This year I have felt a lot more unorganised with getting the kids ready for “back to school”. I knew we were away for a large chunk of the summer holidays and told myself it would be fine to wait until after we were home to buy all the uniforms, shoes, bags, stationery and everything else needed at this time of year but I admit leaving it this late did leave me feeling uneasy so next year I’m going back to getting organised at the beginning of the holidays (she says!). Thankfully we were invited to try a selection of school uniform from Debenhams. Read on to find out our thoughts:
First lets look at the girl’s school uniform. My girls all have different tastes in clothes so it’s great that there’s a wide selection to choose from. I find pinafores practical for younger girls and Debenhams sell them in a number of different cuts. Isabelle went for the Black Traditional School Dress (was £12 – £14 now £6 – £7). It has a side button to ensure ease of putting on and taking off even as she grows. We love the traditional design and side pleats and it’s made from ‘Teflon’ technology that protects fabric and repels water, oil and stains so is practical too.
Here she wears her pinafore with black tights that we have stocked up on (Debenhams Supersoft Black Tights come in packs of three priced from £8) ready for winter. On warmer days she’ll wear them with socks. I know many people choose white socks for school but we choose black as they’re easier to wash and keep tidy. We’ve also stocked up on the Packs of 5 Black Textured Socks (£5- £6) for warmer days.
Caitlyn likes to wear shorts, trousers or culottes to school. She has a couple of pairs of Debenhams Slim Fit Trousers which look very smart. We also chose the Debenhams Senior girls’ black school playsuit (£17-£19). It looks very chic but is made in a stretchy fabric so very comfortable and easy to wear too. It’s machine washable and washes well (which is handy as Caitlyn loves playing football and rugby during playtimes and often comes home the muddiest of them all!).
The straps are adjustable allowing for comfort and growth. I love the crisscross back.
We chose two packs of the Debenhams Girls’ pack of 2 white school polo shirts (so they have four in total). They’re made from pure cotton in an easy iron design and are finished with a scalloped collar. They cost £5-£7 and are available in other colours. The new shirts look so smart while still bright white (makes mental note not to wash separately and keep them white this year!).
We bought Rebecca a couple of pairs of Girl’s Slim Fit Trousers too but she prefers to wear a skirt. The two pack of Girl’s Black Kilt Skirts are £12 so great value. They are designed with a durable easy-iron stain and water repellent Teflon EcoElite fabric, each pair is finished with pleats and an adjustable elasticated waistband for all-day comfort We also stocked up on tights and socks for Rebecca. Here she wears her sister’s white polo shirt but she will be wearing a blue one once she starts her new secondary school (eek)!
All of these choices look great and are good quality. I love how the girls can stick to the uniform guidelines but all express themselves in different ways as there are so many different styles available.
Onto the boys uniform. Danny needed new trousers so we ordered a couple of 2 packs of the Debenhams Boy’s Black Slim Fit School Trousers (£11-£17) as he needs them narrow on the waist and long in the leg (the opposite to me). He prefers slim fit over skinny as he’s all about the comfort and being able to run about in the woods after school. They look very smart and each pair features advanced fabric protection to repel against water, oil and stains (which comes in handy after his time in the woods!). We’ve also stocked up on Black Fresh Feet socks in the hope he will stop stealing his dads socks (he won’t!).
Debenhams can always be relied upon for great quality work and school wear. Everything came quickly and packaged well. As well as the reasonable prices there are also great offers available such as buy one get one half price in the school uniform range making it affordable to stock up on uniform.
Thanks to Debenhmam for sending us this uniform for the purposes of review.