Which would you buy: a cheap school uniform that you don't mind getting trashed, or a pricier one that will last longer?

[SpeedyGonzalez]

I'm a school newbie: can you tell?

Is it generally better to get school uniforms from the specialist shops/ M&S, or to just go to supermarkets? On the whole I usually buy DS good quality clothes on the cheap - ie in sales, so I'm inclined to want good quality for his uniform. I'm also assuming that DS will grow a few inches between 5 and 6, which may influence my decision.

Don't bother with M&S. The last uniform I bought from there fell apart straight away. Supermarkets are your best bet. Very sexist but with a boy in particular. I have one of each and found my DS wrecked his uniform really easily. They don't seem to grow so much between 5 and 6 but my DD shot up during that period.

Not sexist at all, Betty. There's a reason why second hand boys' clothes seem to vanish after age 2: trashed and unsellable!

We get a couple of bits with the logo on and the rest is tesco value or sainsbo basic.

Wait to you see the school shoes (those Clarks ones that you broke the bank for), two weeks in the school playground and you will not be able to see any colour and they will become worn. Mine (Year 6 and with feet as big as mine) now gets shoes from Fill The Shoe at £10 per shot as I dont get so upset when they get trashed!

I try to get the good stuff second-hand. You know if it's survived to be sold on second-hand then it must be virtually indestructible, but it's cheap enough that you can be laid-back about what happens to it.

Ebay is good for Clarks shoes as well for the same reason as Pirate mentioned. Fleecy type school jumpers tend to last better than the more traditional tight knit jumpers too.

I buy m&s.

I bought a mix of m&s and tesco last year and found the tesco stuff either went bobbly (trousers) or lost its shape (polo shirts) by xmas. I honestly don't think m&s any dearer either. I ordered mine last night - £7 for a twin pack of trousers with a further 20 % off plus free delivery.

I get M&S or BHS in the sale, supermarket dresses, and branded cardigan and pe shirt.

I wouldn't bother with M&S, got ds2 new trousers there when he started reception. They had a whole in the knee after 2 days! I usually get them from Sainsburys when they have 25% off, although the hems usually fall down.

Very unhappy with M and S boys trousers. Compared with so much cheaper Sainbo ones, the Sains have lasted but M and S faded at knees and stitching came apart quickly.
Happy with M and S shirts - they lasted until he outgrew them. Sains shirts fine too.

just to give another view - I got M&S trousers and found that they really are stain-repelling, so v pleased with those. (Would have bought whatever fit though, it just happened that the M&S age 3 ones were the only ones that fit my skinny short ds)

I also got pricy fitted shoes as I am a bit precious about the whole growing feet thing and glad I did as they have lasted all year & he's not grown out of them yet.

Branded school fleecy sweatshirt is fit for rags now, though!

It is not just the wearing out of the clothes, but the stains.
I buy supermarket uniform because my children come home filthy, mud, paint, clay and the whiteboard pens do not seem to wash out.

I buy cheap supermarket sweatshirts and polo shirts in bulk once a term (mostly because DS2 is a chewer). I tend to by Next cargo style trousers, not cheap but I find they wear well and don't look tatty.

Disclaimer: My kids don't grow that much over a year so tend to keep the same trousers.

Asda trousers are fab my son has some that are still fine after a years wear but he does have 3 pairs but at £3 a pair they're great he has logo tshirts for everyday and £2 White asda polo shirts for pe

M & S are definitely the best quality and best cut. Their top of the range cotton cardi is brilliant after a year of washing still looks new

had asda and tescos polo shirts and they have been fine. asda trousers are ok and they were worn every day at nursery and washed everyday too.

try washing felt tip stains out of clothes with COLD water and soap seems to work for me. not tried white board pens... the only stain went through the wash before it was spotted. still goes to school in it though.

the uniform comes home filthy everyday. cheap is less worrying.

M and S is great at Christmas when you child has shot up but there is no uniform in the shops. Otherwise definitely cheap polos, they get ruined by stickers which you "forget" to remove before they go in the wash, and washable paint which doesn't wash off.

I've found that Debenhams school uniform is great quality, but I tend to buy in the sales, so stocked up on summer dresses for a fiver each this week. The polo shirts for girls have lasted really well and are fitted/a bit prettier than the bog standard ones. Only health warning is to buy about 2 sizes bigger than you need. My DD is 3 (nearly 4) and she's wearing age 5 polos and age 6 dresses ...and she's not a giant child. Don't know if this is the norm everywhere.

Last year i bought ds m&s trousers and tesco trousers and m&s won hands down for quality, polo shirts i would just go for the cheapest and replace them more often, i had tesco, asda & m&s they were much the same, jumpers m&s, they kept their shape and didnt bobble (might have something to do with they spent most of the year in lost property). I get m&s shoes for them too, they out grow them before they ruin them, dd is going away into P4 now and had had one pair of clarks shoes that lasted about 3 weeks!

Best uniform ime is from next. Much better than m&s.

I like the M&S shirts but I have to agree with other posters about the poor quality of the trousers. I got DS 2 pairs at Easter and both had holes in the knees by June half term.

Trousers are better from Next, but the girls cardigans there go baggy very quickly imo.

I bought mine in M&S - it looks good quality and it wasn't expensive with 20% off. I doubt the supermarkets would have been much cheaper, but they would have looked it.

I get from m&s when there are offers / sales on. Tbh ds trashes his uniform. Wouldn't be worth buying any posher. Whole lot has to be washed each day as comes home filthy, pockmarked ... It's withstood all of that pretty well imo. Only two more weeks and it'll all go in the bin. New stuff in cupboard ready for autumn.