Back To School With Your M&S (Review)

So it appears that a lot of children have already returned to school according to my twitter feed, but for some it is next week and in the case of my eldest he starts school for the first time on the 16th September *cue tears from me*.

When I was asking other mums a few weeks ago where they would recommend I bought Burton’s scholl uniform items from, it was Marks and Spencers who came up trumps . Therefore, when I was contacted by their PR people asking me if I would like to receive some school uniform from them I couldnt believe my luck! I said yes, obviously.

I was sent the following items :
a pair of pleat front trousers – £8
a pack of 2 utlimate long sleeved shirts – £8
a grey cotton rich jumper – £7

The thing I love about shopping in M & S is the quality of the clothes they sell, as a brand I always trust it and am confident that if they make certain claims about their clothes , then the clothes will live up to them. This applies to their back to school range – all the clothing items claim to be this and that and I believe that they are true.

I love the fact that the shirts claim to be ultimate non-iron as for someone who HATES ironing with a passion, these are right up my street! The shirts also claim to have stainaway technology (Stainaway™ – the high performance finish that helps prevent stains) yaaaay hopefully reducing the everyday stainage of food and paint and grass remaining on the shirts after being washed. Plus the cuffs are have expandicuff ( clever Expandicuff™ system lets cuffs stretch so that younger kids – up to 8 years – can pull up their sleeves without undoing the buttons). All this for £4 a shirt seems very reasonable to me.

The pleat front trousers feel lovely and soft and of good quality and again look very smart. These come with stormwear finish technology ( finish repels both water and stains to help you stay dry and keep you looking smart) and super-crease (the creases last, so you don’t have to iron them back in after washing) which again for an iron-hater is great news! Also these trousers have an adjustable waist which is ideal because ir means no belts are needed and one size fits all, and they come with a sealed hem which again means less work for me and my  non existant sewing box!

The cotton rich jumper really completes the look and again feels lovely and soft and feels like it won’t stretch out of shape after a few washes, hence its staynew technology (fabrics are made with technology that reduces colour-fading and bobbling, helping clothes look newer for longer). They are also made from cotton which was sourced responsibly.

I have to say that I had no idea that school uniform was made using so much technology with all these new fang dangled clothing assurances – wasn’t like it my day ha ha (yes, that sounds like the type of tnhing my mum would have said to me too!). Buying school uniform really is an eye opener!

As I said before, I had already bought a few items from the M&S back to school range as they are my supplier for Burton of choice. These items mentioned are only a small selection of their full range and there are cheaper options like 2 pack of trousers (still with stormwear and being crease resistant) from just £8 and polo shirts from just £3 for a pack of two! Girls uniforms are also available at same prices also of course! You really can buy everything your back to school child needs from underwear, to uniform to shoes and trainers and bags. Personally, I do not think buying your child’s uniform from M & S is much more expensive than from other retailers, I have had a look to compare and M&S is very competitive and as I mentioned before, I trust their clothing for its quality.

**Apologies for not including a photo of Burton modelling the uniform – he would not do it and when I eventually got the trousers on him he looked so grumpy I was too embarrassed to include it on this post! However, when he starts school I will post a photo on my blog then!**

( you can find out more about M&S and its views on ethical trading here )

I was sent the back to school items for the purpose of this post. All comments made are my own and completely honest and I actually do love M&S and had already bought some school uniform from there for Burton!