not much difference

Newsletters you might like

Money Saver

Saving you time and money with Mumsnet exclusive deals and discounts. Find regular roundups of the hottest sales straight to your inbox.

Coin being put in piggy bank

Email address

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Swears By

All the products Mumsnetters are raving about, the best buys as recommended by real parents straight to your inbox.

Stack of toy blocks

Email address

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

BumDiggyDiggyDiggyBumDiggyBum · 29/08/2020 10:01

Ooh I’ve been ironing the M&S ‘permanent’ pleats back in for a few weeks now (Scotland)

Next time they’re washed I’m trying the hanging them up on a hanger to dry in shape thing 🙌🏻

coronafiona · 29/08/2020 10:02

Just hang it up once washed, pleats will stay in - for a while anyway!

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.