Apparently the trainers my sister has bought from Tesco for my Dnephew will make him a source of ridicule for being cheap trainers rather than being Nike or such like.
I guess it depends on where your dc goes to school but this must be the case in many areas all over the country.
Surely, with the economic climate being what it is these days, not everyone can afford brand named school items as well as all the required uniform bits and pieces.
Parents of seconday aged kids must feel such pressure to spend more money on things than they would ordinarily do due to the peer pressure from other kids.
Spend what you can afford and risk your dc being picked on or blow your budget to prevent that from happening - what a choice.