A while back I replied to a tweet asking for bloggers to get in touch if they had preteen kids who would like write a review of  Polarn O. Pyret clothing. Ok, it was more than a while ago. It was a good few months ago, I am ashamed to admit. 

The really lovely and professional Maria from Polarn O. Pyret emailed me and we chatted about how this would work, then she promised to send some clothes for us to review. Before long I received a package, which I opened with the kids. The clothes were for my 8 year old boy, much to the annoyance of his sister, and she declared that she LOVED the sweatshirt and would wear it too. 

The sweatshirt is deep blue with an amusing jungle print, that kept the kids busy for a while as they played spot the animal. Underneath this sweatshirt was a cool long-sleeved tshirt in a ‘Granddad’ style. 

I took some photos that day, and then more the day that he wore the shirt for the first time, and resolved to blog about them soon. And then I got distracted, and forgot. After a little while Maria sent a friendly little reminder and I promised to write something in the next week, but again I got distracted by other work and didn’t get around to writing the review. 

All the while it was difficult to properly review the clothes cause my son is 8 years old and wears school uniform most of the week. He does wear his own clothes at weekends and in the evenings but the clothes for Polarn O. Pyret are not the only clothes he wears. I have to say, since moving back to Scotland, we have discovered that kids can grow out of clothes, instead of wearing them till the fall apart. 

He has now worn them a bit more, and they have been thrown on the floor in a heap, washed and dried, put in his room for him to put away and left on the floor in a heap for days till he tidied up before the clothes were put UNWORN back into the washing. Repeat ad infinitum. Is that just my kids? 

Anyway, every time he does wear them, I cringe and remember that I have still not written this post and I feel guilty because I am not that kind of a person. Oh, I am disorganised and easily distracted, but I am not dishonest. And that is what it feels like, because I took a product on the understanding that I would review it. And in doing this, I have realised that I feel very uncomfortable in promising to write a review. 

Being British, I am sometimes too polite for my own good, and I find it difficult to write a review about something that I have received in return for said review. Not that the Polarn O. Pyret clothes were not good. They were of excellent quality, good design and have washed and worn well. But would I have been too polite to say differently, had I not liked the clothes? I honestly don’t know, as I feel beholden to the manufacturer to say something good about them. 

I am also worried about the way in which companies work with bloggers, which is leading to much uncertainty and angst in the blogging community, on exchanging links for money or goods. See the current interesting discussion on Google+   about this. At this point I will state that while I received the products to review, I did not receive money from Polarn O. Pyret for this blog post, or for linking to their website. 

I am  working hard to develop Jump! Mag at the moment and I have to spend the time on that project, and some other projects that I am working on. My blog is too personal, and an outlet for any pent up emotions for me to hijack it with a blog that I HAVE to write, because I promised it, and I find that I sit for hours before such a post and cannot find the inspiration.

So while I would love to be a blogger who receives stuff to review, I am afraid that this is my first and last review. This is in no way a dig at those who review for their blogs, or at those who provide products for review. Every blogger is responsible for their own blog, and their readers will respond to their decision in their own way. I dislike blogs that are filled only with reviews, and do not read them. Others find them helpful and interesting. There is space in blogging for all of us.

Love love love the cord elbows

Anyway, that is the decision made, now on the actual review.

As stated, the clothes are funky and bright. When I had looked at Polarn O. Pyet clothes in the past, they were pretty much plain colours,  with lots of stripes if I remember rightly. I will admit that I preferred that style, but my kids are SO OVER stripes that they were excited to receive something slightly more modern.

The shirt has cord elbow patches, which look great and make it much more hard wearing. I like the button down feature, and the little pockets. My son declared it perfect to wear with his Lederhosen (pictured above) which he loves to wear to special occasions and parties.

The jacket features a detachable hood and the aforementioned funky pattern, which both kids adored. Despite the two year age gap, my kids are quite close in height so my daughter immediately tried it on and declared she was having it. No chance.

To my shame, the review is so late, that the clothes are no longer available on the website but do have a look at the other clothes that are available. I nabbed a couple of bargains while I was there as they had a lot of the ski clothes on sale. My son has almost grown out of his ski suit, and has been asking for a set with separate trousers rather than the one piece that he declared babyish. 

This was my first and last sponsored review. From now on, everything I review will be bought and paid for by me. That way, I can sleep at nights without worrying about that damned review that I am still owe, and you readers can know that I was totally and utterly honest with you about the product.