A New Year is a natural reset. If your team’s uniforms looked a bit tired by December, January is the perfect moment to tidy up sizes, refresh colours and sharpen your logo so your staff step into the year looking consistentand professional. Here is a practical guide to auditing what you have, choosing winter ready staples, preparing artwork for embroidery or DTF, and testing changes in small quantities before you roll out across the team.
Start with a simple uniform audit
Take one hour to review your current kit. Keep it practical and data led.
List every role and the garments they actually wear each week.
Check condition, fit and colour consistency. Note any faded blacks, mismatched navy tones, pilled fleece, loose cuffs or cracked prints.
Tally sizes in circulation; compare against your current headcount, upcoming hires and typical seasonal temps.
Capture feedback from the team. Are polos too thin in winter, hoodies too warm on the shop floor, soft shells not shower resistant enough on site?
Identify quick wins, for example replacing only the worst items, standardising logo placement, or switching to easy care fabrics.
Prioritise items that are most visible to customers. If budget is tight, refresh customer facing layers first, then back of house.
Pick durable winter basics that layer well
UK winters call for warm, hard wearing layers that still look sharp.
Polo shirts: A weight of 180–220 gsm holds its shape and stands up to regular washing. A workwear polo shirt with a tight pique knit resists snagging and takes embroidery cleanly.
Hoodies and sweatshirts: Brushed back fleece gives warmth without bulk. Choose double layered hoods and sturdy drawcords. For colder mornings, quarter zip sweatshirts layer neatly under soft shells.
Soft shells: Go for shower resistant, windproof shells with a clean face fabric so logos sit smoothly. A bonded soft shell elevates the look without losing flexibility.
Accessories: Beanies and caps keep teams warm outdoors and add a useful branding touch. Hi vis vests remain essential for site visits and deliveries.
If you want a quick, cost effective reset, consider a curated workwear bundle that covers polos, a soft shell and mid layers in one order. It keeps branding consistent and simplifies sizing.
Upgrade fabrics without complicating care
Small fabric upgrades make a big difference to comfort and lifecycle.
Recycled blends: Many modern hoodies and sweatshirts combine organic cotton with recycled polyester. You get a soft hand feel plus better shape retention.
Easy care finishes: Look for low shrinkage, colourfast dyes and tear out tags for comfort. Fabrics that wash well at 30–40°C and dry quickly reduce downtime between shifts.
Hard wearing options: Reinforced seams, lycra rib cuffs and heavier zips help garments survive daily wear.
Share basic care with the team to protect embroidery and print: wash inside out, mild detergent, avoid fabric softener on decorated areas, and low heat tumble or air dry.
Refresh your logo placement and colours
A subtle tweak can modernise your look without a full rebrand.
Placement: Left chest embroidery plus a larger back print or DTF transfer is the classic uniform setup. For retail, consider left chest plus a small sleeve logo. For outdoor teams, a bold back logo improves visibility.
Size: Keep left chest logos between 80–100 mm wide for readability without bunching. Oversize chest prints work best on tees and hoodies, not on polos.
Colour: Audit brand colours against actual fabric shades. Navy garments vary between suppliers, so request swatches or order a single size per colour to check in real life. If your palette is bright, a white underbase
in DTF ensures vibrancy on darks.
Contrast: Ensure at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio between logo and garment for easy legibility, especially for staff working in low light or outdoors.
If you are unsure, mock up two or three options and ask a handful of staff for quick feedback. Real world wear tests uncover issues a screen preview can miss.
Prepare artwork for clean embroidery or DTF
Good files save time and deliver sharper results.
Best file types: Vector files are ideal, such as AI, EPS or PDF with embedded vectors. High resolution PNGs with transparent backgrounds also work for DTF when you do not have vector.
Resolution: Aim for 300 dpi at the final print size. For raster images, a practical limit is around 25 megapixels, which comfortably supports most placements.
Simplify for stitch: For embroidery, reduce tiny gradients and very thin lines. Convert small text to a solid version and keep minimum stroke widths above 0.8–1 mm for clean stitching.
Colour references: Provide Pantone or CMYK values if you have them. Thread charts differ from ink, so allow close matches rather than exact one to one matches.
A small digitised embroidery sample on the actual garment fabric is the best way to confirm stitch density, text clarity and thread sheen.
Can you order small quantities first?
Yes, and you should. Order one to five garments to test colour, placement, comfort and wash performance before you commit. Most items have no minimums, so you can prototype new placements, compare embroidery
versus DTF, and validate winter layering without risk. Once you are happy, scale to a full team order with confidence.
Which garments are best for winter workwear in the UK?
For day to day teams, build a three layer system.
Base: Cotton rich polos or long sleeve tees for comfort.
Mid: Embroidered sweatshirts or hoodies for warmth and brand visibility.
Outer: Soft shells for wind and showers; add hi vis where required.
For hospitality or retail, swap the hoodie for a neat quarter zip or cardigan to keep a polished look while staying warm on the shop floor. Add aprons where relevant to protect garments and extend lifespan.
A quick onboarding checklist for new starters
Keep this list by your desk to make January onboarding painless.
Confirm role and environment, for example indoor retail or outdoor field service.
Assign sizes using a try on rail or size set; log measurements in your uniform spreadsheet.
Issue a starter pack, two polos, one mid layer, one outer layer and a name badge if used.Add one spare size up and one down to on site storage for swaps.
Record garment serials or batches so you can trace any issues back to a production run.
Share care instructions and replacement process.
Schedule a two week fit check in case a swap is needed.
Revisit stock monthly. Keep a small buffer of core sizes so you can react to new hires or damaged items without rush fees.
How to place your test order smoothly
Gather final artwork and colour references.
Choose products and colours; order one sample per colour to confirm matching.
Decide decoration method by placement, embroidery for left chest, DTF for large full colour backs.
Approve a digital or stitched proof.
Wear test, wash, review feedback, then confirm your rollout quantities.
If you prefer a local partner that supports no minimums and quick proofs, explore options like customised workwear with flexible quantities. For winter layers, you might also trial custom printed hoodies uk to compare
warmth and colour pop. If you are starting with tees for under layers or future spring uniforms, bookmark t-shirt printing near me for convenient reorders.
Summary: Start small, get it right, then scale
A smart New Year refresh is not about replacing everything at once. Audit what you have, standardise colours and placements, choose durable winter friendly basics, and improve your artwork so embroidery or DTF looks
crisp. Order small tests with no minimums, gather feedback from your team, and then roll out with confidence. A tidy, comfortable uniform that fits well and survives the wash will do more for your brand than a full rebrand
ever could. When you are ready to make changes, take it step by step and your 2026 uniforms will look sharp from day one.
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