I spent just over £80 plus delivery. I have quite a lot to say!
Question 1, 2 and 3.
For DD2 (11 years old) I bought:
Knee high socks - pack of five
Crop-tops, white - pack of five
Vests, white - pack of three
Tights - 40 denier nylon tights - two pack
Polo tops, white with ruffle detail - sold separately
Plain polo tops, white - pack of two
A knitted scallop edged cardigan
A hooded, zip-up PE jumper
Pinafore - Jersey material
Pinafore - normal uniform fabric (cotton mix?)
Skirt - jersey material, no detail
Skirt - normal uniform fabric, elasticated waist two-pack
Skirt - 'buy one give one' (love this!) normal fabric
A blazer
A button-up summer dress with sash.
For DD1 (14) I ordered:
A value (75p) polo top
A jersey cardigan
A normal uniform skirt
My children are fairly stocky, both very well developed (womanly) for their age. DD2 is slightly tall for her age, but still buy age appropriate clothes (size 10-11 years). DD1 is adult size 8-10, short or 15-16 in child clothes - I bought according to the size I would usually purchase. Both go down a size for skirts due to tiny waist. It is unusual to find trousers to fit (due to tiny waist and large bum). In either option I will only look for adjustable waist to save messing about with returns.
There were no trousers either would wear, despite searching two stores I couldn't find a replacement skirt for DD1, they were all too wide or when width was okay, too short.
All the items were well priced, therefore by 'value' I am marking by poor quality; anything I had to throw away or replace - waste of time spent, waste of cloth, waste of money.
Poor value :
- Pack of vests. These were too thin (actually see-through) and twisted terribly in the first wash - they tangled around DD to an extent I had to throw them out. (I tried to pull them straight when wet and tried to iron the straight.) Further to this, the edging turned a horrible grey colour after just one wash (40 degrees, biological liquid).
- Jersey cardigan. Horrible design - imagine a wide and short school regulation PE sweatshirt with buttons. I haven't washed it because I aim to return it at some point.
- value polo top. Very thin (to the point of being see through), with a white bra/crop top it could be okay. However, it twisted and shrunk in the wash (40 degree wash, line dry). This was bad - the collar ended up two inches above the sleeves in hunch-back fashion, the arm holes were tiny, the fabric twisted terribly - as with the vests.
- All the dresses. These have been made with a huge amount of spare fabric and very little shape - Think potato bag! Even on DD1 the pinafores were too wide (although far too short). I understand the need to cater for all sizes and with the spare at least I could take the dresses in, but I don't have time for that sort of messing about. Perhaps a re-think is in order because my children are not thin.
...Tesco, children do not want to become tangled in their clothing, nor to I wish to spend twice as long on each item trying to iron the clothes in to straight order. There is such a simple solution - cut the cloth along the weave! I am skint, I would love to be able to spend 75p on a top, but these are just rude to those of us who are trying to keep a tight budget.
Good Value
- The ruffle polo tops. These are very very pretty. Surprisingly thick, they have kept a nice crisp white colour so far and keep their shape nicely in the wash. They are slightly long (which DD likes - I would prefer this length tucked in, DD would not - this is not a huge issue), otherwise these are a very good fit.
- The scalloped edge cardigan. This is also very pretty and well made, although too thin for colder months - it seems to be exactly the same make as in Sainsburys and Asda. I am yet to find a thicker cardigan anywhere else so I can't fault Tesco on it. (If you manage to make a thicker, pretty cardigan - that doesn't fall apart al la John Lewis - then you can guarantee I would return to you for uniform Tesco.)
- 'Buy One Give One' Skirt. The skirt is good value in it's self, but for each item sold in this range Tesco donate a whole uniform (not sure who to). I really like this idea!
- The blazer - this only just makes the 'good value' list - again it is far too wide, a little too long, and when DD lifts her arms the whole jacket lifts up and her elbows appear (wide girth, short arms, too low armpit holes). The fabric is a little too shiny for my liking. I haven't dare try to wash it because I hate ironing blazers. However, for the price (ten pounds! Rather than the usual £50 (£80 for DD1!), I would definitely purchase this again - giving DD strict instructions not to lift her arms ;) A grey option would be fab.
- The zip-up PE hoody. This is a little thin, so won't be suitable for winter, nor do I think it will hold it's colour for long - but it is a PE top. Otherwise very well made, a good fit.
- The summer dress with a sash. Again, this only just makes this list - it is too wide (pulled in with the tie-up sash), and the accompanying scrunchy was not very 'scrunchy' (there was no elasticity): not a problem for me, but DD found this very upsetting - the matching scrunchy was the thing she was most looking forward to. With the sash pulled in this dress looked lovely, DD loves wearing it - the button holes are well made, the fabric is thick enough to maintain modesty, without being too hot. There is a nice detail to the collar, the colour is good and looks like it would keep very well.
- The socks. Have kept their shape, are the correct length (stop just below the knee) and don't appear to be loosing colour in the wash. I particularly like that there is a pack of five - one for each day.
- The crop-tops. These are very well made, a great size (not too wide, not too tight), DD finds them comfy. They are white (so don't stand out under the polo tops - something DD dislikes), and have washed very well keeping their colour and shape. Again, I really like that there are five in the pack. The only addition I might make is the addition of a little support, perhaps with some darting?
Question 4
I found the selection for teenagers very poor. DD1 (14) actually turned everything down. For instance DD would only like to wear skater skirts now they have been approved at school - there was nothing fashionable. I did persuade her to test items in the house.
Only a small portion of the items delivered were listed on the delivery note, which suggests there should have been a second delivery note. There is definitely one item missing - but without the delivery note I can't be sure if this just failed to 'update' on the web page, or if it is on it's way in a later delivery.
I would like to suggest that Tesco put some serious work into their website - for such a large company, this website 'feels' incredibly cheap! It behaves very cheap too - it is slow to keep track of purchases, the total does not keep up a pace. It takes
ages to load a new page or filter selections (tried two different computers). Shopping can not be done during lunch or whilst dinner is cooking - this is a crucial factor for me. It is very disappointing to have to put things back.
It is also very very frustration to think I had all the uniform sorted, only to have items cancelled just before delivery, due to being out of stock. I can't afford another £4/5 on postage for replacements, nor do I have time to go through the whole online shopping process only for goods to be cancelled again - I went searching through two local stores and found replacements for most, except a skirt for DD1. I wanted to find at least one outfit to test for DD1, and a good range for DD2 (easier to please) - if I wasn't product testing, I would have turned to Asda, M&S or John Lewis, because I know their online ordering and size systems work.
I think this shopping experience has unpleasantly 'flavoured' my purchases - they are not such shiny-fab new items. Having started out so excited, I feel a bit of an ungrateful sour puss. I hope at least this helps develop the site.
Question 5
If the website was up to scratch I would probably recommend F&F to friends - although there is nothing in particular that makes F&F stand out from Asda, or Sainsburys - the price puts F&F above M&S and John Lewis (fab polo tops and 'Buy One Give One' do not make up for the hassle'). With the website being so difficult, the cancelled items and poor sizing would put me off risking this again, as such I would not jump to recommend F&F.