I agree listening to the kids is valuable. I just question the degree of candor they would share with you on this issue, but maybe if they are very young they still would be, and perhaps in your community the competition doesn’t start until middle school.I am well aware of the water bottle issue.
I am in multiple grades throughout the day. These are the things that elementary school kids in a high income district currently “flex” or show interest in - Water bottles (as stated above), concerts, do-dads bought at the Scholastic Book Fair, how many throwing stars they made or collected( currently trading for candy that they are allowed to bring in during standardized testing. Seriously, I had to break up a throwing star economy in one classroom this week) and what club athletic team they are on (club teams throughout the year, but it really goes nuts during town rec baseball season. 4th grade boys brought to tears).
I am often in classrooms during “share” time. I’ll listen to a kid share about a European or tropical vacation that I can only dream of or talk about spending time at their second home and I will see a lot of “me too”/ non-verbal signals or connections during question/comment/connection time. Have a kid show (the non book) that they bought at the Book Fair and you hear a dozen kids shouting out “you’re so lucky”.
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Uniforms made dressing much easier each morning. We lived in a southern city, and our plaid and colors were definitely a status symbol. The younger girls wore plaid jumpers, while the older girls wore plaid skirts. Blouses, polos, shorts, and pants could be purchased anywhere. My kids were happier when they moved to a public school in the north, where they could wear anything.
I volunteered at a public grade school in Toledo. They wore uniforms, and some boys wore rubber bands around the leg of their pants at the ankle. Someone told me that was a gang symbol. Elementary school…so sad.
My kids (sons, and they stopped by 6th grade) went to Montessori school and then Catholic school, and uniforms weren’t bad. Montessori had khaki pants and a (navy or white I believe) polo shirt with their logo. Catholic school had navy pants and either light blue or white polo. When we were there there was not logo, but eventually they went to one, and to have to go to a certain place to buy them. At Catholic school you did have to buy gym shorts and shirt, and you could also buy sweatshirts. Solid black shoes were required at Catholic school. My kids wore Merrell slip ons on some days, and I would use black magic marker to darken the red little tabs on the back. Same for mostly black sneakers - people would use markers to darken parts if necessary.
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Are you sure it was not because they rode bicycles to school and did not want their trousers to get caught in the chain?
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LOL - I remember having to keep pants out of the bike chain. (I think I tucked pant leg in sock? or rolled it? rubber band is a good idea). Methinks there is a “chain gang” joke in here somewhere.
But yikes, if there really are elementary school gangs, that is truly awful.
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Oh, my poor elephant leg jeans (yes, they were a** crackers) always found their way into my bike chain, no matter what I did.
But I agree, if elementary kids are in gangs, that’s really scary & so sad.
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H has been involved in gang awareness training at his elementary school for years. Without a doubt its present.
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Northern Virginia.
D and her friends liked to dress “fashionably” but within limits. None of them turned up their noses at buying from Target,Kohls or other less expensive brands. There were a handful of girls who were very into fashion (just like there are a handful of people in any social/work group) and those girls liked to dress a certain way, but it wasn’t a “thing”. I honestly think D would have been fine with a uniform as she was really too busy to shop much.
My S ? Different story. He would have rebelled. I still describe him as “the best dressed guy in the room”.
A few people here mentioned sizing. I was that very short, stick thin girl (not slender but Skinny developed late) until my latter years in HS. The required gym uniforms were way too big for me and hung on my body. Not sure uniforms would have fit,
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Ha Ha. I wish it was for bike riding. The teachers kept making them take the rubber bands off.
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Scarred for life by my school PE uniforms. Black shorts that looked like men’s underwear and white tees. 
I buy Athleta and Lululemon exercise clothes for myself nowadays and am not ashamed of it.
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I can do you one better on the Jr high PE uniform: one piece, navy striped top attached to navy shorts with a zipper up the front. Not obviously horrible, except when the largest size available was too small. I was so happy when they allowed shorts and t-shirts in high school.
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I wore a gym uniform like this - light blue in Junior High and Green in HS (school colors). The boys did not have PE uniforms (they could wear tees and shorts). Mine had snaps in the front (not sure if the pictured one is buttons).
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I wore black watch plaid jumper or skirt for 8 years at Catholic school. I still have flashbacks when I see anything in that pattern. In high school (different school) we had to wear matching solid colored skirts and sweaters that we purchased from a local retailer. It wasn’t bad.
My kids were in private Catholic school from 1-8. Except for the school tie and gym uniform, you could purchase the khakis and white shirts for the boys anywhere. The girl’s uniform was a unique houndstooth check which could only be purchased in one place.
At both my own school and my children’s the boys had one uniform. The girls, on the other hand, had both a spring and winter uniform. My kid’s school dropped the spring uniform after a few years. My school never did. My mother had 6 kids in the school at one point. It was a lot of uniform managing, especially for the girls.
Snaps in the front? On a gym uniform? Who thought that would be a good idea???
Now imagine it straining across the chest with camel toe for more fun.
In general I have no problem with uniforms when items that fit are available and affordable. I’ve had jobs where a uniform is an option or required, and always like how quick and easy it is to dress in the morning.
One of my daughters chose to wear a polo shirt every day through middle school. The other didn’t care much about clothes. Around that age both mentioned that uniforms would be nice.
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In high school I wore a royal blue tunic/jumper thing for gym with a white blouse underneath. White knee socks and Kids completed the outfit.The tunic had some sort of fabric belt that we cinched around our waists. Underneath we wore matching bloomers. This look flattered no one.
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Seems like the differences mentioned in boy and girl school uniforms may be another kind of “female tax” or “pink tax” that has previously been described for haircuts and dry cleaning.
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Northern Jersey. At least our town. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe my kids didn’t really socialize with all the lovable goofballs who didn’t give a fig what each other were wearing. Or maybe in such a diverse, mostly middle to low income town, it would have been weird to worry about brand names which most people couldn’t afford, or had too much sense to spend money on (unless it’s what they really wanted and not to impress everyone else, in which case, have at it!)
But I can check in with them and get back to you. 
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Well, I happen to have nieces in both Northern NJ and Fairfax County ( in response to a different poster) and they both would say the clothing competition is ruthless, so this must be a case where YMMV.
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Kids who want to compete on styles, looks or brands will find a way, and that includes boys not just girls - water bottles, shoes (sneaker styles& brands 
), backpacks and other bags, phones… uniforms don’t change that, they just change what kids use to establish status.
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