Boys' Pure Cotton Straight Leg Trousers

These trousers initially caused problems as the school said they were not school trousers but chinos and sent my son home. I managed to convince them that they were indeed school uniform but needn't have bothered as after two washes they look so shabby that my son is refusing to wear them. I think that cotton trousers are a good idea but the quality needs to be improved. The price is expensive for an item which has been worn for 2 days.

These were not what I expected at all - the material was more like jeans than school trousers and they were a very light colour - they were not suitable for my son's primary school so they were returned

I bought these for my 6 year old who suffers from eczema and they are the best cotton school trousers I have found so far. They look smart, are comfortable to wear and wash well. We have had them for a few weeks and so far they are showing no signs of wear. They are certainly holding up much better than trousers I bought from specialist eczema clothing sites, which were three times the price and started disintegrating after one wear!

My son has suffered from severe eczema and it was wonderful to find M&S stocking pure cotton school trousers without labels, etc. so much cheaper than the specialist alternatives. They are soft and my son finds them very comfy and they don't irritate his skin. However, they fade very quickly and they go through at the knees after only a few months. My son has 4 pairs which he has been wearing on rotation since September, so that's only wearing each pair once or twice a week, but they already have small holes and rips in the knees and are very faded (especially at the knees). The same thing happened last year to the smaller size, I refused to buy any more towards the end of the summer term (those ones I had only bought at Easter) and ended up sending him to school looking very shabby. Come on, M&S, make these more hard wearing - you are filling a valuable gap in the market but they need to be better able to withstand the everyday activities of boys.

My boys have eczema so I was delighted to find pure cotton trousers. They started wearing them in October and by December every pair had holes in the knees and all the hems had come down. My boys do not play football so the blame does not lie there. This is certainly not the quality I expect from M&S.

The trousers are a good fit but that is all. With one pair my son managed to tear a hole in the knee the first time he wore them. With the other pair the colour faded so quickly that they looked old and worn quickly. Now, in January, with only three months of wear, the knee is nearly worn through so he'll not be able to use them as a school uniform.