Where to buy non-polyester trousers for boys ?

[Octavia09]

I have noticed that many retailers sell boys trousers made from at least 65% polyester and the rest is from viscose or cotton. I am not being picky but I would love my boy to wear trousers having higher percentage of natural materials. Where do I buy them? He is going to be 5 this autumn. Many thanks!

Hi, I have used two fabrics. The first one I bought in a fabric shop in London approximately diagonally from the entrance to the John Lewis in Oxford Street (I might still have the receipt with exact name somewhere) and was recommended by John Lewis. It is a very light weight fabric used for high quality suits and has a very high cotton content, it is medium grey. The second fabric I bought in a fabric shop in Bletchley (I think it is called fabric world) it is slightly darker grey (very close to most school uniform trousers), it is Italian fabric (I think it says Armani on the edges) and is 100 per cent merino. Again high quality suit fabric, needs to be washed quite cool though but falls very nicely and also warm during winter. Like you, I have not found a good quality cotton in grey. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply dikkertjedap. My daughter can't tolerate any wool unfortunately, even the softest merino. I live on the Isle of Man, so I really need to shop online (really wish JL would sell fabric online).

thisisyesterday - can you show me any evidence - or even the merest suggestion that stainguard in shildren's clothes is remotely harmful?

I presume your children never eat any processed meas at all? Because there is a link between that and some cancers.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3697324.stm

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-chemical-marketplace-pfoa

Seeker, some info above, although I'm not anal about Teflon, I don't see any need for it to be on kid's clothes. The polyester is worse for DD as it makes her sweat behind her knees and that it turn aggravates her eczema.

www.enn.com/pollution/article/37458

More above.

Oh and I cure my own bacon, without the cancer causing additives

as a matter of fact my children very, very rarely eat processed foods

certainly not every day, which is how often they'd be wearing teflon coated uniform

why are you so concerned about this? why does it bother you so much that some of us worry about what our kids wear????

again, this is even more work, but have you considered buying plain white cotton and dying it with dylon or something like it? I have not tried it myself because at the time I was really in a rush but may be I give it a go this time as I still have more than a month to sort things out.

dikkertjedap - I've had limited success with Dylon, I've got some jeans which I dyed purple and they are fab , but have also made a mess of dying a few other things.
I actually found grey cotton on Ebay last night and have ordered some, so I'll see what that's like.

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260639290725&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_863wt_930

Tesco now has Fairtrade boys cotton trousers for boys in all sizes, £5 (3 for 2). Also cotton pinafores.

www.clothingattesco.com/ages-5-13-schoolwear/Fairtrade-School-trousers/invt/ag039032?htxt=oijbnp38S% 2BtEYwMpWhAsxwsm07X1U/uvO9hZHaruZKJDD3MpYwtGg6%2B5GqugSzVm12qrEyeGYZiS%0AJiap%2B%2BFDVA%3D%3D

P.S Ebay fabric is shiny - yuck.

Ok, M&S have to types of skindkind cotton trousers:

1. pull-on trousers with adjustable waist (I bought these ones)
2. button/zip front, no adjustable waist

Ixia, did you see those from Tesco? How is the material, thin or thick? Does it look and feel durable? Lots of questions but sometimes Tesco can be a miss. Not always.

OK my grey cotton trousers have arrived from M&S. They are v.nice. They have a button plus adjustable waist, so can be pulled on.

The cotton is quite thin, suitable for autumn, spring and summer. Might need something thicker in the winter.

On the downside, they are 'grey mix' They are like men's suit tousers they have a very delicate tartanyish pattern. If you look really closely you can see thin lines of blue in the pattern. Buttons are also blue (dark blue) Really finicky schools might not like. But then again they prolly wouldn't notice.

I like them

we have a couple of the tesco pairs

i loathe tesco. this is the first thing i have bought from them in i don't know how long, so i still feel a bit bad for having purchased from them.
but anyway, the whole "fairtrade" thing annoys me.
£5? fairtrade? well something isn't being fairly traded. I'd bet my bottom dollar that if the cotton is fairtrade then the trousers themselves are made in a sweatshop by kids.

anyway, i digress
the trousers themselves feel slightly shiny and the fabric is quite hard. I am hoping they'll soften a bit after a few washes. that said it does feel fairly hardwearing, def stronger feeling than the cotton ones from m&s. but at the expense of feeling soft!

um, the sizing is HUGE. the 5-6 is a good couple of inches longer than any other 5-6 trousers we have

I have the Tesco skirts and pinafores, they soften up after a couple of washes and wear quite well. No funny wash marks and minimal fade, unlike Lint's organic offerings. They are however a real pain to iron if you put them in the dryer. Although I don't know if the boys trousers are the same fabric. I bought mine instore at Burnley Extra.

I'm always about Tesco bashing. The Fairtrade Foundation seem to be supportive.

www.fairtrade.org.uk/press_office/press_releases_and_statements/january_2010/students_persuade_retai lgianttescostodoubleitscommitmenttofairtradecottonschool_uniforms.aspx

i am sorry but at £5 a pair SOMEONE is losing out.
the link confirms that they sell lots of fairtrade clothing- well yes, we know that already. doesn't tell you which parts are fairly traded though does it? they could call it fairtrade just by using fairtrade cotton. they can then get anyone to use that cotton to make the trousers

and this is why i have a problem with Tesco in general

Sorry, forgot your original question Octavia. The cotton on DD's Pinafores is a reasonable weight, she did fine through last winter.

Cotton isn't as durable whatever the make. We had JL/BHS and Asda trews last year and all had begun to wear through by the year end. But this is the child that wore straight through the front of her shoes (literally right through) in 4mths. We haven't had Tesco trousers as they didn't make girls cotton ones, but her skirts will do again for this year, they still look fine.Although skirts don't get the same amout of abuse as trousers.

The Tesco fabric is harder to iron, than the other makes I've had and it does shrink in length.

thisisyesterday Yes, but why single out Tesco , it's almost a fashionable thing to bash them. What about Gap, Adidas, ASDA..... Boden is currently outsourcing to China.

I can't quite remember, but think the labelling on the Tesco uniform only states Fairtrade cotton. I thought Fairtrade only applied to the production of a raw product?

Child labour is a difficult issue, OH has done charity work in India (and also works in the retail trade here). The best companies are the ones that work with families to limit child labour and provide other benefits such as education. It's OK condemning companies that use child labour, but what happens to those children who have their jobs taken away? There's no cosy home/school life waiting for them, they will end up on the streets prostituting themselves or worse. Often children will be supporting disabled parents/younger siblings, what happens then? There's just so much more to the argument. Of course child labour is wrong, but the solutions aren't that simple.

To get back to the original question; I have spent loads of time looking for grey cotton trousers for my DS and DD. Last year I got Trutex Fairtrade for DS, but found out halfway through the year (when I tried to stock up)that they were discontinued. This year I have got some dark grey ones from Next (ordinary boyswear, not school uniform). They have an adjustable elastic waist and zip fly. They also come with a leather belt, which makes them expensive (£13). Wish they were cheaper with no belt! And I have got some from M&S in a lighter grey for £8 with a button and zip fly and adjustable elastic waist (from boyswear age 6 to 14 section, boys Limited Chinos). These seem to come up quite long, but as they have quite a slim fit and adjustable waist, might do for a 5 year old with a bit of hemming. I ordered the Autograph ones which are referred to above but sent them back because the material was so thin I don't think they would have lasted for a week at school. Both the Next and M&S ones are quite thick cotton and should be warm and long lasting... For DD I have got Next grey cotton trousers from the school uniform section. They are a cotton knit and warm and she loved wearing them last year. BUT, the ones I got last year shrank loads and are now flapping round her ankles. They don't have adjustable waist but come in standard and in 'slim' fit, so I have bought her bigger age size in 'slim' for this winter. No-one else seems to have mentioned Next above.

I complained to M&S last summer about the lack of cotton trousers for boys and they emailed back about 'no demand' and people not wanting to do ironing. I see that they have gone back to some cotton trousers this year, but only in black for boys trousers. Grrr. Might help if you all write and say that you need them in grey! Same with Tesco of course. They did have some grey, but none at all on-line now, only black.

Next's cotton trousers are Teflon coated

The problem M&S has is that people complain when they have to iron things, I got sick of reading the reviews for their cotton summer dresses, people whining about having to iron the dresses, erm...buy one of the one zillion other polyester summer dresses then...

I think it is easier to iron cotton trousers/dresses if they are not completely dry. I would not dry them in the thumble drier unless there was nothing to wear in the morning. But even though I would not dry them completely. Heat damages the material anyway.
Also, some cotton trousers do not need to be iron if you take them from the washing machine and straighten. They will dry without any lines. Linen is different, you need to iron it.

Last night I wanted to order from the M&S website cotton shorts but there are any in size 4 or 5.
I have found rugby cotton shorts at Next. The foodball shorts are made from the poliester.

Ixia, yes, I just noticed that the Next Girls ones are Teflon coated! The boys grey cotton ones that I got from Next are not, as far as I know. But I just looked on their website as I thought I might get another pair and I can't see them there - I bought them in store last week. Might mean another trip to town!

I got some cotton PE shorts from John Lewis last year. Have not looked to see if they have them this year.

John Lewis does say they sell John Lewis Cotton PE Shorts, £3 - £4.85 However, in the description below the material is made of: 65% polyester, 35% cotton

www.johnlewis.com/17497/Style.aspx

Here are the Next rugby shorts, £4 - £9.
www.next.co.uk/shopping/boys/olderboys/70/2?extra=sch&n=children&pid=102-910&exclude=00Y Y00|00Y00&returnurl=%2fshop%2fgattproductaffiliation-boys-cat-shorts-0%3fx%3d1%26nxti%3d0%26nxtv%3d0 %26isort%3dbst&bct=%26quot%3bShop%20By%20Product%26quot%3b%26nbsp%3b%26gt%3b%26nbsp%3bBoys%26nbsp%3b %26gt%3b%26nbsp%3bShorts

I prefer the look of Next shorts as they look longer.

DD wears boys cotton rugby shorts from Asda, they are cotton and come in navy and black, they've worn well. The sizing is a little on the big side...actually thinking about that, is a boys 3-4yr, bigger than a girls 3-4yr?

direct.asda.com/george/kid-s-clothing/schoolwear/sportswear/boys-2-pack-rugby-shorts/GEM13373,defaul t,pd.html

Buy 2 or 3. I always get the dearer ones.