Is M&S uniform worth it?

[AlltheFs]

Straw poll, is M&S uniform (pinafores, skirts and trousers) worth the additional cost over supermarket if you aren’t on a tight budget?

We are about to buy reception uniform for September, not on a budget really so could get the M&S if it is worth it over Asda/Sainsbury’s. Do they wash better/last longer or not? I’m more interested in value over price and prefer to not throw clothes away. But equally I know it will get trashed at school.

Polo’s and cardigans/jumpers are cheap from school (the logo ones are inexpensive and really last, they do 50p secondhand) so we already have those covered as also have cast offs from neighbour. They are royal blue, not white polo’s fortunately!

DD is average height but long limbed, very slightly built.

30 years ago there was no comparison, M&S were massively superior, particularly the summer dresses. However with trousers I bought whichever brand fitted best, my boy was tall and very slim. Socks were packs of 10 pairs, all identical, from our local market. They would usually last a full school year.

Next is better imo

I have two pinafores for my daughter that have lasted really really well and will be handed down to DD2, but I don't think their polos/jumpers/socks/summer dresses are worth it.

Also, I have tall slim children and don't think M&S are the best fit for those with long limbs.

I usually buy it when they do 20% off, which is usually in June or early July. I think M&S is better for children who need alternative fits (eg slim fit trousers for boys). Their school socks last well. They also do an adaptive range for children who struggle with things like buttons.

We’ve sometimes bought bits from Sainsburys and I would say the quality was reasonable but there are fewer choices around fit so we’ve tended to stick with M&S.

I started off buying Asda for dd which I found very good quality on the whole but the skirts did not hold their pleats. However by the time my kids left school I'd moved to M & S. For ds because he needed the adjustable waists and for dd because the supermarket quality had deteriorated massively.

I think as they get older M&S or JL is worth the extra price but not reception age especially for the polo shirts. My dd was constantly coming home with paint, marker, felt tip, pen marks etc on them which didn't wash out so I was replacing them often. ASDA were so much cheaper

I've been really impressed with the grey winter dresses from M&S. I now try and seek out second hand ones as you can't really tell unless they've got a hole in or something drastic.

Polo shirts and socks get stained whatever brand you buy.

I've always bought uniforms from Next, but it's worth paying the extra for better quality.

Also it's the same with summer dresses. I debated buying big and taking up the hem like my mum used to but they get so stained it's not worth it.

I have bought bits from M&S and Next and honestly there isn't any difference

Also DD comes home covered is mud, glue and paint which doesn't always come out. Feel a lot better about that when I paid only £4 for 2 jumpers rather than £12 from Next

When DD started school I bought a pinafore at M&S and one at John Lewis. The M&S one shrunk terribly despite always washing on only 30/40 degrees and was soon too short, whereas the John Lewis one lasted two school years and still looked smart all that time.

We've had school trousers from Sainsbury's that wore well and were comfortable whereas the M&S girls trousers were shunned by DD as the fabric didn't feel as nice.

We buy polos and cardis from Sainsbury's and pinafores from John Lewis.

Sorry I meant say I don't think there is a difference to the ones I got from sainsburys

I've found Next great quality. My dd loves the polo shirts with the slightly puffed sleeve and the skort. They are constantly in and out of the washing machine and dryer and all still in great condition. I've never bought M&S for my girls but bought the skinny boy's trousers for my son who is small for his age and they were great.

The other thing is to look out for people selling second hand. I am about to list DD's uniform from when she was in Reception on Facebook marketplace (not the polos as they had marks on them but all the grey skirts/dresses/trousers are still in good condition).

I would get decent quality (we buy Next personally), but get fewer than you think you need. We manage just fine with 2-3 days worth of uniform (say, two pairs of trousers or 2 skirts, maybe 3 shirts, 2 jumpers). You won't need as much as you think you do as you'll likely wash loads and they can be re-worn without being washed.

I find them more readily available. I've sat down before now, in July, and found that I can't buy a full set of uniform for 2 kids from Sainsbury's, because something isn't available in the size, whereas in M&S I can buy the lot and pick up from a local M&S food store. I'd rate them. Better than Asda or Tesco quality wise too.

M&S for us. Find the waists on trousers too big on many others, we need extra long leg with adjustable waistbands.
I find we need to wash them several times to remove starchy-ness.

We always got M&S trousers because they do slim fit longer length versions- other brands never fitted my tall skinny DSs properly.

Also the M&S trousers have those double hem things where you can let them down when the kids grow - so you don't have to buy a new pair so that's a saving over other brands.

Everything else I got from Sainsburys- polo shirts used to get stained and wrecked quite quickly at school so I got the cheap ones!

When M&S have the 20% off is the time to buy. Usually about mid June.

I found the advantages were :

• proper adjustable elastic (invaluable for the skinny tall child)
• really hard wearing, to the extent if they didn't grow too much I could get 5 terms out of an item at least, or hand me down for almost 2 years. Vs Sainsburys half a term before the knees were gone (primary)

The adjustable waists are so helpful - sometimes supermarket skirts / trousers can falls straight down as they're massive!

My eldest polo's are from M&S and youngest from Asda. Can't tell any difference at all to be honest.

I brought M&S iron free dresses for my daughter who she started school last Sept. Mainly cause I really haven't got time to iron. And they really don't need ironing and still look new now.

I’ve found that M&S school tights are much better quality than Asda. M&S stain resistant polo shirts don’t resist stains. I’ve found that Asda polo shirts shrink and go out of shape a bit, but they wreck them quickly in Reception anyway.

I rate M and S for uniform. Both my kids wore their slim fit shirts, and DS wears the slim fit trousers.
School shoes have also lasted well from there

I have a tall DD with slim build and found the M&S pinafores good as I either bought the right size for her age in longer length or the age up in slim fit and they both worked well.