School Uniform questions

mariejader

used them last year they all fell off don't waste your money, go with the ones you need to sew on

sundin13

Hi, just wondering where everyone's been stocking up this year - where the bargains are - and where you've found your perfect balance of quality and price. I don't shop at supermarkets (its an ethics thing) - but I don't feel like paying John Lewis prices.

As DS1 is an 'orrible teenager, we need good quality clothes that can withstand all of his efforts to look like a homeless person. I''m cursing because I missed M&S three for two offer a few weeks back -couldn't bear to think about uniforms and wish my summer away.

Thanks all

S13

kittykate_2

sundin13 wrote:

I don't shop at supermarkets (its an ethics thing) - but I don't feel like paying John Lewis prices.

Shame cos I was just gonna tell you that ASDA has 20% off schoolwear at the moment. Why won't you shop at supermarkets?

kkx

notakid

BHS is my first port of call as they have a wide range of fittings and styles. 10 year old Daughter wears all skirts on the hips and likes to be able to high kick easily!:eek: and son is 14 and on a growing spurt! I can find styles to suit both easily in BHS. Barretts for gym shoes as they do the ones for wider feet and Sportsworld for P.E kit (except for rugby shirt for son which i had to get from early years for a whopping great 22 quid! Shoes from startrite rather than clarkes.

kate1976

I had to buy most of the uniform from the school as that is the only place they sold the blazer, tie and gym kit, very expensive it was too!! :eek:

I've bought him 2 shirts from asda this morning and now I just need to get him his trousers but nowhere seems to have them in stock, looks like my son will be starting high school with bare legs!!

Savvy_Sue

I got mine out of the way last Thursday. I always start with BHS because I have found their stuff LASTS - I swear the first blazer I bought there was worn for five years! A bit shiny by the end of it, but hey, who wouldn't be!

However, mine all go through an 'awkward' age - where they're too big for 'age' sizes, and too small for 'chest / waist' sizes, and DS3 is in it now. I'd rather have bought the next size up of blazer, but he said it was too big. I was hoping to make this the last ever school uniform shop, but I'm not sure this year's blazer will last him two years. Ho hum.

Couldn't get trousers to fit in BHS - well not at a price I was prepared to pay! 30" too long and 28" too short in their basic range. They had some non-stick ones, but they looked very shiny and 'cheap' to me, only they cost £15 each or something like that!

On to Debenhams, and hallelujah, they had two pairs of trousers for £14 which fitted, but with 20% off for a blue cross day! Best of all - and a tip for those with beanpoles in the family! - they had adjustable elastic INSIDE the waistband! Wish I'd found that last year - or maybe they didn't do it last year? It was a nightmare buying trousers for DS1 and DS2 once they'd outgrown the size where you get an elastic bit at the back - they won't wear belts, before anyone asks, would rather fly their trousers at half-mast! :rotfl:

Back to BHS for shirts: twin pack reduced to £6.40, after an argument (which I won!) about what size he needed! Glad I bought them because I thought I'd got two new ones the right size at home, and he likes to have 3 shirts so he doesn't have to pick his laundry off the floor so frequently, only the shirts at home weren't new. They'll do as the '3rd' shirt which he doesn't have to wear that often (I nag about the laundry!) but they were his brother's, and he doesn't like his brother's cast-offs!

Then on to Brantano for shoes, where we discovered that he has child-shaped feet in a man's size! Took a LONG while to find a pair which the assistant was happy with, but mercifully they were only £20 as opposed to £40 for the first pair which we'd thought were OK!

Now I just have to label everything, and pray his footie boots still fit him! We did buy big last year ...

Penny-Pincher!!

I can only get DD's new uniform from one shop and the prices are disgusting! Whole uniform including 3 PE kits was about £500:eek: :eek: :eek:

FIL/MIL kindly gave us £250 towards it and we will receive £67.50 from the council as we are on IS...so we are quite lucky! I asked about this a few months back and was advised by Queenie I think to stash a little away each month. I have done this and along with the money donated we have managed OK. I was also lucky that the 2nd hand shop had 3 blouses for £1 each which were BN and they sell at the shop for £15 each....which is disgusting!

Before going to secondary, DD always got her uniform from mainly M&S/Asda and Matalan. Occasionally from BHS. I found the best quality from M&S and bought her blue blouses 3 years ago, which she wore daily and they sold on Ebay a few weeks back for £10 inc postage as they were still in prestine condition.

I was reading in either The Mail or The Times a few weeks back that they are trying to sort this uniform lark out, so that we can all buy a fairly priced uniform for whichever school our children may go to. DD's blazer alone was £80+ and if she was going to a local comprehensive school, I could ahve paid less for her entire uniform including shoes. It is terrible IMO.

May I ask why you wont buy from Supermarkets? Surely, if you can buy the uniform cheaper there, it would make more sense to do this if you are on a budget I can possibly understand the meat/food stigma from buying from supermarkets...but uniform?....sorry I dont understand!

PP
xx

comping_cat

Ive just been and bought my 2 their school uniform and ive got most of it from Asda (they still have the 20% off). Last year i bought DS the Tescos value trousers, and they lasted him all year so im hoping these Asda ones will last just as well, as they arnt the value ones. I do have to buy their school jumpers and ties from the school tho, as they have the school crest on them and i dont think i can get them anywhere else!!!

Rosie75

The school I went to, you could only buy the uniform at Harrods. It was a state school as well - I could never understand the reasoning behing that one.

sundin13

:rolleyes:

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

May I ask why you wont buy from Supermarkets? Surely, if you can buy the uniform cheaper there, it would make more sense to do this if you are on a budget I can possibly understand the meat/food stigma from buying from supermarkets...but uniform?....sorry I dont understand!

xx

Like I say, its an ethical thing. Supermarkets force prices down with their buying power and with the pressure they put on suppliers. Other businesses..and indeed the suppliers, can't compete and go out of business, or have to compromise working conditions for their employees to meet the demands of the supermarkets.
I don't want to live in a world where there are no shops other than supermarkets, and no jobs left, because everything is manufactured in a sweatshop in South East Asia. I am on a tight budget, but there are more factors than just price in my decisions.

Sorry for the Sunday Sermon...but you did ask