School uniform has to work hard, doesn’t it? I sometimes think its easy to forget that its worn virtually every day for a year, more often than any of your children’s other clothes. From shirts and skirts all the way down to shoes. So that’s why when I buy school clothing I want them to be able to take the rough and tumble of school life. It also has to make life easier, whether its buying items that are non iron, or making it easier for my youngest to get ready in the morning without any help.
This year all my uniform is from Marks and Spencer, and to be honest, it usually is as I really rate their quality and the innovations they bring to their uniform every year.
For shoes this year, we used the Cloggs website, which has a great range of school shoes.
My eldest daughter Nia went for Kickers £69.99 – This style is a classic really, and perfect for the Autumn and Winter coming up, cushioned insoles and rubber outersole. She’s heavy on shoes, and we went through three pairs last year, but I am sure these will last all of year 8.
Miss A on the other hand was so jealous of Nia’s brogue style shoes last year, she opted for the same. These are by Geox £54.99, I was worried about buying these, and not having them fitted at a shoe shop, but felt happier once I read about the returns policy, especially the lifetime returns. They fitted perfectly, and both pairs of shoes the girls said were very comfortable.
Miss A will be going into Year 2 in September, and I am definitely going to be encouraging her to get herself ready in the morning completely this year. The mornings can be a little frantic, and we need to be ready even earlier than last year {huge sigh} so I’ve been trying to look for any solutions to help with this when buying the uniform .
Things like easy close top buttons, which we had last year, and they made a huge difference, as it’s a velcro top to close it, with a false button, they work brilliantly. Also expandicuff (available up to age 8) which makes taking the shirt off easy, even for PE.
Now washing and ironing midweek, is not my favourite thing to do when it comes to school uniform. If I can offer any advice to Mum and Dad’s with children starting school in September, its to firstly buy enough uniform to last a 5 full days, and make sure its ready to go on Sunday night. Get into a habit doing it, honestly you will thank me if you do this! The next would be to buy items that are non iron. I wash shirts and skirts, give them a shake put them on a hanger, and let them dry as much as I can, without ironing.
I opted for skirts and pinafores with permanent pleats and ones that offered crease resistance. If I’m in a rush, and I need to tumble dry the uniform, I’d rather not have to spend ages ironing as well, and buying items with this really helps. So I only need give it a quick steam iron and we are good to go.
Not forgetting stains…
My eldest daughter has a habit of putting pens in her top pocket, and them exploding (I’m not exaggerating) plus there’s general spills and dirty collars. Luckily most of the Marks and Spencer range comes with stainaway technology which helps stains wash out easier.
I can’t believe we are already over two weeks into the summer holidays, but at least I have the school prep all done and dusted.
With thanks to Marks and Spencer and Cloggs, for these items to review. My reviews are as ever honest, and my own words.
They look so smart in their uniforms. I usually buy from M&S too, it really is worth paying extra on their uniform as they wear it so much. I am off to do the school uniform run today with my son who is due to start secondary school in September. However ours has to be the logo uniform which is so frustrating and much more expensive.
These items look lovely (love the idea of a fake top button) does Miss A manage her own tie!