Why I created Uniformly (and the late nights it took to get here)

Every parent knows the feeling. You've just bought the new blazer, the PE kit and the shoes, and somehow the old ones are already too small. They're not worn out. They're barely scuffed. They were just grown out of long before they were worn out.

That sentence is the reason Uniformly exists.

From Vivienne Westwood to the school gate

Before I was a parent of two, I worked in fashion, including a time at Vivienne Westwood. My time there was wild, and Vivienne was always true to her ethos. I loved everything she championed, with sustainability at the core. Her message was simple and stubborn: buy less, choose well, make it last. It stuck with me long after I left.

Then I became a parent and met the most wasteful corner of fashion I'd ever seen: school uniform. Children outgrow it every year. It has to be a particular colour, often with a particular logo. And most of it ends up in a drawer, a charity bag or the bin, while another family somewhere is paying full price for the same thing.

The cost is real

According to Department for Education figures, the average family in England spends around £343 on uniform and PE kit for a primary child and £442 for a secondary child. From September 2026 schools can require no more than three branded items (four at secondary, if one is a tie), which is a welcome step. But children still grow, and families still need the basics.

I wanted to make the preloved route as easy as buying new. Not a car boot sale in a cold car park. Not a Facebook group where you scroll for an hour and hope. Somewhere simple, trustworthy and built around schools.

What Uniformly is

Uniformly is a free marketplace for preloved school uniform, sports kit and workwear.

• Selling takes about two minutes. Photograph it, set a price and publish. Listing is free and you keep 100% of your price.
• Buying is protected. Payments go through Stripe, and the seller isn't paid until you've collected or received your item.
• Collection is easy. Arrange a handover, ideally at school reception, or have it posted.
• Schools and PTAs get their own free shop. Parents can donate items in one tap, and the school keeps 100% of what those items raise.

Nobody needs to be a fashion expert to do any of it. Good uniform stays in use, families save money, and schools raise funds without running another cake sale.

The late nights (an honest bit)

I'll be straight with you: building Uniformly has taken a lot of late nights. Evenings after the children were in bed, weekends, and more than one moment staring at the screen at midnight wondering whether the button was in the right place. There were weeks when it felt like I'd rebuilt the same page five times.

But something shifted recently. I opened the site and, for the first time, didn't want to change anything. It felt like the thing I'd pictured at the very beginning: warm, simple and genuinely useful. I'm properly proud of it, and I'm excited to share it with you.

What's next

I'm starting with schools and families close to home, and I'd love your help shaping it.

• Got outgrown uniform at home? List an item in a couple of minutes.
• Need uniform for the new term or the next size up? Browse the shop and save on the new-uniform price.
• On a PTA or at a school? Set up your free school shop and turn outgrown uniform into funds.

Thank you for reading, and for giving preloved uniform a second life.

Farrah Founder, Uniformly