What age did your kid's 'clothing problems' start?

*Louise*

Lol, my DS is 10 and never offers any input in what he would like to wear. I just shop for him, occasionally asking him if he like something and I just get a shrug and a 'yeah'.

DD on the other hand is a different kettle of fish - she is only 2 (!) and loves choosing clothes. Last time we went to Asda she picked herself out a snow white princess top and a tutu with white leggings underneath!! She did get tol 'no' for other things and we get the big eyes and 'Aw...but I love it!!' so I dread to think what she will be like as a teenager :rotfl:

jackieb

I've never had a problem with my boys. They're older now but they never had a problem with hand me downs. My eldest is 26 and wears stuff to death. He wears holey pants (even though he has loads of pairs that have never been worn) and he has a couple of pairs of holey jeans. He says as long as the holes in his pants and the holes in his jeans aren't in the same place he's okay! Holey t-shirts are another bugbear, but he says he likes them because they're comfy. He obviously buys his own clothes and has some really nice stuff. He can spend up to £90 for a pair of jeans, £80 for a jumper, and he's jusr given one of his brothers one of his £200 jackets. Yet he wears some of his dad's old working t-shirts, which are years old and have more holes than fabric!

My daughter is 14 and she's not too bad. She's not into girly girly stuff and has refused to wear a skirt since she was about 7, which miffed me a bit after having 3 boys! But as I never wear them either I could hardly say anything. She likes stuff that's a bit different - she has a few t-shirts which i've had to send off to America for - and she likes converse for her feet (although she does have a pair in pink and a pair in purple so she's not totally like a boy!) But she's equally happy to wear cheap jeans from Tesco.

System

I think i was about 10 when i started to notice what i was wearing. I remember having a massive hissy fit one morning as my mum had picked out my school clothes and put out the navy leggings. I was a chubby 10 year old. Navy leggings were evil.

Shortly after that she let me choose what to wear to school. But as far as other clothes went i was happy in jogging bottoms and polo shirts. But then this was the 90's and kids are far more fashion concious now

minimoneysaver

Has anyone mentioned Gap? I love their stuff. My daughter has had so much wear from all of her Gap clothes and they often have 30% off days.

Sublime_2

minimoneysaver wrote: »

Has anyone mentioned Gap? I love their stuff. My daughter has had so much wear from all of her Gap clothes and they often have 30% off days.

I like Gap, but they are a bit pricey (for me), and we haven't got a childrens section in our local store.

My parents get my children clothes for their christmas presents from places like Gap, Next, M&S, Debenhams, etc, so I count myself very lucky.

aliasojo

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Maybe she just got a bit over excited at the prospect of lovely new clothes and being restricted to a couple of tops and a handbag? Some of the Primark stuff is very pretty even if it is poor quality. At 10, the odds are she's going to start a growth spurt soon so nothing will fit way before it falls apart anyway.

I totally agree with the shoes, but maybe a bit more girlie shopping trip than mum saying 'it's nasty' 'it's cheap' 'it's tacky' would have had a better result?

(the voice of experience - DD2 is 10 as well and she grows out of their stuff before it wears out - and I have upset her a lot doing this)

That wasn't the case at all. She had been allowed a few things by this point and when she was refused the leggings and top, I explained to her why I was refusing them so she understood it was because they would not look right on (in the case of the seam) and would last one wash before she didn't have them anymore, rather than just saying no.

She was also told this was only the first shop we had been in and there were plenty others with leggings and similar tops and we'd get something elsewhere so she wasn't being restricted at all. So it wasn't me standing there saying 'nope, too cheap, nope, too tacky' as you'd made it sound.

(She had actually been allowed the t-shirts, a denim blouse thing, a bright cerise pink casual dress and a pink thing with horrible batwing sleeves before we'd even got to the leggings.....I just simplified things in my first post but with hindsight, I probably shouldn't have as I've clearly given the wrong impression. She was simply acting like a spoilt madam.)

She's also just had her growth spurt which is why nothing fits her now and she needs kitted out.

aliasojo

Lotus-eater wrote: »

How about giving her a monthly allowance for her clothes, she can then splurge it all on a one off piece or distribute it between several.
Gets her to learn money smarts as well.

You have the final say of course...... I've seen way too many girls of around, crikey, from 8 upwards look like complete wh0res around here.

I think she's too young for that yet. She's 10 but quite an immature 10. Will probably do that when she's a bit older though, my parents did that with me from age 12 (I think). One of my 'better' buys was a turquoise nylon bomber jacket with white stripes down the arms and across the breast pocket. I thought I looked so cool. :rotfl:

tiff

I dont buy much from Primark for myself, but its near enough the only shop we go in when we are buying things for DD (9 coming up 10). I let her buy things within reason, ie leggings, skinny jeans etc but I say no to clothes that arent suitable for her age. I dont worry about the quality if it looks really cheap we dont buy it, but otherwise their clothes do last quite well. She has a pair of skinny jeans from Primark in Ireland that were €6 last year and they have been fab. The sneakers from Primark are good too at £2 a pair, she has a few pairs of those.

I dont think you should worry so much about quality for children, they will never listen to what you think when their friends are all buying from Primark and New Look etc.

aliasojo

minimoneysaver wrote: »

Has anyone mentioned Gap? I love their stuff. My daughter has had so much wear from all of her Gap clothes and they often have 30% off days.

We don't have a Gap store.

Well apart from 1 thing we bought yesterday, everything is going to have to go back to Primark to be exchanged as it's all too small. Their sizing must be way off the norm. Daughter is a very petite, slim 10 year old and we bought age 11-12, it's all too small. Oh the joys, another 50 mile round trip. Will make sure she trys stuff on if buying from there in future.

On the plus side, she is very contrite now and realises she completely overstepped the mark with her hissy fit attitude yesterday. Hopefully she'll learn that all an attitude like that gets her, is taken home. Time will tell.

I've had a look at the Pumpkin Patch site, they have some nice things. What's their sizing like...compared to Next for example? (Daughter is usually her correct age size in Next.)

threemuttleys

silly question...what would happen if you went shopping (on your own) and bought her the basics that she needs (couple pairs of bottoms, some good quality tops, sturdy well fitting shoes) popped em in her wardrobe...and then next time you go shopping give her an amount (£20?) and let her buy what she likes (from shops that you have chosen George/Next etc)

that way, she is getting good quality clothing (good ole mum) but still being allowed some independence in choosing what she would like to wear

Does she get money for b'days/xmas etc?